NU Online News Service, May 25, 11:37 a.m.EDT

A good customer website experience can lead to increased salesand recommendations for auto insurers, but a poor websiteexperience can drive consumers away, says a J.D. Power study.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based information-services companyreleased its 2012 Insurance Website Evaluation Study yesterday,which indicates that with 34 percent of auto-insurance consumerspreferring to shop online, the website experience “impacts thelikelihood to shop and recommend the insurer” to others.

According to the study, of consumers who said they were“delighted” with their website experience, 63 percent say they aremore likely to shop with that insurer.

Conversely, of consumers who were disappointed with theirexperience, just 14 percent say they were likely to shop with theinsurer.

Of those delighted with the website experience, 50 percent saythey would definitely recommend the insurer to someone else,compared to only 2 percent that would definitely recommend theinsurer when they were disappointed with the experience.

Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D.Power, says in a statement, “Insurers have a fantastic opportunityto gain shoppers, and their referrals, by providing a website thatis easy to use, has a professional and engaging appearance, and isa great resource for the shopping process.”

J.D. Power says there are five factors that contribute toshoppers' overall satisfaction:

• Ease of navigating the website.
• Appearance of the website.
• Clarity of information provided on the website.
• Range of services that can be performed on the website.
• Speed of the website.

The ease of getting a quote is a key aspect of the shopper'sexperience online, says J.D. Power. Many insurers streamline theprocess by minimizing the number of questions asked and usingprefilled information. However, not all insurers do this well, saysthe firm.

Only 72 percent of shoppers requesting a quote online receivedone immediately, while 18 percent had to wait for a follow-upresponse. Ten percent were unable to get a quote.

In an interview, Bowler says this is the first time J.D. Powerhas evaluated customer satisfaction with insurance company Websites. He says J.D. Power has done evaluation of other industry Websites for 11 years. Using the auto industry as an example, he saysautomobile manufacturer's score 50 percent higher than theinsurance industry. But, he adds, the auto industry has taken yearsto develop these sites. He also recognizes that insurance carriershave a challenge developing online underwriting platform integratesthe myriad of information and discounts that go into producing aquote.

Four insurers' websites performed very well in shoppersatisfaction:

• Allstate.
• Esurance.
• GEICO.
• Travelers.

The J.D. Power survey, conducted in March, polled 1,650 autoinsurance shoppers.

This story was updated at 1:56 p.m. EDT with an interviewwith Bowler.