The majority of insurance customers are more knowledgeable abouttheir favorite television shows than about their insurance policy,shows a 2013 poll conducted by Nationwide Insurance.

“The only way we are going to fix the knowledge gap is ifagents take responsibility for mending it,” Mark Pizzi(pictured), chief operating officer of Nationwide Insurance, tellsPC360. ”We expect Nationwide agents to spend timeexplaining each household's individual risks, which we provide inannual 'On-Your-Side' calls to our members.”

In a survey of about 1,500 adults who own P&C insurance, 57percent of consumers said they know more about prime-time TV thanpersonal homeowners' coverage. According to Nationwide's aptlynamed “Simplification Study,” the problem isn't necessarilyuneducated customers. The judging process on major network talentshows is easier for Americans to understand than insurancelanguage, although the latter is far more impactful to theirlives.

Other topics better-understood by consumers over insuranceinclude the U.S. Presidential election process (36 percent) and theNational Football League playoffs (34 percent). Fortunately, morepeople get insurance (24 percent) than Facebook's privacy policiesand the Kardashian's private lives, which ranked equally at 6percent.

Although three-quarters of consumers believe they have a generalgrasp on insurance knowledge, 33 percent think homeowners' andrenters' insurance will cover the cost of replacing familyheirlooms lost to building damage, and 57 percent of customersthink Personal Inland Marine Coverage insures boats rather thanhigh-value personal property. Also, half of respondents say theydon't know how to file a claim with their insurance agent after anincident.

“We need to aggressively de-mystify insurance for our members,”says Pizzi. “'Inland marine insurance is a great example: it's aterm we bandy about internally in the industry, among regulatorsand our court system, but it's irrelevant to the averageperson.”

Nationwide's marketing department has been working withcustomers and agents to shift policy terminology: for example,“Extended Replacement Costs” has been changed to “Brand NewBelongings” to describe coverage for things inside homes that havebeen damaged, destroyed or stolen.

Building a bridge is a two-way process, however, and less thanhalf of customers have read their insurance policy in its entiretyover the past year while 31 percent have never completely read it.But the majority of consumers also say insurance language is“confusing” and show overwhelming (92 percent) support for a lawthat would mandate companies to provide one-page policy summariesin plain language.

Pizzi says, “We advocate using a one-page policy summary acrossthe industry. It's going to take collaboration between regulators,legislators and the industry to make it happen, but it absolutelycan. Our customers will appreciate it. We do have to make sure itis not considered as the contract language used to makedeterminations in the court of law.”

The survey shows customers support multiple avenues ofengagement with insurers, including one-on-one conversations withagents (11 percent), the ability to purchase policies online (6percent), and insurance details explained in a foreign language (1percent).