This project led to a few top-line conclusions and insights:

Estimating home value/replacement cost — a central element for quoting — is difficult but still reflects mostly the inside-out view by insurers (questions asked from the insurer's viewpoint).
- What information do I need to make sure I understand all the exposures and costs before I price it?
- Few are thinking outside-in: How can I make this easy for the homeowner? (The InsurTech Hippo is an exception.)
- For the homes we used, which ranged in value from $225K to $600K, the number of data fields requested ranged from 15 to 60-plus. On average, there are over 30 data fields requested, only slightly better than 10 years ago.
- The time to get an initial quote ranged from two minutes to 20 minutes.
The UI has improved in the last ten years, with more radio buttons, better visual appeal, and responsive design elements. But there are still lots of data fields for the customer to fill in and limited prefill.
Even among the top insurers, many still do not offer online quotes. Many refer prospects to the agent immediately. Some ask a few questions first and then refer to an agent.
Unlike many other insurance products, there are relatively few direct-quote-access InsurTechs. There are a number of aggregators, but they follow the requirements of the insurers. The lack of InsurTech focus may be the result of the complexity of the line of business.

We understand the difficulties related to this line, including the limited availability of property characteristic data for older homes, the variability in perils by geographic area, and the uncertainties related to CATs. In fact, because of the region-specific catastrophe issues, there appears to be a hesitancy to do online quoting. The amount of data needed to quote/underwrite for things like sinkholes, coastal winds, floods, wave-wash, wildfires, earthquakes, and hail make it difficult, but not impossible, to generate a seamless online experience.

Special Reports /

Is the homeowners insurance quoting process improving?

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