The rapid advances in digital operations made during the COVID-19 pandemic may have forever altered how insurance consumers interact with agents and insurers. To understand how the pandemic's economic impact continues to influence buying habits today, Lightico, a SaaS platform for customer interactions, surveyed 1,037 U.S. consumers in February 2021 and released their findings in the new report, "The State of Consumer Habits in insurance: 2021 Report." One of the more telling findings of the study is that most consumers continue to fear coronavirus transmission and are vigilant to practice social distancing. According to the study, 73% of insurance consumers are concerned about going out to meet their insurance agent or provider in person. Furthermore, those who shopped for insurance within the last six months indicated being twice as concerned. [caption id="attachment_197681" align="alignright" width="375"] Source: Lightico[/caption] However, there are plenty of opportunities for insurance providers to capture business despite not meeting clients in-person. Thirty percent of survey respondents said they plan to increase their spending on insurance this year, and 45% said they shopped for car or home insurance in the past six months. In fact, a recent analysis from LexisNexis Risk Solutions found a 41% auto insurance shopping rate in Q4 2020 — the highest annual shop rate since LexisNexis began collecting the data.

Overcoming obstacles and finding opportunities

"Consumer interest in purchasing insurance products may be at an all-time high, but many insurers are accidentally squandering this opportunity," said Lightico in the report. The survey revealed a significant gap between how customers prefer to be contacted and how insurers are actually communicating with them. Nearly three-quarters of consumers said they have struggled to connect with their insurers to ask questions or make modifications to their coverage. To help bridge this gap, Lightico suggests insurers revisit their digital communication strategies, as 70% of consumers said they expect their insurance companies to "automate and digitize" services. "Today's insurance customer is more risk-averse than ever, which seems to be driving much of this increased interest in purchasing insurance," said Lightico. "But it's up to insurance companies to capitalize on this flood of interest. And that means structuring sales and claims processes to be convenient, frictionless and digital." Click here to read more insights from the "The State of Consumer Habits in insurance: 2021 Report." Related: 

• Policyholders want more engagement but on their own terms
• How insurers can keep customers happy when moving online
• Opportunities abound for agents to enhance personal lines services