Insurers' Sites Rated For Users

The study assigns a Customer Respect Index (CRI) to each company. The CRI is a qualitative and quantitative in-depth analysis and independent measure of a customer's online experience when interacting with companies via the Internet.

By looking at more than 1,000 Web sites across a spectrum of industries in detail, CRG said it has determined 25 different attributes that combine to create the entire online customer experience.

CRG has grouped key attributes and measured them as indicators of privacy (respects customer privacy), principles (values and respects customer data), attitude (customer-focus of site), transparency (open and honest policies), simplicity (ease of navigation) and responsiveness (quick and thorough responses to inquiries).

According to CRG, these factors in combination can be measured to rate a company's overall customer respect.

The highest ranked organization within the insurance sector was Amica Mutual at 9.1 (out of 10), while the lowest was Old Republic International at 2.4, said CRG. The sector's average was 6.8.

The top 10 in the sector's Spring 2003 ranking were as follows: Amica Mutual Insurance Co., 9.1; Minnesota Life Insurance Company, 9.0; The Progressive Corporation, 8.8; The Allstate Corporation, 8.7; UICI, 8.5; Phoenix Companies Inc., 8.5; CUNA Mutual Group, 8.4; MetLife Inc., 8.3; Safeco Corporation, 8.3; and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., 8.3.

The bottom 10 in the rankings were: Prudential Financial Inc., 5.2; United Services Automobile Association, 5.2; American Financial Group Inc., 5.1; The First American Corporation, 4.6; OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc., 4.6; Knights of Columbus, 4.5; Auto-Owners Insurance Group, 4.0; Mercury General Corp, 3.9; Unitrin Inc., 3.8; and Old Republic International Corporation, 2.4.

Further details are available at www.customerrespect.com.

One factor that contributed to lackluster scores, according to the report, is that 30 percent of companies don't respond to inquiries made at their Web site.

"When individuals do business with financial services firms, they entrust valuable assets with them," said Donal Daly, chief executive officer of CRG. "So it's important that insurers demonstrate that they can be trusted, particularly in online environments.

"To address this issue and ensure a good return on technology investment, insurers should focus on improving privacy issues and response procedures to online inquiries. By doing so they will improve user experiences, gain customer trust, enhance customer satisfaction and ultimately increase their bottom line."

CRG said other findings for insurance firms include the following:

? Insurers receive the best overall rating (CRI: 8.0) for simplicity and the worst (CRI: 5.8) for responsiveness.

? Only 19 percent of these firms use autoresponder technology, in which e-mails are automatically sent back to users to confirm the receipt of their inquiry and let them know when they should expect a response. Of these, all followed with a full response.

? Some 81 percent of companies provide e-mail forms for online inquiries.

? Twelve percent provide e-mail addresses.

? Seven percent only provide offline contact information.

? Only 45 percent provide a keyword search function on their sites.

The Customer Respect Group said it is an international research and consulting firm that uses its CRI methodology to help companies improve how they treat their customers online.