Back on March 30, I blogged about how most people are clueless about the cost and advantages of employer-paid group health insurance. Now it's clear such ignorance is merely the tip of the iceberg, with 60 percent failing to correctly answer basic questions about their insurance coverage in a recent survey. This is both a threat and an opportunity for insurance carriers and producers.
It is a threat in that the more uninformed the average consumer is about insurance, the less they appreciate the need for coverage and the critical role the industry plays.
However, this is also an opportunity to educate the public about exactly what insurers bring to the table, and how difficult life would be without them.
The survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners showed that ignorance about the industry has its price—as "only 45 percent of Americans feel confident making insurance decisions," the group reported.
Among the questions answered incorrectly by the majority of the 1,000 consumers queried included whether auto insurance covers personal property stolen from their car (it doesn't), as well as whether credit scores affect their auto insurance premium (it could).
Indeed, the majority didn't even know what age most people become eligible for Medicare (65), while 86 percent do not understand all of the terms being used in the current discussion on health care reform–and this after more than a year of intense press coverage of the debate in Washington!
Beyond requiring everyone to read "Insurance For Dummies," what can be done to raise the public's Insurance IQ?
The NAIC touts its "Insure U" consumer education Web site (www.InsureUonline.org) as "an unbiased, expert resource to help you understand the types of insurance available, the factors that affect price and the insurance options for your personal situation."
The NAIC also offers a Consumer Information Source (https://eapps.naic.org/cis) that "provides fundamental facts about insurance companies, including complaint ratios, licensing details and key financial data."
From the industry's perspective, there is the Insurance Information Institute site (www.iii.org), which offers a ton of useful articles, and makes available additional publications to help consumers educate themselves about various coverage and claims issues.
But the problem with these sites is while they are rich in information, they are passive, depending on consumers to come to them to seek out what they have to offer.
The insurance industry can help create a better informed generation of consumers by launching a comprehensive, multi-media public service ad program that is not only educational, but entertaining.
Wouldn't it be great if the industry got together to produce a campaign as creative and funny as the GEICO gecko and caveman, and the AFLAC duck? Only instead of just merely making you laugh (while creating brand awareness), it also made people think—about their coverage as well as the value of those who provide it?
Over the last few years, I've lamented the lack of an insurance superhero in popular culture. Here is the industry's chance to create a positive image—a role model that can teach people about the facts and importance of insurance in a fun way.
I'd go for an iconic, yet humorous insurance superhero that swoops in at times of crisis! The commercials could show the superhero helping rebuild a home lost to fire or a hurricane, replace a stolen car, carry to safety someone hurt in an accident, or saving a business from oblivion.
Perhaps a nationwide Insurance IQ contest in the form of a quiz show could cap off the campaign!
What do you folks think?
(By the way, if you are curious about taking the Insurance IQ test, you may do so at www.InsureUonline.org.)
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