Aggregators’ focus on digital user experience puts motor brokers at risk

Motor insurance brokers have been told to up their digital game if they hope to continue competing with aggregator sites.

The warning comes off the back of research into the digital user experience (UX) offered by the UK’s top car insurers.

It found that the online experience offered by the UK’s leading insurance aggregators is now on par with top brands from the travel and retail sectors.

The research was conducted between April and May 2014 and analysed the quote process of 27 insurance aggregators, insurance providers and non-insurance companies.

It found the average UX rating of car insurance providers is just 60% compared to the UX of car insurance aggregators (79%), and non-insurance companies (80%).

Majid Shabir, founder and chief executive of Instinct Studios, the technology company that conducted the research, said that results show that online insurance aggregator sites are now so simple to use that there is increased pressure on the broker market to up their game or risk losing sales.

“Unless [brokers] can rise to the digital challenge being laid down by the aggregators, they may see their car insurance business eroded faster than they think,” he said.

“Insurance aggregators are creating digital user experiences that fit into people’s everyday lives and they’re raising the UX bar to new heights.

“The aggregators are generally offering a simple and intuitive user interface and many provide a responsive quote journey - in other words a user experience that adapts itself to the customer’s device – desktop, tablet or mobile.”

Shabir said brokers needed to focus on successfully using digital to deliver control, accessibility and convenience to customers to remain competitive.

Of the insurance providers analysed Aviva was found to have the best user experience (73%), while Admiral provided the poorest (43%). Google was rated top of the insurance aggregator sites with an 86% UX rating (see table, below).

Benchmarking UX ratings chart

A range of criteria was used to assess the digital user experience during the quote process including layout, visual branding, navigation and usability. The percentage ratings are based on a bespoke UX scoring system and split into five key areas including ‘application form’, ‘quote page’, ‘add-ons’, ‘confirmation/payment’ and ‘help & support’.