Online Auto Insurance Purchases Increase 58 Percent

Auto insurance policies purchased online increased 58 percent in 2006 compared to 2005, according to comScore Inc., which tracks activity in the digital world. In its “2007 comScore Online Automobile Insurance Report,” comScore also noted that the total number of auto insurance quotes submitted online increased 15 percent.

According to the company, price-conscious consumers consider the Internet critical to their research. They submitted more than 70 million auto insurance online rate quotes from 2004 to 2006, the report noted.

“Consumers continue to migrate toward conducting complex financial transactions online,” said Kevin Levitt, vice president of comScore Financial Solutions. “The automobile insurers are supporting this shift with more efficient Web sites and clearer communication of the value proposition for purchasing policies online. The substantial growth rate in online policy purchases reflects an important transformation in the dynamics of the online auto insurance market.”

This year also shows signs of increasing Internet use. During January and February, the number of auto insurance quotes submitted online increased 29 percent, and the number of policies purchased online increased 45 percent compared to the same period in 2006.

Reasons for not purchasing or researching auto insurance online included preference for speaking with an actual person, and not wanting to submit confidential information over the Internet. The report noted more than percent of consumers said that guaranteed site security would increase their likelihood of purchasing online.

The 2007 comScore Online Automobile Insurance Report uses comScore’s proprietary panel of 2 million-plus online consumers. Additional information was gathered through a survey conducted among 2,043 U.S. online consumers from March 1-8, 2007. For more information about the report, visit www.comscore.com/auto_insurance_report.

Source: comScore