Swiss insurance market under the sign of digital transformation

Swiss Insurance Monitor 2022 Onepager corrected The "Swiss Insurance Monitor 2022" is the second edition of the onepager published by the Institute for Marketing and Analytics (IMA) of the University of Lucerne's annual study series on consumer behavior in the Swiss insurance market. The contents place a special emphasis on topics relating to the ongoing digitization of the Swiss insurance market, focusing on the interaction between customers and insurance companies along the customer journey and on new types of insurance approaches. In addition, the report draws comparisons at selected points with the results of the previous year's study. The study format, which is representative for Switzerland, was realized in cooperation with the Swiss Digital Insurance Association, elaboratum suisse GmbH, FinanceScout24 (Swiss Marketplace Group) and a consortium of insurance companies.

Selected results of the study

According to the study, insurance customers have so far taken out slightly more insurance policies in the 12-month period from February 2021 to February 2022 than in the same period a year earlier. The number of insurance companies has decreased slightly at the same time. Although the population resident in Switzerland tends to be less interested in insurance topics on average, one-third of the population has actively searched for information on insurance in the past 12 months; 28 percent have taken out a new policy and/or changed their insurance company. Insurance customers feel better insured overall compared to 2021, although there are regional differences here: For example, there is a slight east-west divide and a tendency for people in rural areas to feel better insured compared with urban areas.

Positive evaluation of insurance

People living in Switzerland predominantly rate insurance positively. In particular, insurance companies are rated positively by their customers if they have already had a claim, if they can identify with the brands of the insurance companies or if they have personal customer service representatives. In terms of sustainability, insurance companies tend to score poorly - respondents perceive insurance companies and their services to be rather unsustainable.

A few other findings of the study: 80% of the population living in Switzerland would like to see more transparency in the composition of premiums and in claims coverage. 55% of the population can imagine "signing" insurance requests exclusively digitally in the future.

Insurance market at crossroads between online and offline

With regard to the preference for online or offline forms of interaction, the picture is ambivalent: customers prefer online channels for searching for information, calculating offers and interacting in the event of a claim. When it comes to contract-related transactions, the opinion is reversed: when it comes to concluding and terminating contracts, offline channels are preferred. "Especially when it comes to concluding contracts, the aspect of trust plays a very important role," explains study leader David Finken, a doctoral student and research associate at the Institute for Marketing and Analytics. "Customers therefore see offline channels as having a slight advantage over online offers on this issue, although there are age differences in this respect." Preference for online or offline also depends on whether people live in the city or in the country. Urban residents are more inclined to interact with insurance online. Younger groups of people perceive online and offline insurance offers as equally trustworthy. When asked what customers would like to see from insurance companies in the future, it emerges that many would like to see more transparency in the composition of premiums and in claims coverage. In addition, customers would like to be rewarded for their loyalty.

Source and further information: University of Lucerne 
A detailed overview is available here.