More Europeans buying car insurance online

21 november 2002, 12:52

New research from Forrester reveals that the number of online car insurance buyers in Europe has doubled in the past year (Nov 19, 2002)

By the middle of 2002, around six million Europeans had bought car insurance online, compared to three million at the end of 2001.

The UK accounts for nearly half of the European total with 1.3 million people in the region having purchased car insurance via the Net.

Forrester?s research indicates that 16 million Europeans research their car policy online. This is equivalent to 14 percent of Internet users in Europe.

In the UK, the most advanced market, 27 percent of all Net users have researched car insurance online in the past year ? equivalent to almost all the UK Net users who own motorcars.

The study indicates that online car insurance tend to be classic early adopters: young, well educated, and wealthy. Three quarters of online car insurance buyers are men, and most are a full nine years younger than the typical European car insurance owner.

Around three-quarters of European online car insurance buyers have a high income, compared to just 36 percent of all European car-insurance buyers, according to the data.

However, while the number of Europeans buying car insurance via the Net is increasing, the study indicates that most Internet users don?t see the advantage of buying online.

According to Forrester, the biggest barrier to buying car insurance online is confidence.

The research firm suggests that many Net users feel that they need to talk to someone directly when purchasing insurance. Some insurance buyers also said they were worried about giving out personal details online.

Other barriers cited by insurance buyers are that it?s quicker to buy over the phone, and that there are no real benefits to buying online.

Marco Derksen
Partner bij Upstream

Oprichter/partner Upstream, Marketingfacts, Arnhem Direct, SportNext, TravelNext, RvT VPRO, Bestuur Luxor Live, social business, onderwijs, fotografie en vader!

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