Insurance Customers in France Are Increasingly Favouring Digital Services When Interacting With Their Insurer

  • Insurtech , Data
  • 09.02.2021 07:27 pm

New research from Next Content / Nuxeo study highlights a pandemic-driven move to digital insurance, from underwriting to online claims reporting.

French insurance customers are increasingly using digital services to manage their insurance policies, according to a new study launched today by content services firm Nuxeo.

The study reveals that 41% of subscription requests made over the past 24 months started via a digital channel (form, email, customer area, instant messaging, etc.) compared to only 36% in branches: physical agencies. Digital subscriptions have increased by eight points compared to 2019 (33%).

Whether it is to subscribe to a contract, modify it, request a certificate, declare a claim or even monitor the progress of a request, the French are increasingly favouring digital services to the detriment of physical insurers. This is a trend accentuated by successive lockdowns and the Covid-19 pandemic, with policyholders favouring remote and autonomous management of their insurance services.

“Insurance customers in France had been gradually moving to the use of digital services to interact with their insurer, but Covid-19 has caused a sharp acceleration in this trend,” said Sean Baird, Director, ECM Product Marketing, Nuxeo. “As the sector moves even further towards a digital model, insurers must adapt their offering to meet changing customer demands and offer more innovative services. A compelling digital customer experience will become integral and companies that cannot provide this will be spurned in favour those that can.” 

Of the online services adopted by policyholders, requests for insurance certificates and supporting documents were most popular, with 73% of respondents having already made such a request. That is followed by monitoring of reimbursements (64%), requests for quotes (56%), reporting a claim (41%), online subscription (39%), and sending photos in the event of a claim (36%).

Policyholders were also asked about their expectations in terms of digital services. The four most anticipated improvements or new digital services are all related to greater autonomy: online subscription (82%), automatic analysis of the photos and reports sent in the event of an accident followed by an immediate response (82%), the ability to modulate a claim (82%) and the ability to make a report or claim directly from a mobile (79%).

“Lockdowns and the Covid-19 pandemic have largely contributed to this acceleration in the use of digital technology, with the French increasingly willing to manage their services remotely and autonomously,” continued Sean Baird, Nuxeo. “This is unlikely to change even when the pandemic fades, as the research shows that customers increasingly prefer these options. It becomes even more important then, for insurers to be agile, innovative and focus on the digital customer experience.”

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