News-in-Depth: Poor customer service causes Brits to switch insurer, survey says
The poor quality of customer service in the UK is leading people with insurance to switch provider, it has been reported.
Ernst & Young's Global Insurance Consumer Survey showed nearly half of those signed up to non-life cover claimed they were not contacted at all as the renewal date for their product approached, leading many to change to another company.
This may help to explain why customers in Britain are more twice as likely as their mainland European counterparts to switch insurance provider, according to Insurance Age.
However, 44 per cent of individuals said they would have been more likely to be loyal to their supplier if someone had got in touch, the news provider stated.
"Some of the frustrations being voiced by UK consumers about levels of service, reward for loyalty and lack of transparency around products will be useful for other mature markets to learn from," global insurance leader at Ernst & Young Shaun Crawford was quoted as saying.
Insurers may need to be aware individuals in Britain are relatively well-informed, with 60 per cent of people with non-life protection products claiming to do research on the cover they buy before they make a purchase.
This is much higher than the global average of 40 per cent and may be a good reason to move customer service teams online as well as using call centre software to get in touch with shoppers, as this the internet is one place they are likely to look.
As many as 78 per cent of UK consumers said they plan to research future insurance purchases, which could provide encouragement to some companies to step up their social media management, the news agency stated.
Ian Carrington, mobile sales director at Google UK, was recently quoted by Marketing magazine as saying people are 300 per cent more likely to buy goods or services if they are recommended by a friend.
Steve Tobak, managing partner of management consultancy and business strategy firm Invisor, recently wrote in an article for CBS News this can be achieved through customer service on social media sites, which he argued has become a key factor in brand management.
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