UK Household Insurance 2007 (Customer Focus)

UK Household Insurance 2007 (Customer Focus)

Introduction

The report is an invaluable guide to changing consumer trends in the UK household insurance market. The report analyses current purchasing trends in areas such as customer loyalty and motivation for choosing an insurance provider. In addition, the report offers an insight into the advertising strategies of the top advertising spenders in the UK household insurance market.

Scope

Statistics on consumer purchasing trends in the UK household insurance market Data on advertising spend by medium for the top household insurance advertisers in 2006

Highlights

Consumers who purchase their insurance online are more likely to change provider at renewal than consumers who purchase their insurance via the telephone or face-to-face. In 2007, 31% of consumers who had purchased their household insurance online said that they had changed their provider the last time they renewed their household insurance.

Reasons to Purchase

Understand what motivates consumers to buy household insurance and which consumers are most likely to switch provider at renewal Gain vital knowledge of the advertising strategies of the top household insurance advertisers

DATAMONITOR VIEW 1
CATALYST 1
SUMMARY 1
ANALYSIS 2
Face-to-face arrangements of household insurance policies continue to decline in favor of phone and internet 2
Face-to-face distribution of household insurance has been declining for several years 2
The number of consumers arranging household insurance online or over the telephone grew in 2007 2
Price remains important to consumers, while those buying online are most likely to switch 4
The majority of consumers are attracted by low premiums when choosing their insurance provider 4
Consumers are more likely to switch if they purchase their household insurance online 6
Online consumers show greater sensitivity to price than consumers using other platforms 8
Household insurance providers advertise both buildings and content insurance combined and contents insurance as a standalone 11
Insurance providers spent £91.8 million advertising building and contents insurance combined in 2006 11
Insurance providers spent just £13.9 million advertising contents-only insurance in 2006 11
The majority of advertising spending on household insurance was concentrated on direct mail 12
The top 10 building and contents advertisers split their efforts between cross-selling through direct mail and gaining new customers from television advertising 13
The top 10 contained mainly direct insurers and bancassurers eager to expand their market share 13
Direct mail was the primary means of marketing building and contents insurance, reflecting the large number of banks and brokers in the top 10 13
Television advertising was also important to several of the largest building and contents advertisers 14
Press advertising was undertaken by all in the top 10 in 2006, although this medium played a minor role in advertising strategies 14
Advertisers ranked 11-20 focused their more limited budgets on direct mail advertising 16
Direct mail dominated the advertising strategies of advertisers ranked 11-20 16
Only a few advertisers included television or press campaigns in their building and contents marketing 16
The top 10 contents-only insurance advertisers, which consists mainly of banks and direct insurers, reduced their spend in 2006 18
Direct mail was the primary means of advertising contents-only insurance for all of the top 10, except Norwich Union 19
Direct mail accounted for the bulk of the spending by the top 10 in 2006 19
Norwich Union and Halifax were the only contents-only advertisers in the top 10 to pursue a television campaign in 2006 20
Direct mail was the preferred medium for advertising by advertisers in the 11-20 bracket 21
Limited budgets resulted in targeted direct mail campaigns 21
Press advertising was the only other expense for advertisers ranked 11-20 21
Direct Line and Churchill are the most widely recognized household insurance providers in 2007 23
APPENDIX 27
Definitions 27
Channel 27
Direct insurer/writer/channel 27
Platform 27
Supplementary data 27
Methodology 27
Advertising statistics 28
Ipsos MORI methodology and contacts 28
Sample design 29
Further reading 29
Ask the analyst 30
Datamonitor consulting 30
Disclaimer 30
List of Tables
Table 1: Distribution of household insurance, by platform, 2003-07 4
Table 2: Reasons for choosing household insurance provider, 2007 6
Table 3: Propensity to switch household provider and likelihood of getting other quotes, by distribution platform, 2007 8
Table 4: Motivations for taking out a new household insurance policy, by distribution platform, 2007 11
Table 5: Total UK household advertising spend by media, 2005-06 13
Table 6: Top 10 building and contents insurance advertisers' spend by media, 2006 16
Table 7: The spending of building and contents advertisers ranked 11-20 by media, 2006 18
Table 8: Top 10 UK contents-only insurance advertisers, 2004-06 19
Table 9: Top 10 contents-only insurance advertisers' spend by media, 2006 21
Table 10: UK top 11-20 contents-only insurance advertisers' spend by media, 2006 23
Table 11: Spontaneous consumer awareness of UK household insurers against advertising expenditure, 2007 25
Table 12: Top 10 UK insurance providers by spontaneous recognition, 2007 26
Table 13: Top 10 UK insurance providers by spontaneous recognition, 2006 27
List of Figures
Figure 1: Phone remains the largest distribution platform for household insurance in 2007 3
Figure 2: Price is the strongest motivation when choosing a household provider 5
Figure 3: Consumers are most likely to switch from an insurance provider when they purchase their household insurance online in 2007 7
Figure 4: There is a greater price awareness among consumers who purchase their household insurance online in 2007 10
Figure 5: Direct mail constituted the bulk of the advertising outlay for UK household insurance products in 2006 12
Figure 6: Direct mail constituted the bulk of advertising outlay for building and contents insurance among the top 10 in 2006 15
Figure 7: Direct mail constitutes the bulk of the marketing outlay for building and contents insurance 17
Figure 8: Halifax far outspent any of its rivals in contents-only insurance via its direct mail campaigns in 2006 20
Figure 9: Most advertisers ranked 11-20 pursued a single medium approach to contents-only insurance in 2006 22
Figure 10: Direct Line was the most recognized home insurance brand in 2007 24