Is AI The Perfect Companion For Smoother Insurance CX?

Is AI The Perfect Companion For Smoother Insurance CX?

Despite current preferences for human advisors, AI is seen as a promising tool for simplifying insurance decisions.

Financial processes, as significant as they are, are lengthy and tedious. Most people can be found putting their taxes off or delaying their insurance enrollments just to postpone the long sitting and monotonous calculations. In fact, recent research by UserTesting revealed that 56% of the surveyed people would rather deal with common life annoyances — like sitting in traffic (10%), living with their parents again (19%), or attending a concert of an artist they don’t like (24%) — than go through the complexity of insurance enrollment. These figures clearly indicate there is need for improvement!

Consumer sentiment reflects that artificial intelligence (AI) might just be the long awaited perfect companion for making the insurance enrollment procedure smoother. The report AI and insurance CX: Consumer trust, challenges, and opportunities in a digital era unveiled by UserTesting, a SaaS provider focusing on experience research and insights, shows findings from a global survey on consumer experiences with insurance and artificial intelligence (AI).

Conducted by Talker Research, the study surveyed 4,000 adults across the US, UK, and Australia to explore the pain points in insurance enrollment and how AI could potentially ease those challenges.

Consumers continue to view insurance as complex and challenging, yet there are opportunities for growth through technology. Key insights from the survey include:

  • Contradictions in Insurance: Although many feel confident about what they are insured for, choosing the right provider remains a challenge:
    • 65% of Americans, 68% of Brits, and 60% of Australians feel confident about their coverage, yet they struggle to choose the best insurance provider.
  • Knowledge Gaps: The survey highlighted areas where respondents feel the most and least confident:
    • Most knowledgeable: Americans feel most confident about health (78%) and auto (75%) insurance; Brits are most familiar with home (75%) and auto (68%) insurance; Australians are most confident in auto (72%) and health (69%) insurance.
    • Least knowledgeable: Americans feel least informed about home (61%) and pet (49%) insurance; Brits lack knowledge about pet (53%) and dental (44%) coverage; Australians feel least confident about dental (42%) and pet (41%) insurance.
  • Ongoing Challenges: Despite feeling confident about their coverage, consumers still encounter significant issues navigating the insurance landscape:
    • Lack of clarity on coverage details affects 27% of Americans, 28% of Brits, and 32% of Australians.
    • Unnoticed premium increases impact 24% of Americans, 23% of Brits, and 27% of Australians.
    • Complicated claims processes are a challenge for 20% of Americans and 23% of Brits and Australians.

Scope for AI in Insurance

Despite current preferences for human advisors, AI is seen as a promising tool for simplifying insurance decisions. Today, 36% of US and UK respondents and 25% of Australians find AI helpful for understanding complex insurance information. Looking forward, 45% of Australians believe AI can assist with comparing insurance plans, with similar trends in the UK (39%) and US (33%).

“Consumers want easy and transparent insurance processes,” says Bee Nookala, Principal Marketing Manager, Insurance Solutions at UserTesting. “While human advisors remain critical, AI offers insurers a way to help customers navigate complex policies more efficiently, provided human support is always an option when needed.”