How Customers Purchase Term Assurance 2018

How Customers Purchase Term Assurance 2018

Summary

This report explores the attitudes, behaviors, and preferences of customers who purchased a term assurance policy in the last 12 months. It explores distribution and the purchasing journey, policy purchase triggers, the financial concerns of customers, perceptions around activity trackers, and brand selection. It also sizes the term assurance market using Association of British Insurers data.

The attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of customers purchasing term assurance in the past 12 months differed depending on whether the policy was purchased to be linked to a mortgage or not. This affects factors including whether they purchased independently or with advice, what triggered them to purchase a policy, their top financial concerns, and the product features they sought. Providers must seek to understand customers in order to encourage them to purchase cover. A range of factors must be acknowledged within policy design, purchasing channels, and marketing strategies.

Scope

- In 2017, 36% of in-force term assurance contracts were linked to a mortgage.
- Speaking to an IFA or broker was the most common pre-purchase activity in 2018 among mortgage-related term assurance customers.
- Purchasing direct from an insurer is the most common channel used by non-mortgage-related term assurance customers.

Reasons to buy

- Understand consumer purchasing decisions and how these will influence the market over the next few years.
- Improve customer engagement by recognizing what is most important to them and how insurers can adapt their products and services to meet their needs.
- Discover which providers lead the way in the term assurance space.
- Adapt your distribution strategy to ensure it still meets customer purchasing behaviors.