Consumers’ willingness to share data on the rise

A new report from Accenture, the latest Global Insurance Consumer Study of more than 47,000 consumers globally, shows the number of consumers willing to share their data with insurance companies is on the rise – provided they are given appropriate incentives. However, their trust that insurers will look after that data has fallen.  

“Consumers are embracing the data-for-personalized-pricing trend and want insurers to reward their efforts to improve their well-being, but it comes with a warning that trust is waning and they want to feel in control of their data,” says Kenneth Saldnha, leader of Accenture’s insurance industry group globally.  

Seven out of ten survey respondents, 67 per cent, said they would share significant data about their health, exercise and driving habits in exchange for lower prices, up from 59 per cent who said the same thing two years ago. Six in ten, or 59 per cent, said they would also share data in exchange for personalized services intended to prevent injury and loss, up from 48 per cent in 2019.  

Confidence about insurers’ ability to look after their data has diminished, however. Less than 37 per cent of consumers say they trust insurers to look after their data, down from 45 per cent in Accenture’s 2019 report.  

The number of consumers who say they are likely to consider buying insurance from online service providers like Amazon or Google rose to 27 per cent, up from 22 per cent in 2018.  

“Achieving the right balance between digital and human interaction matters more than ever,” say the report’s authors. “Almost half, 49 per cent, say they place a lot of trust in a human advisor when making an insurance claim, while only 12 per cent say the same of automated service over the phone web or email, and just seven per cent say the same of a chatbot.” 

“Training an insurance workforce that works well with digital tools will be essential for success,” they add. “Insurance can be an emotionally complex business for consumers – they need the freedom to choose methods of interaction most comfortable for them.”