Canadian consumers like the idea of receiving more personalized insurance pricing and services — but they’re not so sure about trusting insurance carriers with their data, according to a recent Accenture report.
Drawing on the results of its Global Insurance Consumer Study, Accenture’s research team found almost seven out of 10 Canadian consumers (67%) said they would share data relating to their health and exercise habits in exchange for personalized pricing on products including life, long-term care and disability insurance. Only 59% of Canadian respondents said the same in the 2019 report.
“Given consumers’ openness to share their personal data in exchange for tailored programs and lower prices, there is a unique opportunity for insurers to unlock new insights and create better, more relevant services,” said Tim Hoying, insurance consulting and strategy lead at Accenture in Canada, in a release.
Yet, while consumers want the benefits of data-sharing, they’re now a little more skeptical about insurers’ ability to keep their information safe. For example, a little less than 37% of consumers said they have a significant amount of trust in their insurers to look after their data, compared to 45% who said the same two years ago.
“Consumers are embracing the data-for-personalized-pricing trend and want insurers to reward their efforts to improve their well-being,” said Kenneth Saldanha, global lead of Accenture’s insurance industry group. “But it comes with a warning that trust is waning and they want to feel in control of their data.”
Accenture’s research found that while more consumers are interacting with insurers digitally due to the pandemic, roughly 60% of Canadian consumers said they trust a human advisor when making an insurance claim. Conversely, only 10% felt comfortable using an automated digital service for insurance claims and 10% trusted a chatbot.
Accenture’s report was based on surveys of 47,810 insurance policyholders across 28 countries. Participants represented multiple demographic generations and income levels. The research was conducted between July and August 2020.