Auto insurance pricing: It’s time to adopt Travelocity, Zillow models

Currently, there is no comprehensive, comparative pricing transparency for Automobile insurance in the United States. This is a daunting challenge brought about by a number of factors. While none of them are insurmountable, many of them will change slowly over time.

These factors certainly include a reticence among some of the insurers in the industry to enable such an environment. Admittedly, some of the insurers’ concerns are valid, both for the quality of the consumer experience when selecting insurance, as well as for the health of their businesses and the industry at large.

Consumers are ready to go online for car insurance. More than 71% of those who shopped for new car insurance sought out quotes from online sources. Yet consumers continue to turn to agents when it’s time to purchase. As a matter of fact, research has found that 80% of consumers who start their Auto insurance shopping experience online end up having the final purchase handled by an agent or call center representative.

A flexible, marketplace-based online-to-offline model for the procurement of Auto insurance is a great strategy for both the market — carriers, independent agents and consumers — and for adapting to the market as it evolves to new ways of operating.