Insurers have a golden opportunity to increase their customer base as millions of renters fail to take out contents cover putting their personal possessions at risk.
But first, insurers must find these renters and then engage them with a unique personalised customer experience that stands out from the competition.
Generation Rent an untapped opportunity for insurers
Contents insurance, it seems, is not a top priority for the majority of those who don’t own their own home.
Of the 5 million households who live in the private rented sector in England, Wales and Scotland, more than half do not have any insurance, according to analysts Global Data.
Whether through apathy, a lack of awareness or a real or perceived cost barrier, since pricing regulations got tighter, the UK’s insurance sector cannot afford to ignore this vast untapped demographic with insurance needs.
The latest figures on the size of the insurance sector reveal that in 2021 the combined value of all household policies shrank*. And with new regulations ushered in on 1 Jan 2022 that banned the practice of offering discounted premiums to new members incentivising them to switch – it’s become tougher for providers to grow their business.
Generation Rent presents the UK’s insurance sector with an opportunity to grow their customer base. But they also present companies with a challenge.
With the highest number of households in the private rented sector aged between 25 to 34, insurers must find a way to grab and hold the attention of a largely young audience who expect companies to offer a quick, engaging, personalised and seamless customer experience.
Adopting a property data-driven approach
Their best chance of success lies in a data driven approach.
Property listings that appear on Zoopla contain an extensive set of data. They can be delivered by Hometrack in a simple data file or via an API to property professionals or anyone interested in property data and the insights it can offer to support business solutions.
Underpinning each listing is set of UK property data that includes:
- For sale or rental asking price,
- Property sale history i.e. number and size of price reductions,
- Rental yield
- Sales Agreed
- Stock currently available
- Time on market,
- Core property attributes such as detached, apartment, driveway, garden.
- Full life cycle of listing e.g. first listed, under offer, sold, let
- Geographically split by region, town or even postcode level.
Engaging with Generation Rent
Insurers can use property data in multiple ways.
Listings aren’t just a snapshot of a moment in time. The full life cycle of a listing is captured allowing users to filter for the point in time most relevant to their business.
For insurers, aiming to target customers in need of contents insurance, this could be when the property listing changes to ‘let’ signifying new tenants are about to move in.
This insight gives companies an opportunity to execute a targeted marketing campaign by mail dropping recently-let properties to connect with tenants at a time when they need insurance support the most.
The Hometrack data set can also be used to create a quick and engaging customer experience.
According to a survey by consultancy Gartner on customer service, 71% of consumers expect companies to be well informed about their personal information during their interaction.
Property data can deliver that personalisation for insurers
By using listings data to pre-populate insurance quotes with property attributes, which the renter may not readily know, insurers can deliver a fast, stress-free and seamless customer experience.
Which, for a generation who’ve grown up with the ease and rapidity of Amazon-style online service, is an expectation insurers cannot afford to ignore.
*Global Data