Younger Insurance Consumers Expect Online Insurance Options

It’s not a far stretch to predict that the next generation of insurance consumers will want to purchase more insurance coverages online. But the latest Employers Small Business Opinion Poll confirms that Generations X and Y want to interact with their insurance company online, at their convenience.

The small business insurance specialist’s recent survey revealed interesting insights both into the next wave of entrepreneurship and how Gen X and Y want to work with insurance professionals. Nearly half (46 percent) of Generation Y say they plan to start their own business in the next five years. Even amid continuing economic uncertainty, the latest poll affirms that the 18- to 25-year-old Gen Y demographic represents a truly entrepreneurial market segment with 8 percent reporting they have already started a business.

While 46 percent of Gen Y expresses a strong interest in starting their own businesses in the next five years, 35 percent of Gen X respondents (ages 26 to 45) also report the desire to create new businesses in the same timeframe. The inclination to start a business in the next five years declines among Baby Boomers (ages 46 to 65) at 21 percent and The Silent Generation (over 66 years old) at four percent.

Unlike the older generational segments, the Gen Y, and to a large extent Gen X, segment poses an interesting challenge with respect to how they want to do business with their insurance companies. Most Gen Ys want to interact with their insurance company online, at their convenience.

The study also found that the majority of Gen Ys (70 percent) feel that it is very important for their insurance company to be tech savvy. And, about two-thirds (67 percent) are active users of social media. Of Gen Yers surveyed, 86 percent want their insurance carriers to offer online quoting, 83 percent want online customer service, 81 percent want online policy management and 79 percent want online payment options.

The Small Business Opinion Poll commissioned by Reno, Nev.-based Employers sampled 1,258 consumers. Data was collected through telephone interviews from June 24 to June 27, 2010 at the 95 percent confidence level. The survey was conducted by Infogroup | ORC.