Bad Web Sites Driving Potential Auto Insurance Customers Away

EDMONTON, Alberta, March 23 -- Consumers would buy auto insurance on the Internet, but many insurers' online quoting systems are so bad they are steering business away. In a study of 14 leading auto insurance web sites nearly half the 476 Web Mystery Shoppers(R) reported receiving error messages when they tried to get a quote, and more than a third were put off by the sites asking for personal information that should not be required just to get a quote, such as whether they own or lease their home.

"There's huge potential for auto insurers to increase sales and lower selling costs by making their web sites more shopper-friendly," said Tema Frank, president of Web Mystery Shoppers International Inc. (www.webmysteryshoppers.com). "The differences between the best sites, such as American Family, and the worst were enormous - much bigger than what we typically see in our industry studies." For example only 11% of American Family's Web Mystery Shoppers(R) got error messages, versus 70% at the worst site.

"The shoppers told us that they want to comparison shop - most of them said they'd get quotes from at least three or four sites before deciding who to go with. But if you can't even get through an insurer's online quoting form without problems, you've got to wonder how painful it would be if you ever had to make a claim!" commented Ms. Frank.

The following companies' web sites were studied: AIG Direct, Allstate, American Family, Esurance, Geico, GMAC, Insure.com, InsWeb, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, State Farm, Travelers, Unitrin Direct, and Youdecide.com.

The study is available for purchase from Web Mystery Shoppers International Inc. - www.webmysteryshoppers.com or toll-free: 1-866-211-7027.

Web Mystery Shoppers International Inc. helps companies increase sales and lower selling costs. By using large numbers of trained, paid testers, who work from their own computers and provide detailed, page-by-page feedback, about their experience, clients are given insight not only about the web site, but about differences in user perception based on variables like computer and browser systems and Internet experience. www.webmysteryshoppers.com Toll-free: 1-866-211-7027.