Esurance Champions Quality User Interface Design
Even Auto Insurance Companies Need to Focus on Providing a Great User Experience
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2 -- Most consumers don't want to spend a lot of time transacting with their auto insurance company, which makes the Internet a perfect way for consumers to buy and manage their auto insurance. Esurance, a leading direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, continues to receive praise from industry analysts and consumer groups for making its online experience as easy as possible.
"As a company, we're honest about the fact that our customers really want their auto insurance to be as easy as quote, buy, print," explains Gary Tolman, Esurance's President and CEO. Tolman continues, "We want to make auto insurance easier for our customers, and we rely on that fundamental principle as the basis for our operations."
This customer focus drives Esurance's approach to user interface design. The company continually researches and explores best practices in Web usability, adapting these techniques to a product as complicated as insurance.
Esurance feels that some of the most knowledgeable experts about the online experience are its customers. The company relies on thorough analyses of customer feedback and behavior to further enhance its site design. John Swigart, Esurance's Vice-President of Sales & Marketing, explains, "Focusing on how our customers use our site and designing it accordingly has really helped us make our online application the fastest and easiest to use on the Web. Almost everything that appears on our Web site is there because our customers, through their actions and words, gave us instructions on what they need to see, where they need to see it, and when they need to see it. For example, when we launched our new home page in April, we did so only after listening to and acting on feedback from our customers."
For its efforts, Esurance has continually received praise for ease of use and informational content from its customers, analysts, and a leading consumer advocacy publication. Most recently, Change Sciences, an analyst group focusing on quality user interface design across industries, awarded Esurance a first-place ranking for Web usability. "Out of the 15 companies we surveyed, Esurance's site was the easiest to use. Ease in getting instant rates and comparisons is so important for time-starved consumers as they try to sort through the myriad auto insurance options available online," states Steve Ellis, a Founder and Partner in Change Sciences Group, Inc. (Change Sciences' overall ranking for the 15 companies appears below.)
Of Esurance's latest award, Tolman states, "We're proud when groups like Change Sciences take notice of our work on the Web. I'm also delighted by the fact that we get emails from our customers every day, letting us know that they're pleased with the online experience we provide. One of our customers even let us know that our site was 'cool,' which may have been the first time I've heard that word applied to insurance in my 25 years in the industry. I hope that our work continues to get noticed so positively by our customers, analysts, and other experts."
Change Sciences' Overall Ranking for Each Site
Rank Web Site
1 Esurance
2 GMAC
3 AIG
4 Progressive
5 Liberty Mutual
6 NetQuote
7 Nationwide
8 KemperDIRECT
9 State Farm
10 Allstate
11 InsureCom
12 Prudential
13 InsWeb
14 ForInsurance
15 GEICO
About Change Sciences Group, Inc.
Change Sciences was founded in January of 2000 with the idea that companies can optimize key business processes by basing decisions about technological change in how people use technology while they live, work and play. Change Sciences Usability Benchmarks are based on its Typifi(TM) benchmarking process. Typifi allows for the empirical comparison of sites across more than 30 usability metrics. Using the Typifi process, site owners can see how their site compares with competitors, as a customer would use it, thought-by-thought and keystroke-by-keystroke. For more information, see www.changesciences.com
About Esurance Inc.
Esurance Inc., a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. , provides personal auto insurance direct to consumers online. Esurance is dedicated to constantly improving the way people shop for, buy, and manage their auto insurance. By combining the best of technology with industry experience, Esurance is able to offer hassle-free coverage with 24/7 customer service at a competitive price.
Through Esurance's Web site, www.esurance.com, customers can get instant quotes, view comparison quotes, buy an Esurance policy, and print their proof of insurance card -- all in minutes. Esurance also offers policyholders the ability to make policy changes and file claims instantly online, demonstrating its commitment to improving the entire insurance process from quote to claim.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this release which address activities, events or developments which we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict" and similar expressions are also intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements with respect to White Mountains':
-- growth in book value per share or return on equity;
-- business strategy;
-- financial and operating targets or plans;
-- incurred losses and the adequacy of its loss and loss adjustment
expense reserves;
-- projections of revenues, income (or loss), earnings (or loss) per
share, dividends, market share or other financial forecasts;
-- expansion and growth of its business and operations; and
-- future capital expenditures.
These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by White Mountains in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will conform with its expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including:
-- the continued availability of capital and financing;
-- general economic, market or business conditions;
-- business opportunities (or lack thereof) that may be presented to it
and pursued;
-- competitive forces, including the conduct of other property and
casualty insurers and reinsurers;
-- changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations applicable to White
Mountains, its competitors or its clients;
-- an economic downturn or other economic conditions adversely affecting
its financial position;
-- loss reserves established subsequently proving to have been inadequate;
and
-- other factors, most of which are beyond White Mountains' control.
Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by White Mountains will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, White Mountains or its business or operations. White Mountains assumes no obligation to update publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.