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Has Online Shopping for Auto Insurance Peaked?


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By Andrew G. Simpson | May 13, 2014; The Insurance Journal reported that shopping over the internet for auto insurance is down for the second year in a row, says a survey by a company that tracks the behavior of consumers with credit history.

The latest TransUnion Auto Insurance Shopping Index reports that shopping rates for auto insurance were down about 3 percent in the 12 months ending Feb 2014 relative to a year earlier. While 15.0 percent of the credit-active population shopped for new auto insurance policies in the 12 months ending Feb 2014, this was down from 15.4 percent for the 12 months ending Feb 2013, according to TransUnion.

“We are finding that despite billions of dollars being spent on advertising each year, the percentage of consumers shopping for auto insurance has been dropping for approximately the last two years,” said Mark McElroy, executive vice president of TransUnion’s insurance business unit. “This places additional pressure on insurance carriers as their pool of potential customers declines.”

Similarly, declines for auto insurance shopping rates were observed for the full years of 2012 to 2013. While 15.2 percent of the credit-active population shopped for new auto insurance policies in 2013, this was down from 15.7 percent for 2012.

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