NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.--Clearsurance, the independent and trusted voice of insurance consumers, today released results of its latest research concerning increasingly prevalent car insurance lead generation and price comparison websites. The survey was conducted to gauge customers’ experiences with these online marketplaces, given that some of them collect consumer data to sell to third-parties — including insurance companies and agents.

Of the nearly 800 consumers polled regarding their experiences with the top ten online marketplaces, more than 60 percent stated they felt extremely or very clear on what would happen to their personal data, despite the fact that some reported they hadn’t read anything regarding data privacy on the specific website.

These websites collect vehicle information, alongside personal information that may include birthdate, address, phone number, gender, marital status, education, occupation, income level, and more.

“While we were surprised to find a majority of consumers felt they were extremely or very clear on what would happen with their personal data, it’s interesting that consumers seem relatively comfortable with how online insurance marketplaces are using their personal data,” said Michael Crowe, CEO and co-founder of Clearsurance. “In an effort to fulfill our mission of providing a more transparent way for consumers to learn about and find the best insurance, we feel it’s an important time to begin allowing consumers to review and rate lead generation and price comparison sites.”

Clearsurance will be adding dedicated review and ratings pages for the online insurance marketplaces to its platform in the coming weeks.

Other key findings of the research highlighted a positive customer experience and mixed outcomes. These include:

  • More than 80 percent of respondents called the user experience positive, citing the ease of the process and online forms
  • Less than half of the participants actually purchased insurance from a company that provided a quote, with the primary reason for not purchasing being that the quoted price was not low enough to motivate them to switch from their current insurance company
  • People are more tolerant of solicitation emails than phone calls. When they did receive the right amount of emails (fewer than 8) or phone calls (fewer than 5), they were significantly more likely to use the online lead marketplaces or price comparison companies again as compared to those that received too many solicitations

“Our conclusion is that the majority of consumers find these websites helpful; and so long as the consumer can save enough money, they deem them worth the resulting solicitations,” continued Crowe.

“This new sub-industry is growing rapidly, and these websites – in all their forms – are here to stay. Our goal is to help insurance customers more easily understand the feedback from other customers who have used them for better transparency.”

To download the full report, click here: http://bit.ly/OnlineInsuranceMarketplaces.

About Clearsurance
Based just outside of Boston, Mass. and founded in 2016 by Michael Crowe and Todd Kozikowski, Clearsurance is the independent and trusted voice of the consumer, transforming the way people learn about and shop for insurance. Its mission is to empower a community committed to making the insurance customer journey more transparent and secure so you can protect your financial wellbeing. For more information, visit www.clearsurance.com.