Auto Insurance Purchases Face Decline: Study

The percentage of consumers who shop for auto insurance is on the decline, according to the TransUnion Auto Insurance Shopping Index. Survey results reveal a downward trend that began in 2012.

Shopping rates for auto insurance dropped by 3% from February 2013 through February 2014. Just 15% of the credit-active population shopped for new policies in the past year compared with 15.4% in the preceding year. From February 2011 through February 2012, 15.7% of that population shopped for auto insurance.

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“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,” says Mark McElroy, EVP of TransUnion’s insurance business unit, in a statement. “This places additional pressure on insurance carriers as their pool of potential customers declines.”

Although overall shopping rates are on the decline, the study revealed two peak seasons in March and August. Experts hypothesize that the early spring increase is due to purchases made with work or tax return cash inflows received early in the year, and the late summer shopping a result of back-to-school auto purchases.

Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial ... View Full Bio