Car insurance, costs and services: the value of efficiency

L’inflation he obviously didn’t spare her car insurance. According to the most recent data Ivassthe insurance supervisory institute, in February the average cost of a car liability insurance was equal to 395 euros, an increase of 6.5% compared to the same period last year. The increases, which also concern “virtuous” drivers, are justified by insurance companies with theincrease in claims costs: the costs of vehicle spare parts, labor and personal injury compensation have in fact risen.

However, it must also be said that changes are underway that help to contain the costs of the insurance business, starting from digitizationAnd. It allows, among other things, to automate many processes, thus reducing the time and resources needed to manage policies, to process complaints and provide customer service, to personalize offers based on driving data collected through black boxes and to prevent fraud by identifying suspicious patterns or anomalous behavior.

Today more than ever, therefore, it is necessary to carefully examine the offers on the market, looking not only for those with the cheaper pricebut also those with the better quality of service. A valid tool for orienting yourself in commercial proposals that are often difficult to understand in detail is represented by the latest edition, the tenth, of theAuto TPL investigation of theGerman Institute for Quality and Finance (Itqf).

25 insurance companies ended up under the lens of Itqf, of which 9 online and 16 with agencies, which represent almost the entire Italian market. The survey was carried out taking into consideration eight aspects (Itqf calls them “quality dimensions”) ranging from the quality-price ratio to digital services, obviously passing through customer assistance. Each “dimension” was in turn divided into numerous “sub-dimensions”. For example, the “quality-price ratio” takes three factors into consideration: the “quality-price ratio”, the “price transparency” and the “convenience of the additional guarantees”.

For each of the eight “dimensions” Itqf has drawn up a ranking of the best companies, dividing them into “online” and “with agencies”. Within these categories, the insurance companies that have achieved a score above the market average are listed in alphabetical order (they receive the “Top” seal) and those that have achieved a score higher than the average of the “Top” category ( they receive the “Excellent” seal).

Itqf then drew up a final ranking of customer satisfaction based on the results achieved in the individual categories. Among the insurance companies with agencies they fall into this small group Allianz, Axa, Generali, Groupama, Vittoria and Zurichall with the rating “Excellent”, e Yours, Italiana Assicurazioni and Cattolica with a “Top” rating. As regards the companies that operate only online, the names of stand out Allianz Direct, Genertel and Prima (all three with a rating of “Excellent”) e Conte and Telepass (“Top” rating).

“This year the overall level of customer satisfaction has improved slightly compared to the previous year – he says Silvia Bellavia, senior marketing manager at the German Institute for Quality and Finance – However, significant variation emerges not only between the different insurance companies, but also between the different service categories examined. Over the course of this year we observed that the critical point for companies with branches was the quality-price ratio, while for direct companies it was the management of claims. On the other hand, both insurance companies with branches and online ones seem to stand out for the quality of assistance and relationships with customers”.

The overall customer satisfaction index developed by Itqf recorded a score of 74.5 for customers who turned to companies with agencies and 76.1 for those who preferred to insure with an online operator. In both cases there was a slight progress compared to 2023, when the readings were 74.4 and 75.9 points respectively. “Our index of transparency and quality of the insurance market confirms the importance of promoting a greater transparency in the car insurance sector – concludes Bellavia – This would allow customers to make informed choices, opting not only for more convenient insurance products, but also more suited to their needs and with an excellent service”.

The criteria used to establish the judgments

Itqf carried out the Auto TPL study with a survey carried out using the CAWI (Computer assisted web interview) method. The survey, which was carried out in January this year, collected 4,120 judgments between car insurance policyholders in the last 24 months. Participants could evaluate two of 25 insurance companies (16 with agencies, 9 online), representing almost the entire Italian market. The survey covered eight dimensions of quality (product range, value for money, customer service, communication with customers, claims settlement, innovation, digital services, transparency), which in turn were divided into different sub-dimensions. Overall, each interviewee answered 34 questions. The ranking was drawn up by adding the results of the eight dimensions considered with the same weighting. In turn, the judgments of the individual eight categories were calculated by averaging the sub-categories.