Customers are willing to buy but often do not appreciate the differences between buying Life Insurance and other Insurance products, the Cover Forum was told.
The warning comes with the figures produced for MoneySuperMarket whose research found 5.2 million people are planning to buy life insurance this year but many will give up on the buying process before completion.
The impact of technology on the market is being felt strongly 44% of people searching online for cover, up 10% on last year. The research also revealed that 3% of this traffic was going to Facebook and was described by Emma Walker head of protection at MoneySuperMarket as a "warning sign" that people are finding ads not advice.
Walker added, "I don't think we have an online generation anymore it's a thing of the past," citing statistics which showed that every generation of adults is now turning to the internet for information.
Of customers seeking life insurance 25% would use a price comparison site as part of the process of finding cover whilst many would not go on to buy it from them. The effect for a provider of being on a price comparison website produces what Walker called a "halo effect" suggesting that those providers listed are reliable in a way those absent from comparison sites are not for many consumers.
Consumers want to only have to provide their data once and using industries such as travel insurance and motor insurance as their point of reference when they are considering the Life Insurance industry, and don't expect there to be significant differences between them.
Walker added that it was "better if consumers set the agenda and we respond" to what they expect and are seeking, adapting to provide "ways to articulate differences in products" in an easy to access and use online format and provide faster and more accurate estimates.
