Quoting Requests to Agencies Down 30% Since Coronavirus Shutdowns

While consumers may have more time to consider their insurance needs during this period of stay-at-home orders and non-essential business shutdowns brought on by the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic, they aren’t necessarily contacting their insurance agents with requests for quotes.

Insurance agencies’ personal lines insurance quoting volumes were more than 30% lower than expected at the end of March, according to a recent report released by Insurance Technologies Corp. (ITC).

Data from ITC’s TurboRater, a personal lines comparison rating system for agents, showed that at the week ending April 3, quoting volumes were 32.4% below a target baseline.

While TurboRater quoting volumes were down overall by 13.5% for the entire month of March, the downward curve only began during the last half of the month. During the first two weeks of March, there was a 2.6% increase in expected agency quoting volumes, but the latter half of the month saw a 28.3% drop in quotes, compared to the baseline target.

ITC said it did not find significant differences when comparing quoting volumes by state versus nationwide. However, states such as California, Washington and Illinois, which were some of the first to initiate business closures and stay-in-place orders, showed “earlier drops in quoting volumes but settled into 30% below expected quote volumes.”

Quoting volumes in states that were slower to react to the pandemic initially retained normal rating levels, but eventually caught up with the lower, national average.

Agencies that have invested in online, consumer-driven quoting capabilities on their websites fared better during the time period covered by ITC’s study of March quoting data. Overall during March, agencies with online quote systems saw a 3% increase in rating activities versus the 13.5% drop in quotes seen within the agencies that rely more on phone, referral or foot traffic, ITC said.

ITC’s State of Insurance Rating COVID-19 Weather Report #2 is the second in a series of reports that ITC plans to publish.