Missed opportunities

Last week I cancelled my car insurance and switched to a new one. Nothing odd in that happens every year.

The insurer I was with was an online only broker they play on the fact that they give the best price cover because they don't have a call centre. Well clearly that's wrong because I beat the cost from another supplier.

The missed opportunity was that when I hit the cancel button on the site there was a question about why I'd switched but that was it. No attempt to see if they had a better deal for me, not even a sorry you're leaving. Nothing!

What a waste of a great opportunity, with the amount of data available on car insurance and the data they hold on me they could have given a perfect option for me - instead they did nothing and lost a customer.

For me this throws up another question.

How on earth do you ensure loyalty in the insurance market?

It's very cut-throat, most people don't make any claims for years and there's little interaction with the insurance company. The market at the moment seems to be all about cost, which is great for consumers but means that everything is driven to the lowest common denominator. Sheila's Wheels is one which stands out as it's niche is women drivers, but once you're insured how do they create loyalty and avoid the end of policy switch dance?