WhatsApp is still one of the most-used apps among the German-speaking population. One of the reasons for this is that chatting has become one of the easiest and most popular communication channels. But what is it like between insurance companies and their customers? Is chat also the first choice of communication medium?

This is what the IFZ Conversational Insurance Study 2022 is all about

At the beginning of the year, 1579 insurance customers (Switzerland: 1358, 116 Germany, 105 Austria) were asked about their chatting habits and preferences and the results were summarized in a new study.

Is chatting via WhatsApp and co. the future?

So far, not all customers are chatting with their insurance company. However, the majority of insurance customers are quite open to a chat with their insurance company.

A closer analysis of the survey data reveals that the majority of customers even prefer chats via non-insurance messenger channels, such as WhatsApp. This is surprising, as initial assumptions tended to suggest insurance channels such as the app or website. This is also the case for banks (you can find out more about banks in the IFZ Conversational Banking Study 2021). The well-known messenger channels are easier, more spontaneous and more flexible to use than insurance company channels. Customers’ main complaint about insurance channels is that they need a separate login again, which is unnecessarily time-consuming. At this point, however, it should be noted that concerns about data protection are significantly lower for insurance channels than for non-insurance channels.

In Switzerland, for example, AXA ARAG has already gained initial experience with WhatsApp as a chat channel for customers. In addition to the results of the customer survey, the IFZ study also contains a few interesting chat use cases from the world of insurance. Benjamin Bosshard from AXA ARAG reports positively on their first WhatsApp pilot in the study.

Chat mainly for simple and urgent requests

In principle, all age groups can imagine communicating more often with their insurance company via chat in the future. This applies above all to simple or urgent requests. Possible use cases include querying the status of a damage report, ordering documents or updating address data. Customers are even willing to share their data in the chat if, for example, it enables them to report a claim quickly and easily. A comparison of the age groups shows that young insurance customers in particular are the most open to chatting with their insurance company.

Young generations are also most likely to chat with robots

When comparing the existing chat channels of insurance companies, it is noticeable that human customer advisors do not always support the chat. Some insurance companies rely on machines, i.e. chatbots or voicebots, to answer chat requests. The IFZ Conversational Insurance Study shows that the younger generations in particular do not care much who answers their questions. Once again, the focus seems to be on simplicity and speed. If a robot can answer the customer’s query just as satisfactorily as a human could, the chat partner can also be a digital assistant. Florian Nägele from Helvetia Switzerland shows in the IFZ study how his team has been optimizing the chatbot “Clara” for years. In the study, he also explains how Clara is increasingly being used as a trigger for other customer actions, such as updating addresses, in addition to traditional customer inquiries. (You can also read more about chats at Helvetia Switzerland here ).

Man and Robert – Together into the future?

Bernhard Egger from BSI comments in the study that there are also hybrid solutions. According to him, these solutions are even the future. Hybrid solutions combine chats with human insurance advisors and robots. Insurance companies and customers then do not have to choose between the two, but benefit from the advantages of both. In reality, the robot usually comes to chat first and if it doesn’t know what to do or has answered the questions that can be automated, the chat is forwarded to a live agent. This human agent then processes the customer request. Bernhard Egger points out that insurers who want to offer this solution must also have sufficient internal resources. This is the only way to ensure that all customer inquiries that come in via the chat channel are answered within the expected time. As with many other technologies, it is advisable to start with a small, well thought-out use case. Initial learnings are then derived from this use case and the chat channel is further optimized and expanded. (You can also read here how AXA Switzerland has been using live chats and chatbots since 2016).

And what else?

You can of course read the whole study online or even have it explained by a little chatbot. Click here to go directly to the study.

And this QR code will take you directly to the study’s chatbot