Consumers anxious to help combat the cost-of-living crisis are shopping around for better value, with motor insurance the most common item for 67% of respondents to a new survey from Aviva Insurance Ireland DAC (Aviva ).
The latest consumer survey of 1,000 adults throughout the country, conducted by iReach Insights on behalf of Aviva sought to understand what the most common items are that consumers shop around for at renewal or when contracts end.
A close joint second to shopping around for the best value motor insurance policy, 56% of survey respondents said they also do so when renewing their electricity/gas supplier and their broadband provider. Just over half (52% ) of those surveyed said they shopped around for their home insurance policy, 38% shop around for the best TV package, while 32% undertook a similar exercise when renewing their healthcare policy. Only 11% of respondents claim to not shopping around for any of these items.
The Aviva survey found that:
More men than women shop around for motor and home insurance, broadband, and healthcare providers whilst more women take responsibility for shopping around for their electricity/gas supplier.
Those aged 18-24 years old and those aged 55+ are more likely to shop around when renewing their motor insurance policies
18-24 years olds are more likely to shop around for the best value healthcare policy at 64%
“It is evident from our research findings that consumers are actively shopping around for better value when renewing various policies and other service providers. Driven no doubt by the ongoing cost of living increases and supported by the increasing convenience of switching, all making it easy for consumers to understand if there is better value out there in the market and with a number of them facilitating the switching process,” Billy Shannon, Aviva, said.
The survey further probed respondents as to the amount it would take for them to switch their home insurance policy to another provider, with 35% claiming they would switch for any amount. Some 38% of those surveyed said they would switch for varying amounts of between €50 to more than €200. However, 13% said that it would depend on how complicated the switching process was, while 14% said it would depend on the insurer to which they would be switching.
“Interestingly, men (36% ) are slightly more likely to switch home insurance provider than women (34% ) for any amount of saving and more women (15% ) than men (11% ) say that it is not just about the money but how complicated the switching process is. Women (16% ) are also more likely to consider what insurer they would be switching to,” Billy Shannon concluded.
