ATLANTA, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LexisNexis® Risk
Solutions released its latest Insurance Demand Meter, reporting on
Q1 2021 U.S. auto insurance shopping activity. Despite big setbacks
in February from delayed tax returns and a deadly winter storm, the
quarterly year-over-year new business growth rate exceeded 7
percent and ended the quarter with notably large year-over-year
gains in March.
"March marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of
pandemic-related shutdowns, which brought much of our lives –
including auto insurance shopping and switching – to a screeching
halt. A year later, we are starting to hurdle that very deep trough
from the first quarter of 2020, and this is reflected in this
quarter's Demand Meter," said Tanner
Sheehan, associate vice president, auto insurance,
LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "The end-of- quarter growth is even more
notable when you consider the sharp mid-quarter drops from
Winter Storm Uri and a delay in tax
credits and returns."
February Freefall
Shopping patterns tend to increase
during the first quarter of each year, fueled mainly by income tax
credits and returns, making it a primary driver for growth as
insured and uninsured buy new policies. However, growth rates in
February 2021 were impacted by a
number of unordinary factors.
- Winter storm Uri – The effects of this system touched
the entire country. Texas, as the
most affected state, saw a shopping volume decrease of 41% points
due to power outages and damaged infrastructure, but many
surrounding states and much of the Eastern Seaboard were also
impacted.
- System outages at insurance companies with
infrastructure located in the path of the storm – Impacted
areas caused quoting declines in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Across the country,
shopping growth was -4.6% the week of the storm after growing 10.2%
the week prior.
- Income tax credits and returns – Delays in income tax
processing temporarily stalled shopping growth in a market already
affected by the winter storm.
March Madness
While shopping rates seemed to go in all
directions, March gave a more promising picture of what the future
may bring.
- Income tax processing delays may have caused new policyholders
to shop in March instead of February
- Resurging economy and lockdown lifts contributed to new volume
growth of 27.8% for the month
- The quarter overall finished with year-over-year new policy
growth of 7.7%
"As people return to a normal way of living, we expect the
industry and shopping activity to bounce back. Carriers will need
to be prepared with their new business and renewal programs to take
advantage of shopping growth and build on their brand promises,"
Sheehan concluded.
About the LexisNexis Insurance Demand Meter
The
LexisNexis Insurance Demand Meter is a quarterly analysis of
shopping volume and frequency, new business volume and related data
points. LexisNexis Risk Solutions offers this unique market-wide
perspective of consumer shopping and switching behavior based on
its analysis of billions of consumer shopping transactions since
2009, representing nearly 90% of the universe of shopping
activity.
To download the latest Insurance Demand Meter, click here.
About LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis® Risk
Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to
provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities
reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the
globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of
industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and
government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world
and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider
of information and analytics for professional and business
customers. For more information, please
visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com, and www.relx.com.
Media Contacts:
Rocio
Rivera
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Phone: +1.678.694.2338
rocio.rivera@lexisnexisrisk.com
Mollie Holman
Brodeur Partners for LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Phone: +1.646.746.5611
mholman@brodeur.com
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SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions