As 2024 winds down, and as most executives are excited (and obligated) to do, I’m looking ahead to see what the future has in store for the industry. Here at insured.io, we’re all about enhancing the customer experience—and we’re also big on listening to what customers want. This year, we conducted a major survey to find out how customer expectations have changed, and, to quote me from 2023, “CX matters more than ever.” We see many of our anticipated trends from 2024 come to fruition, chief among them being the continued rise of the mobile device as the preferred way to interact with their insurance policy, with 80% of people wanting to use their device for routine tasks. In an ever-evolving industry (if you attend Insuretech Connect every year, you know), continuing to pay attention to the evolution of customer expectations is increasingly vital.
Here are my top 7 predictions for the next year:
User Experience Matters More Than Your Brand
We’ve known for a while that user experience (UX) is increasingly important to the average consumer. As people spend more time with top-tier apps that prioritize UX, expectations shift—even in the insurance world. Sure, coverage and price still top the list, but our survey shows that UX now ranks nearly equal to brand in how consumers pick their carrier. Customers aren’t just choosing based on the premium or a recognizable logo—they’re actively seeking insurers that deliver a top-notch digital experience. Expect your brand to take a back seat to experience in 2025, which is aligning itself in importance with price as consumer expectations continue to change.
Mobile Reigns Supreme, All Hail Mobile
With half a million registered users on our platform across all lines of business, we’re pretty confident that the desktop is going the way of the dinosaur. A full 86% of our users accessed their policy from a mobile device, trending up from 2023, meaning if you’re not delivering an exceptional mobile experience, you’re missing the mark. Millennials often prefer making “big purchases” on a desktop, but insurance clearly isn’t in that category. Over 80% of our survey respondents said they’d rather manage their policy from their phone. The exception to this, of course, is claims. Keep reading.
The Claims Experience Gets a Facelift
Here’s the reality: your Google and Yelp reviews don’t reflect how good your underwriting is. The impression of your company is primarily driven by the quality of your claims experience. The claims process is stressful and confusing for many people, which is why fewer than half prefer submitting claims on a mobile device. So far, most companies haven’t optimized claims for today’s mobile-savvy user, and it shows. Simple updates—like notifying customers of their claim status, a service even Domino’s can handle for pizza orders—are in high demand. Nearly 60% of respondents said they’d switch companies to get real-time claim updates. It’s past time for a claims overhaul, and carriers know it. In 2025, expect a renewed focus on simplifying the intake experience—making it more automated, less stressful, and more user-friendly. Keeping customers informed and in the loop will be a top priority.
Tech-Enabled Carriers Get a Big Boost
Earlier this year, we predicted that major insurers pulling out of states like California would create a golden opportunity for mid-tier carriers. Not only were we right, but the growth has been even more dramatic than expected. We’ve seen a serious expansion in 2024 from carriers prepared to take on the wave of newly available business—and those ready to step up have reaped the rewards. Expect this to continue in 2025, as larger carriers remain cautious in certain geographic areas and smaller, UX-savvy carriers continue to fill the void.
Embedded Insurance is a Game-Changer
Interest in embedded insurance surged this year. Customers want more options and flexibility in buying insurance, fueling a wave of unique, micro-focused products tailored to their needs. These mini-policies are starting to find their way into workflows we wouldn’t have imagined a few years ago, and it’s only the beginning. We predicted Insurance Shopping Platforms would become more relevant, and in this case, many more non-insurance platforms in 2025 will begin to embed insurance directly within their workflows. In fact, in a survey by Adacta, nearly 94% of survey respondents view embedded insurance as a critical part of their future strategy.
IVR is Making a Comeback In a Big Way
With the resurgence of voice as an engagement channel, insurance organizations should examine IVR's relevance more closely. Emerging advances in AI, customer behavior analysis, and cloud-based telephony solutions will soon be able to solve many of the legacy challenges, making IVR systems relevant, highly engaging, and more efficient. Generative AI (GenAI) has the potential to completely reinvent the customer experience (CX) across the board, but most dramatically for voice. By eliminating the dependency on static scripts and harnessing the power of natural language processing (NLP), GenAI will usher in a new era of personalized, efficient, and intelligent IVR systems.
AI is Poised to Take… The Passenger Seat
This might be my hottest take. Despite the hype, the “Rise of AI” hasn’t exactly overtaken the industry as predicted. Yes, people are using AI (our new IVR voice, Ivy, is AI-generated), and plenty of folks are running their emails through ChatGPT for a quick polish. But a full AI revolution? Not quite yet. In fact, according to IDC Worldwide, only 68% of GenAI proof of concepts met KPIs, and an even smaller amount made it into production. For now, it’s more a helpful sidekick than a replacement for core operations. Carriers are starting to see AI for what it is: a powerful tool, not a one-stop solution. In 2025, we’ll see AI used more as a timesaver, efficiency booster, and experience enhancer, allowing carriers to improve what they already excel at, rather than as a catch-all fix. In 2026, however, all bets are off.
About the author
Steve Johnson is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at insured.io, a company focused on improving the customer journey and accelerating digital transformation for insurance organizations. Steve has led the charge in building insured.io’s unique and powerful platform, maintaining overall responsibility for the organization’s product, design, development, analytics, and marketing. Steve exhaustively reviews performance metrics, user behavior, and business needs to continuously innovate and deploy high-quality solutions. He is also an evangelist for the customer experience and believes thoughtful, unique, and personalized attention to the insured’s needs is paramount for carrier acquisition and retention.
Sponsored by: ITL Partner: insured.io
