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58% of auto insurance shoppers have a preferred carrier in mind before they shop.¹

When shoppers head into the market, more than half of them have a brand preference before they shop. Which brands are leading the way when it comes to pre-shopping preference, and what is the leading reason for that preference?

Which Brands are Pre-Shopping Preferred Carriers?

Of the shoppers who have a carrier in mind before they shop, 75% either consider State Farm, Progressive, GEICO, Allstate, or USAA as their preferred carrier, demonstrating a concentration of brand strength for the market share leaders. When digging a little deeper into shopper type, of these top five carriers, USAA has the highest percentage of shoppers who are high Customer-Lifetime-Value (CLV), while Progressive has the highest percentage who are low CLV.

What About the Rest?

Despite the brand strength of the market leaders, 7% of customers have a preferred brand that is not one of the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study’s profiled brands.

What Causes Carriers to Rise to Preferred Status?

For the top five preferred carriers, “positive past experiences” is the leading reason why a shopper has that carrier as their preferred carrier before shopping. This drives home the importance of monitoring customer satisfaction throughout the entire relationship with a customer and ensuring you are meeting evolving needs. Even if a customer defects, they may return at a later point in time based on their past and present experiences with you.

Does Pre-Shopping Preference Matter?

Based on the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study average, carriers show higher quote and close rates when they are the preferred versus not the preferred carrier.

Allstate demonstrates the greatest impact of being the preferred carrier—with a close rate that is 50 ppts. higher when it is preferred versus not preferred.

The Hartford has the greatest quoting lift from being the preferred carrier. There is an 83-point increase in the quote rate for being the preferred carrier versus not being the preferred carrier.

Key Takeaway

Experience matters. Brands that deliver a positive experience to their customers stand to benefit as a preferred carrier when customers start shopping again. And being a preferred brand has its rewards with both higher quote and close rates.

¹J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study

About the Author: Stephen Crewdson is a Senior Director in the Global Insurance Intelligence Group at J.D. Power. His area of responsibility includes intelligence around new customer acquisition, sales, and marketing for the property/casualty industry. He has more than ten years of experience at J.D. Power and a total of more than 20 years in marketing research and consulting.

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