Corporate Insight is pleased to introduce usage-based insurer Metromile as the 19th insurer and first insurtech in our P&C Insurance Monitor coverage group. Metromile is a privately held San Francisco-based company founded in 2011 by David Friedberg that offers policyholders personalized and customizable auto insurance rates based on their vehicle usage. The insurer offers a desktop site and mobile app for digital account management. Our July 2020 P&C Insurance Monitor Report reviews the online application and registration processes, onboarding and participant experience, public site, policyholder site and mobile app, and we comment on the strengths and weaknesses of each category.
Metromile, known for being one of the first companies to offer pay-per-mile insurance, competes with other telematics-focused insurtechs like Root and HiRoad as well as other traditional insurers, many of whom have their own telematics/UBI offerings. The majority (72%) of P&C Insurance Monitor insurers offer a telematics or UBI program, and some offer both—including Nationwide and Allstate. Currently, Metromile writes policies in Arizona, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington and only offers auto insurance. Unlike some other telematics programs that incorporate rating factors such as rapid acceleration or hard braking events, Metromile’s usage-based insurance approach prices policies solely based on a transparent formula, consisting of a monthly base rate plus X cents for each mile driven.
The report includes a detailed questionnaire recording the panelist’s insights about the usage-based insurer’s onboarding process, quote tool screenshots and email communications. We also break down the public site, policyholder site and mobile app with key findings for each platform and provide details about account self-servicing options as well as digital capabilities. The report features extended insights into these key findings:
- Retrieval of specific information and lack of help resources hinder rapid insurance quoting process
Metromile boasts a speedy, two-minute quoting process; however, a failure to outline required materials and information at the beginning resulted in delays when the participant had to retrieve documents. The tool also lacks the same level of help resources that leading traditional insurers offer, such as a defined progress meter, live chat and page-specific FAQs.
- Frequent communication accompanies onboarding process and encourages user engagement, especially important for usage-based insurers
Our June 2019 Telematics Report found that telematics participants were disappointed by communication from their insurers about their progress throughout the programs. Usage-based insurers should not only communicate throughout the onboarding process but should also periodically send updates and alerts to keep policyholders informed about changes to their policy rates. After purchasing a policy, the participant experienced an easy onboarding process along with email, phone and text communications about ID cards, the Pulse device, billing and a vehicle inspection.
The majority of the process was done online. I received confirmation emails welcoming me and outlining my coverage. I also received a phone call when I did not fully complete the application and had to schedule the inspection. I also got a text when my bill was available.
- Metromile’s modern and mobile-optimized public site features minimalist design
Metromile offers an attractive, fully responsive public site. The insurer highlights the main policy components, includes dedicated pages for its mobile app and claims process, and quotes positive customer reviews on the homepage. The site offers multiple quote start fields and quote start links as well as page-specific FAQs and a Help Center with a live chat tool. - Online account servicing options enable digital account management and policy updates
Metromile provides a simple policyholder site with five main pages: homepage, Policy, Billing, Claims and Account Settings. The site includes help resources like contact information, balloon tips, expandable FAQs and live chat. Policyholders can also make multiple changes to their policies, including adding, editing and removing vehicles, adding drivers, changing coverages and editing addresses. - Disparities between mobile app and desktop site limit mobile capabilities and functionality
The mobile app closely aligns with the policyholder site in terms of design, and it is intuitive to navigate with a static bottom-drawer navigation menu and Settings menu; however, the app lacks certain details provided on the desktop site, including driver information and billing documents, and offers fewer account self-servicing options.
Our P&C Insurance Monitor Digital Audit provides a comprehensive benchmarking assessment of insurers’ digital capabilities across more than 175 individual attributes. Out of a sample of 30 insurers, Metromile, as a usage-based insurer, scores above the overall industry average. Notably, Metromile scores significantly higher than other insurtechs such as Root and HiRoad, both of which prioritize investment in their mobile apps over desktop features. Metromile rates highly in the Account Information category, with stellar marks in the Policy Summary, Coverages and Vehicles/Drivers subcategories. The insurer also performs well in the Account Servicing, Website Design and Usability and Claims categories, standing out in the Policy Updates subcategory; however, Metromile rates poorly in the Mobile category, mainly due to the limited account information and account self-serving options on its mobile app.
Inquire about access to the P&C Insurance Monitor July 2020 Introducing Metromile report here. For more competitive intelligence on the customer experience that P&C insurance firms provide to clients and prospects, check out Corporate Insight’s P&C Insurance Monitor service offerings.
