Following Corporate Insight’s last blog in May, P&C Insurance Monitor firms have continued to make notable additions to their mobile apps. Insurers have introduced updates to enhance accident assistance help resources, expand policy and billing sections, modernize payment capabilities, customize alerts and improve telematics programs.
Accident Help Resource Improvements
In-app accident help resources are an area of opportunity for many insurers, as we discussed in our March 2019 P&C Insurance Monitor Report on mobile app roadside assistance. Since then, two firms—Nationwide and State Farm—have rolled out mobile app accident checklists.
Nationwide’s new mobile app Accident Checklist allows users to switch between two formats: a guided view with step-by-step instructions and a list view that updates dynamically with green checkmarks as users navigate through the screens. The checklist provides a click-to-call 911 button, lists information to collect after an accident and allows users to take photos to save for later.
  
Nationwide Mobile App Accident Checklist
State Farm also added a mobile app Accident Checklist feature, which outlines steps to take following an accident and allows users to send the firm pictures and notes from the accident scene. The Accident Checklist screen contains three steps—Follow Safety Tips, Take Detailed Photos and Collect Accident Info—explained in bulleted lists. Conveniently, users can upload photos from their photo libraries in addition to taking new photos, and they can manually enter comments about each picture.
State Farm Mobile App Accident Checklist
Policy and Billing Section Enhancements
Improving mobile apps’ policy and billing sections helps clients view and make changes to their insurance policies more easily. According to our 2019 P&C Consumer Survey, 43% of respondents opened their insurers’ mobile apps over the past 12 months to check policy details, while 34% viewed coverage details and 32% accessed their ID cards. Three firms have enhanced their mobile app policy and billing sections in recent months:
- Chubb now allows users to add or replace vehicles and access updated ID cards.
- Travelers added a Detailed Coverage and Policy Info screen to the home policy section of its app, mirroring a corresponding page on the firm’s policyholder site. The screen offers more detail about policies and coverages than users could previously access from the app, including coverage types and limits, discounts and property information. The Policy Details screen features a long-scroll format but includes intra-screen tabs to jump to other sections quickly.
- State Farm enhanced the Personal Information screen, which now displays the user’s primary mailing address and detailed payment history with transaction amounts.
Travelers Detailed Coverage and Policy Info Screen
State Farm Personal Info and Insurance Screens
New Payment Capabilities
Innovative payment methods and features, such as credit card scanning, help clients easily pay their insurance bills through their mobile phones. In our November 2018 P&C Insurance Monitor Report on mobile app bill pay, firms generally did not enable users to select a preferred payment method, and only three—Allstate, Liberty Mutual and Progressive— allowed users to scan credit cards or check numbers. State Farm now allows mobile app users to make Apple Pay their preferred payment method using a toggle on the Apple Pay screen, while GEICO allows users to scan a credit card to add as a new payment method.
State Farm Apple Pay and GEICO Scan Credit Card Feature
Alert Customization
Our May 2019 P&C Insurance Monitor Report on policy alerts and notifications found that many firms have expanded their text messaging and push notification options in the last three years, although, only 43% of the 14 firms included in the report allowed clients to enroll in text alerts on the app. Since then, Allstate has added the ability for users to change their text and push notification preferences from the mobile app. Clients can tick checkboxes to select desired notification categories from a list of options: Payment Notifications, Late Bill Payment Notification, Easy Pay Reminder, Credit Card Payment Reminder and Credit Card Expiration Reminder.
Allstate Profile & Settings and Notifications Screens
Telematics-Related Enhancements
Telematics programs track driving data and performance and offer users greater control over their insurance premiums. Over half (63%) of the P&C Insurance Monitor coverage group firms offer telematics programs, and these firms continue to improve their offerings with app enhancements and program updates. Recently, State Farm made improvements to its Drive Safe & Save mobile app, the firm’s telematics offering that allows users to receive auto insurance discounts based on good driving behaviors and habits. The latest (3.0) version of the app incorporates smartphone sensors and a plug-in Bluetooth device, leveraging the Cambridge Mobile Telematics Drivewell platform. This version of the app automatically detects drivers’ actions and lets them immediately see how their driving behaviors impact their overall performance score.
For more competitive intelligence on the user experience P&C insurance firms offer their customers, check out Corporate Insight’s P&C Insurance Monitor service offerings.