Announcing the Annual Monitor Award Winners in Insurance and Annuities

The annual Monitor Awards program recognizes digital innovation and best practices, awarding gold, silver and bronze medals in recognition of significant advances in web and mobile user experience over the past year.

“In 2020, the insurance and annuity industries experienced unprecedented pandemic-related call volumes, pushing further innovation in online self-service capabilities,” said Michael Ellison, president of Corporate Insight. “We expect to see continuing investment in DIY web and mobile customer service capabilities, including seamless pre-login options, that enhance account owner loyalty.”

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Below, we proudly present the 2020 Monitor Award gold medal winners, determined by our Property & Casualty Insurance, Life Insurance, and Annuity Industry research services:

Property & Casualty Insurance

Pre-Login Self-Service Features

• GEICO impressively features five desktop site pre-login options, the most out of all our coverage group insurers, earning it the gold medal. By offering several requests—Get ID Card, Add/Replace Vehicle, Go Paperless, Make a Payment and Policy Documents—the firm enables policyholders to manage the main aspects of their accounts without logging in.

Policyholder Site Homepages

• Liberty Mutual earns a gold medal for its well-balanced homepage that seamlessly links to key account management activities. The homepage provides an abundance of account information, navigational outlets and promotional elements.

Public Site Homepages

• American Family wins a gold medal for its well-organized public site homepage, featuring an embedded quote tool within the banner and quick links for returning policyholders. The firm also highlights ways prospects can save money and links to its wealth of educational resources.

Mobile App Home Screens

• Allstate earns the gold medal after completing two mobile app updates this year, resulting in a well-rounded, aesthetically pleasing and functional home screen. The most recent app revamp added more color contrast, enlarged action buttons and new blue banners. The July revamp redesigned the home screen and added a bottom-tabbed navigation menu, which includes Overview, Coverages, Payments, Claims and profile links.

Auto Quote Tools

• Progressive stands above other auto quote tools for its high degree of customization thanks to its Name Your Price tool. The insurer offers additional resources throughout the quoting process, such as live chat and chatbot support, telematics enrollment and a competitor comparison feature.

Account Information

• Liberty Mutual earns the gold medal for its attractive and detailed policyholder site pages enhanced with color, icons and interactive elements. The homepage greets policyholders by name and prominently displays billing details in a tile at the top of the page that lists the next payment date and amount.

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Life Insurance

Account Owner Self-Service Capabilities

• USAA earns a gold medal for the broadest range of account maintenance options in our coverage group. Users can update their beneficiaries, contact information, linked social media accounts, email preferences and financial profile.

Cross-Site Branding

• MassMutual takes the gold medal for its clear and consistent branding across its public site, account owner site and mobile app. The firm regularly employs its own font style with size and boldness varied to distinguish titles from body text. Similarly, the mobile app matches the design elements of the public and account owner site, creating a cohesive brand experience across platforms.

Public Site Product Information

• Prudential takes the gold medal for covering topics from the basics of life insurance to specific product information in a well organized public site section. A range of product type overview pages are available in a comprehensive Life Insurance section.

Bill Payment Capabilities

• State Farm wins a gold medal by offering the most payment options of any firm, with a prominent pre-login bill pay capability, credit card payments and recurring payment options. The firm represents one of only three in the Life Insurance Monitor coverage group to offer capabilities for credit card bill payment and one of two firms to offer capabilities for pre-login bill payment.

Advisor Site Publicly Available Information

• Nationwide makes nearly all advisor site content available before login, earning it the gold medal in this category. Along with rich product details, extensive product pages include target markets, available riders, eligibility requirements and videos.

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Annuity Industry

Account Owner Mobile Capabilities

• Equitable receives the gold medal in this category for providing a mobile experience comparable to that of its desktop site, offering the most capabilities of any app within the coverage group.

Public Site Product Information

• Lincoln Financial Group receives the gold medal for the depth of information provided within its public site product pages, deploying different levels of information to appeal to a variety prospect interests, with product type overview pages offering clear descriptions and benefits of annuity types.

Public Site Education Resources

• Brighthouse Financial receives the gold medal for its dedicated Education section with a specific Retirement Income Solutions topic committed to supplying resources on annuities.

Account Owner Document Centers

• USAA receives the gold medal for a dedicated document center that presents a comprehensive and well-organized format with unmatched customization options and the ability to upload and store documents.

Advisor Site Sales Materials

• Brighthouse Financial receives the gold medal for its comprehensive marketing center findable from the homepage and main navigation. The center offers detailed filters along with favoriting functions and search capabilities.

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