Most buyers research online but still want an advisor to close high-value policies.
Nearly 80 per cent of the insurance buying journey in India now happens online, and online research influences about 40 per cent of health and life policies sold, according to a report by Google with McKinsey as knowledge partner.
The study, based on a survey of 1,039 insurance consumers and insurer data, found that buyers who research digitally but close with an advisor outnumber fully online buyers four to one. Fewer than 30 per cent are comfortable buying high-value policies through a purely digital checkout.
About 78 per cent of consumers shortlist two or three brands before speaking to an advisor, and more than half stick to that shortlist. Around 60 per cent of online researchers watch videos, and 41 per cent use AI-generated search summaries to compare options.
Policies bought offline after online research carry about 40 per cent higher premiums than traditional sales. However, more than 40 per cent of buyers said they felt treated as anonymous leads and had to repeat their needs.
