Insurance
Amazon makes its move into home insurance
Guest Author:
Emma LunnThe online retail giant has launched a home insurance comparison site, which it claims will offer a simple and convenient way to shop for home insurance.
However, the Amazon Insurance Store will only offer quotes from three insurers – Ageas UK, Co-op, and LV= – initially, with more insurers to be added in the next few months.
In comparison, the likes of Moneysupermarket and GoCompare offer home insurance quotes from more than 100 insurers.
Amazon says its new service will offer “a new, simple, and convenient way for UK customers to shop for home insurance”.
The Amazon Insurance Store offers what Amazon claims to be “an improved shopping experience for home insurance” with like-for-like quote comparisons, a streamlined and simple quote questionnaire, and a checkout experience integrated with Amazon.co.uk.
The Amazon Insurance Store will start rolling out to select customers today, and will be available to all UK Amazon customers by the end of the year.
Only asking essential questions
Jonathan Feifs, general manager of Amazon’s European Payment Products, said: “Shopping online for home insurance is a well-established experience, and our goal is to exceed customers’ expectations when it comes to the Amazon Insurance Store. This initial launch is just the beginning – we’ll continue to innovate and make refinements, all with the aim of delighting customers and providing the most convenient shopping experience possible.”
Amazon said the Amazon Insurance Store streamlines “one of the most burdensome aspects of the home insurance buying process” – the quote questionnaire. Customers are only asked the essential questions required by insurers in order to receive a quote.
As more customers purchase policies, the store will populate customer reviews, star ratings, and claims acceptance rates so customers can make more informed purchasing decisions.
All policies in the Amazon Insurance Store start with the same level of cover, called the Amazon Standard of Cover, which includes protection for some of the most common home insurance claims.
To purchase a home insurance policy through the Amazon Insurance Store, customers need to log into their Amazon UK account and fill out a short questionnaire.
After that, customers can compare quotes and further personalise their policy in the areas that matter most to them. If a customer chooses to add to their policy, quotes are updated in real time to see how an insurer’s policy compares to others. Once a policy is selected, customers can checkout using their preferred payment method on Amazon.
Post-purchase, customers can view their policies, change their payment method, and view renewal information through amazon.co.uk or the Amazon UK mobile app.