Member Article

Half of home insurance policyholders unsure if they are covered for ID theft: new research reveals major opportunity for insurers

Half of UK home insurance policyholders do not know if they are covered for identity theft protection, despite the surge in cybercrime, according to new research by Collinson.

The research, conducted amongst 1,045 UK home insurance policyholders, found that 49% did not know if they were protected against the growing threat of identity theft – and a further 25% said it was not offered by their insurer.

While home insurance policies cover theft of personal belongings inside or outside of the customer’s home, the loss of personal or financial items, such as passports, bank cards and driving licences, or information stored on a mobile, tablet, laptop or pc poses a longer-term threat to their identities.

Other key findings demonstrate an opportunity for insurers to raise awareness amongst policyholders of identity protection options / products available to them and the benefits they bring within home insurance:

• 70% of policyholders are very concerned about the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or identify fraud • 79% consider identity theft to be a useful addition to home contents insurance cover • 64% would like the product to be offered as standard, rather than as an add on • 55% would be happy to pay between £2 and £5+ extra for this service.

The research findings come at a time of escalating cybercrime, with CIFAS Fraudscape stating that, in 2018, 64% of all data breaches globally involved identity theft and 84% of identity fraud reported in the UK the previous year occurred online.

Steven Cunnington, Senior Product Innovation Manager at Collinson, commented: “This research highlights a strong consumer appetite for identity theft protection to be offered as standard and a significant opportunity for insurers to improve existing cover. This should be clearly communicated during the purchase of a home insurance policy to ensure customers understand identity risk and the cover available.

“It’s interesting, too, to see the additional premium policyholders would be willing to pay to cover themselves against identity crime – it’s a price point at which both consumers and insurers can benefit.

“Crucially, the advantages to insurers of recognising the demand for identity theft protection extend far beyond premium income. By tapping into these emotional drivers through the provision of value-added benefits, our findings strongly suggest that insurers can deepen and improve customer engagement and ultimately lifetime value.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Collinson .