For a multi-trillion dollar industry, you’d think it would be common sense to keep track of the market and consumer issues. The industry is perceived as being top-heavy, bureaucratic and cynical. Consumer discontent has been growing for decades, in all ranges of insurance from car insurance to home insurance, and it seemed like nobody was actually been paying attention.

Somebody was, and it was the New Economy model insurers. These are basically online businesses, and they’re as allergic to bureaucracy as consumers. High cost administration practices aren’t their idea of good business, and these insurers are very streamlined in their operations.

The result has been a stampede of customers to these insurers. The culture of the traditional insurers, including high premiums, obscure bureaucratic practices, and a standard of customer service varying from the absurd to the irritating hasn’t exactly endeared itself to consumers. The new insurers are gouging out a huge market share as a result.

The insurance industry hasn’t done itself any favours in recent times with a stonewall approach to both premiums and claims payments. Perhaps the most common complaints of consumers in all industries are about insurance.

The situation has been literal goldmine for the new insurers. In addition to a new business methodology and a new approach to marketing products, they’ve added customizable insurance, which is a major departure from the typical standardized policies of the past. In car insurance, for example, customers are offered policies based on usage, in contrast to the typical traditional policy, normally based on standard patterns.

The irrefutable fact is that lifestyle environments have changed drastically since these policies were first introduced, and in many cases they’re no longer even relevant to consumer needs. As any marketer could explain, that’s a great way of losing consumer interest in a hurry. Add to this a few Draconian claims review procedures, and you’ve got a market looking for better options.

The new insurers have one particularly deadly competitive trick up their sleeve as well. The fact that they’ve managed to slash administrative costs so successfully also means by definition they can provide better, more cost-effective deals for customers. A quick look at the customizable policies is very informative in this regard.

The new insurers have kept it simple. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, they’re making their products a lot more flexible, and therefore easier to adapt for consumers to adapt to personal circumstances.

In the field of car insurance, the new insurers have been able to create a series of customer options which is based pretty much on conventional lines, and is much easier for policyholders to work with, understand and manage. Consumers can actually get car insurance quotes and manage their own policies online, and if they need help, the new insurers have customer support backup as and when required.

This process is practically seamless, and compared to old-style insurance is a breath of fresh air. What used to take days of painstaking paperwork can now be done in a few clicks. It’s no great surprise that the new insurers are getting a huge slice of the market.