Supermarkets dominate

‘Supermarket’ sites are set to dominate the UK’s online market for personal lines insurance products, a new report has concluded. The report by Forrester Research, based on an industry survey, claimed that around 20% of personal insurance sales would be conducted over the net by 2005, creating a £3.1bn (US$4.7bn) market. However, Forrester analyst Benjamin Ensor said the new market would be dominated by supermarket sites built by a mix of start-ups, software houses and insurance brokers which “will undercut traditional insurance brokers by taking smaller commissions”. He said the supermarkets would distribute through web sites related to cars, homes, holidays and health – displacing the traditional partnerships with individual insurance companies.