Insurance & Insurtech Industry Trends and Leaders 2022
In the ever-evolving world of insurance, industry trends show that digital is the new battleground. One-third of industry leaders told Deloitte they expect revenues to be “significantly better” in 2022. And with 41% of consumers telling PwC they’d switch insurance providers to find one with better digital capabilities, it’s clear that a winning digital strategy will lead to success.
To help you enhance your organic marketing approach, our team at Conductor analyzed more than 24,000 searches related to P&C insurance, life insurance, and insurtech. The results of our extensive research shed a spotlight on the top insurance industry trends for 2022 and bring more clarity around the most recent definition of insurtech.
Property & Casualty Insurance Trends 2022: What’s hot in auto, business and homeowners insurance
Branded searches for auto insurance topics rose 17% from February 2021 to February 2022 as savvy shoppers seek nearby and affordable options. Searches for “car insurance near me” saw a 172% year-over-year (YoY) increase, while searches for “compare car insurance rates” jumped by 178% YoY. A breakout star: electric vehicle (EV) insurance. With U.S. EV sales predicted to double in 2022 , searches for “tesla car insurance” and “electric car insurance” were both up by more than 300% YoY.
Similar to auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance trends show searchers are looking for the best deal possible to confront fast-rising premiums . Bundles are gaining popularity with budget-minded consumers, with a 174% YoY increase in searches for the combined terms of “home and auto insurance.”
When it comes to business insurance trends, prime opportunities exist for carriers to offer coverage for new businesses and small businesses. Searches for “small business insurance” and “self-employed insurance” were both up more than 120% YoY. That’s no surprise, considering that experts say as many as 17 million new businesses will be formed in 2022. In addition, as rideshare and delivery companies grow revenues and add more drivers , we’ve seen significant spikes in searches for “commercial auto insurance” and “commercial truck insurance.”
Life Insurance Trends 2022: Interest surges, then levels off
About one-third of consumers surveyed in April 2021 said they were more likely to buy life insurance due to the pandemic . How has that affected life insurance trends in 2022? Search volumeSearch Volume
Search volume refers to the number of search queries for a specific keyword in search engines such as Google.
Learn more for branded life insurance terms rose 14% YoY, with searches for “iul insurance” and “whole life insurance policy” up 174% and 124%, respectively. But more recent search data shows potential signs of a market softening. Searches for “whole life insurance for adults” grew 387% from February 2021 to February 2022, but experienced zero growth over the last three months.
Specialty Insurance Trends 2022: The sky’s the limit for wedding, travel, pet insurance
With COVID-19-related restrictions easing nationwide, 2022 is poised to be the year of the Special Event and the Big Trip. This brings a potential tremendous upside for providers of specialty insurers in areas like wedding, travel, and pet insurance.
With an all-time record number of weddings predicted for 2022 , wedding insurance trends show more people searching branded terms than ever before, with volume up 48% YoY. In addition, we’ve seen enormous surges in search volume for terms like “special event insurance” (up 823% YoY) and “one-day event insurance” (up 400% YoY).
Travel insurance trends show massive increases in search interest as well, with search volume for travel insurance terms up 287% YoY. This is likely driven by pandemic-era realities. For example, with some cruise lines requiring unvaccinated American passengers to show proof of valid travel insurance before they book , searches for “cruise travel insurance” and “cruise insurance” are both up more than 800% YoY.
And here’s a cool trend: Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. households adopted a pet during the pandemic. However, less than 2% of households have dedicated pet insurance . That may change in 2022, with pet insurance trends showing a 35% YoY growth in searches for branded terms. This is one area where startups like Pawp and Pumpkin are making big inroads vs. established carriers.
Insurtech Trends 2022: 4 top subcategories to watch
Insurtech funding reached an all-time high in 2022 , with 566 deals and $15.4 billion in capital. That led to YoY increases in insurtech search volume, which was up anywhere between 14% to 86% depending on the keywordKeyword
A keyword is what users write into a search engine when they want to find something specific.
Learn more users typed into Google. Let’s explore industry trends across four top insurtech subcategories:
Cyber insurance
With U.S. ransomware attack volume rising by 98% in 2021 , interest in cyber insurance shows no signs of a slowdown. We’re seeing surging search volume for “small business cyber insurance” up 743% YoY, “data breach insurance” up 256% YoY and “cyber insurance companies” up 238% YoY.
Automation
Automation is another insurtech industry trend in 2022. As insurers look to cut operating expenses, they’re exploring how technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) can help them and their employees reduce repetitive work , cut claims processing time, and grow revenue. Search trends show high automation search interest in two back-office categories: underwriting and claims processing.
Artificial intelligence
We’ve broken out AI into a separate insurtech subcategory for a couple of reasons. For one, we’re seeing search interest in telematics continue to explode as consumers seek insurers willing to give them discounts for safe driving. Searches for “black box insurance companies,” for example, are up 600% YoY. Our deep dive into AI in insurance also revealed an interesting trend with startup Jerry.ai . It earned a monthly search volume (MSV) of 1K in February 2022 but has actually seen its MSV drop by 76% YoY.
Insurance Apps
Insurance industry apps round out our final insurtech subcategory. Industry search trends show that more customers are using apps to chat with agents, report a claim, get roadside assistance, and access policy information. Searches for “car insurance app” deliver an MSV of 27.1K. Our research also uncovers impressive MSV for terms like “insurance for uber driver” and “door dash insurance.”
Who is owning the market for these insurance industry trends?
These insurance industry trends only scratch the surface. To get the complete picture, read the full report to learn:
- Which brands are leading the market in P&C, life, specialty insurance and insurtech
- How top carriers are using organic marketing strategies to drive search traffic
- How business and industry trends converge to shape the insurance industry conversation online
