Why have times become so tough for car insurers? I also noticed this myself as a customer when I received my letter at the end of last year telling me about the premium increase.
Simona Loges: Everyone probably notices in their daily life that prices have gone up substantially. This development has not stopped at the motor vehicle industry, and so ultimately it has not spared us either. Repairing vehicle damage has become considerably more expensive because the wages for workshop employees, the costs for their equipment and, above all, the prices of spare parts have soared, and even in some cases skyrocketed. At the same time, the number of extreme weather events is increasing enormously, which is leading to a larger number of vehicle claims and, for us as insurers, even higher expenses in comprehensive and partial coverage. Like all other insurers, we have had to pass these costs on to our customers.
What consequences did this have for Volkswagen Autoversicherung in terms of the number of policy cancellations?
Simona Loges: None at all – and we're very pleased to be able to say that! Cancellation behavior among our customers has not been any different from normal times. That shows that we have very loyal customers who are simply satisfied with our product and are happy to remain faithful to us. For that, we would like to thank them sincerely!
Where does Volkswagen Autoversicherung sell the most policies – still at the car dealership, or does online trading play a bigger role?
Simona Loges: The sales staff working in the dealerships of the brands Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, CUPRA, ŠKODA and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles are still by far the largest sales channel for Volkswagen Autoversicherung. But we are working to improve our online capabilities for concluding contracts and also to bridge the gap between taking out policies in the car showroom and on the home laptop or smartphone. In the future, for example, it should be straightforward for customers to start filling out the insurance application together with the salesperson in the dealership and then complete any missing data online at home. So we see Volkswagen car insurance as a hybrid product that can be concluded both online and in the traditional way. By the way, that's something else that sets us apart from many of our competitors.
Volkswagen Autoversicherung has a unique selling point in the market with a discount on liability insurance for driver assistance systems. Why was this discount introduced and how is it being received by customers?
Simona Loges: The more safety-relevant driver assistance systems are installed in the car, for example emergency brake assistants or distance control, the better it is for the customer – they benefit from a discount on their liability insurance of up to 30 percent. We have found that more than 91 percent of our customers are now receiving an insurance discount as a result of their installed driver assistance systems and are thus benefiting from this unique pricing feature.
Anthony Bandmann: And in addition to the customers, the Volkswagen Group brands are also beneficiaries of this innovative offer. They have an interest in ensuring that as many customers as possible opt for assistance systems – and we support them with an insurance offer that rewards precisely this purchase.
Photos: Stefanie Ludwig