The Web Is Mobile. So Why Isn’t Your Renters Insurance?

According to some estimates, 39% of the traffic on the web is mobile. So why isn’t your renters insurance?

No, really. If you’re mobile, and the web is mobile, why can’t your Oregon Renters Insurance be mobile as well?

There’s actually a really good reason that it’s hard to find mobile renters insurance quotes and why renters insurance quotes don’t play nicely with cell phones much of the time. Well, it’s a reason. As to whether or not it’s a good reason, we’ll let you be the judge of that! Learn more after our Oregon renters insurance video guide!

So what’s that “good” reason that it’s hard to find mobile renters insurance quotes? Why don’t companies often make their sites useful for those on a phone or tablet? And how can that problem with the industry be fixed?

If The Web Is Mobile, Why Aren’t Renters Insurance Quotes Easily Available On The Mobile Web?

The “really good” reason that renters insurance quotes have been hard to find on the mobile web is quite simple. The insurance industry is very, very slow to embrace change. It’s a conservative industry, especially where personal lines policies are concerned. The rating factors that have worked in the past largely continue to work, and to be predictive, so there’s not much incentive to change.

In a nutshell, change brings risk in the eyes of insurance companies.

Effective Coverage is the first renters insurance provider to offer an entirely mobile responsive quoting and buying experience, without transferring you to another website and without lead generation tactics. When you go through the mobile quote process, you’re actually buying a policy in real time. That’s not something you can do on most insurance websites, and it’s something that we’ve worked hard to bring you.

The Insurance Industry Has Shied From The Risk Of Instant Mobile Renters Insurance Quotes

The insurance industry has traditionally seen a great deal of risk in instant mobile renters insurance quotes. One of the perceived types of risk is “last second” policy purchases. Let’s imagine that someone has a small kitchen fire, and it gets out of control. Could they buy renters insurance in Oregon from their cell phone as they’re running out the door to escape the fire?

No, that’s not how that works. It’s not possible to buy coverage for a loss that’s already occurred – that’s why you can’t backdate renters insurance. If the loss is in the process of occurring, you can’t buy renters insurance online or any other way to cover it. It would be crystal clear when you went to make a claim what you had done, and the claim would not be paid, so the risk really isn’t there.

The insurance industry is also largely marketing policies in a last-century fashion. Many of the major players in the insurance business somehow actually believe that consumers want to walk into an office between 9 and 5, or that all consumers demand a full relationship with the person who handles their insurance.

Many people do still want to walk into a brick and mortar office, but certainly not the majority. Many people want a relationship with their insurance expert, but not the traditional relationship. They want to know they can call someone who will be familiar with their policies, but they also want to make sure that they can maintain that relationship without having to go into a physical office somewhere during business hours.

Traditionally, insurance firms have viewed the relationship and the physical office as inextricably tied together. That’s no longer true. In an age of a mobile web that lets people fall in love across countries and across oceans, “relationship” does not have to mean physical proximity.

What's Your Insurance Language?

• Do You Need Renters Insurance ASAP? Check out the fastest way to buy renters insurance online and get covered in just 60 seconds!
• Do You Feel Like Talking About It? Just call Effective Coverage and a renters insurance expert can help you get great coverage in minutes.
• Do You Need Some Time Alone With Your Thoughts? We understand, which is why we created the Oregon Guide To Renters Insurance. 
• Just Want To Watch A Movie Together? See our Video Oregon Renters Insurance Guide!

Mobile Renters Insurance Quotes Should Be Affordable, But Are They?

The national average price of renters insurance is just $187.00, according to the III. That works out to as little as fifteen dollars per month.  The vast majority of families can budget renters insurance easily at those prices.  

Additionally, it's important to note that renters are at a significantly higher risk of experiencing loss than homeowners.  Renters occupy roughly one third of total housing stock in the country, and yet they are fully fifty percent more likely to experience theft than homeowners, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

It only costs a few dollars a month to protect your family, and this cheap renters insurance is a great way to mitigate the additional risks that come with being a renter.

Oregon Renters Insurance is often even less expensive than that. We’ve seen premiums in the Pacific NW as low as ten dollars a month, though those are usually paid for in full for the year. Renters insurance in Oregon is far less expensive than in many other states. That’s partially due to fewer catastrophic losses, and it also has a great deal to do with the fact that most residents of Oregon have embraced buying their insurance online.

When you buy renters insurance online, you’re actually saving money as part of the distribution of the insurance, because there are expenses that don’t have to be paid out of that. That’s yet another reason that Effective Coverage has made it possible to buy mobile renters insurance, because it’s possible for the policies to be less expensive that way.

We can’t fault the industry as a whole for being resistant to significant change. Those who have been in the business for more than a few years will recall a number of catastrophic losses, including several once in a lifetime events. There is reason to be cautious and risk-averse when underwriting insurance.

Perhaps the problem comes when people who are by nature risk-averse are the ones making decisions about how to market and make available their products which are designed to reduce risk for others. It’s always been important for those making IT systems decisions and marketing decisions to understand insurance. Did some of that risk-averse nature come through with the understanding? Probably.

Effective Coverage, like every other firm in insurance, believes in being cognizant of risk. That’s the very nature of insurance. The difference is that we recognize that making products available in new ways doesn’t have to expose new risk, and we work with partners to make it happen in a way that benefits both consumers and underwriting. The future of insurance is in understanding that new distribution channels need not equate to additional risk, and in choosing the right partners to put those channels into place.

What Are The Benefits Of A Mobile Renters Insurance Platform?

By working with Effective Coverage to get mobile renters insurance, you realize a number of benefits.

• A relationship with insurance experts for renters
• Financial savings
• Quick and easy quotes and policies
• Binding coverage from your cell phone in less than a minute
• Highly rated policies

You’re working with a company that believes in innovation in what is often seen as a stagnant industry, and you’re working with a company that believes in offering both convenience and expertise. You don’t have to choose between convenience and being able to call and ask questions of an insurance expert for renters, you can have them both. Whether you have a question during the quoting process or a question down the road, you can count on being able to call or chat with an expert.

To get covered, just call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need OR renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!

Effective Coverage offers the nation's only completely mobile platform to quote and purchase renters insurance right from your phone or tablet in just one minute. Get an online renters insurance quote today and protect your family.

Photo Credit: Tom Hamilton HD Issued Blackberry CC BY 2.0