The 2017 survey results for the Short Term Insurance industry were released on Tuesday, 29 June.
The SAcsi is an independent national benchmark of customer satisfaction on the quality of products and services available to household consumers in South Africa.
The survey aims to look at perceived overall quality, complaints, value, loyalty, and expectations while calculating brands' overall scoring for customer satisfaction.
The survey is conducted by contacting and interviewing customers of companies and users of government services via telephone and email.
"We are blown away by the positive feedback we have received from customers who have used our online quote platform, especially if you consider how detailed the SAcsi methodology is and how deep it dives into overall customer experience and satisfaction," says Vera Nagtegaal, executive head of Hippo.co.za.
"Consulta measured the customer satisfaction of Hippo.co.za customers, parallel to the Short Term Insurance SAcsi," adds professor Adré Schreuder, CEO of Consulta.
"As a unique value offering in South Africa there is not really direct competitors to compare Hippo.co.za with, but the SAcsi methodology has proven itself to allow comparisons across different industries," says Schreuder.
Schreuder adds, "Hippo.co.za achieved one of the highest SAcsi scores of all South African companies measured and the results show that the online platform consistently exceeds customer expectations."
The results show that in the insurance and financial services industry, customer experience and satisfaction are becoming a top consideration for businesses, both globally and locally.
In South Africa, regulatory measures such as Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) and Twin Peaks will place further emphasis on the importance of customer satisfaction.
According to the survey, TCF is an outcomes-based approached designed to ensure fairness to customers of financial services providers whilst Twin Peaks focuses on consumer protection and market conduct in the financial services industry.
The insurance industry is also impacted by digital technologies as more companies are employing online devices such as chatbots and driving behaviour apps in order to personalise the user experience, the survey reports.
It also shows how these digital technologies improve customer experience in terms of easy online quoting and purchasing, and personalised pricing methods based on individual driving behaviour.
"We have taken both the regulatory measures and technological factors into account and have further strengthened our business through digital innovations and changes that will ensure the customer continues to come first," says Nagtegaal.
Nagtegaal adds, "It is positive to see our efforts being manifested through the SAcsi results. Hippo.co.za was ranked as one of the strongest industry performers, achieving an overall score of 84.3. We also ranked higher than international brands McDonalds and Apple – reaching the fourth spot overall."
"We are proud of this achievement and will make sure we do everything we can to continuously improve our customers’ experience," concludes Nagtegaal.
For more information, visit www.hippo.co.za. You can also follow Hippo.co.za on Facebook or on Twitter.