CORRECTION -- Uptick in Auto Insurance Shopping Follows Uneven Activity for Most of 2020

New TransUnion research reveals impact of COVID-19 on insurance shopping

CHICAGO, March 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a release issued under the same headline earlier today by TransUnion (NYSE: TRU), please note that in the "Four Largest YoY Shopping Decreases (Q3-Q4)" section of the table, the first row, the date range should be "Aug. 24-30", not  "Jul. 27-Aug. 2", and the "YoY % Shopping Change 2020 vs. 2019" for that date range should be "-4.4%", not "-3.3%". The corrected release follows:

The percentage of consumers shopping for personal auto insurance increased at the end of 2020 following large fluctuations – both on an increasing and decreasing basis – observed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. New research from TransUnion’s (NYSE: TRU) Insurance Shopping Snapshot Report reveals the rate of personal auto insurance shopping in 2020 rose 6.2% on a year-over-year (YoY) basis during the month of December.

The YoY shopping uptick observed in the weeks following Thanksgiving likely reflects strong stock market performance, improving consumer confidence, promising vaccine advancements and an increase in new car sales.¹

“While insurance shopping remained below 2019 levels throughout much of the second half of 2020, rates began to rise once again YoY in the last few weeks of the year – a promising trend heading into 2021,” said Mark McElroy, executive vice president and head of TransUnion’s insurance business. “Various factors such as the next round of economic stimulus payments, vaccine distribution and leading financial indicators will be important considerations as we continue to watch insurance shopping in the months ahead.”

Insurance shopping levels varied in the second half of the year as a result of the pandemic. Rates spiked to +12.6% YoY for the week ending July 5, building on the increases reported in June 2020² and coinciding with an uptick in used vehicle sales.³ These trends quickly cooled off toward the end of July and August, followed by a spike then dip in early September resulting from blunted renewal shopping activity tied to a pandemic-shortened March busy season.

Subsequent levels remained below 2019 shopping rates through the end of October. Notably, shopping dropped even further in early November to -9.7% for the week ending November 8, as insurance advertising took a back seat to election cycle ad spend.

Second Half of 2020: Largest Weekly Year-over-Year Changes in Auto Insurance Shopping

	Week Of (2020)	YoY % Shopping Change 2020 vs. 2019
Four Largest YoY Shopping Increases