How COVID-19 is Impacting Work at Home Life and Home Security

Accenture, a recognized global expert in digital, cloud and security, published in 2021 its bi-annual Global Consumer Study, surveying almost 48,000 insurance consumers on their expectations, behavior, and experience of industry products and services during COVID-19.

Home security was a significant element of the study. The results helped to better define how the insurance and security industries could better serve consumers. The results also offered key consumer insights to how COVID-19 has impacted their online behaviors, which in part is leading to an increased need for cyber security insurance products at home.

We thought the highlights of these findings were worth sharing, especially for small business owners, who are still trying to navigate the new realities of the pandemic and what comes next.

Here are some key excerpts from the study:

• During the first six months of the pandemic, the share of retail consumers who ranked financial security as one of their top three concerns rose from 36% to 50%.
• Homes have become digital fortresses. Not only is it a safe port in the COVID-19 storm, home is also functioning as a school, office, and a shopping mall, all of which are significantly changing how consumers view the role of their homes.
• Protecting the connection of the ever- critical link between home and the outside world has become paramount. The Internet Crime Complaint Center at America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that by June 2020, daily digital crime had risen by 75% since the start of stay-at-home restrictions. By the middle of 2020, the number of complaints received nearly surpassed the total for 2019.
• Identity and personal data protection concerns are the top concerns when it comes to home security. One in five consumers from the study worry their data will be stolen if they share it with providers. The increased traffic and use of the home computing environment is quickly making digital security a premium for consumers.
• Working from home has radically altered many consumers’ lives. Of those who can work from home, 56% expect to do so more frequently in the long-term than they did before the pandemic.
• While insurers have traditionally considered “cyber” coverage a commercial insurance product, consumers have grown increasingly open to that kind of offer. About 76% say they want help in dealing with cybersecurity threats.
• More than half would be interested in home cybersecurity insurance where premiums are tied to using the latest virus protection software. Millennials and younger consumers are particularly interested.
• School from home. Prior to COVID-19, just 4% of educational institutions were serving students through online programs. Nearly half of institutions had no online programs at all. That reality was quickly upended creating a massive migration to remote learning for school systems who could make the switch.
• Accenture predicts online purchases from new or low-frequency online shoppers will increase 169% post-outbreak, due to new habits formed during the pandemic.
• Working from home has also created changes in usage which have led insurers to offer rebates and decreases in rates on auto insurance. However, in some cases, prices of property coverage may increase in higher risk locations.

Reinventing the insurance offering from simple mitigation to one of end-to-end support changes the game. Helping protect consumers in an age of ransomware, malware, and other cybersecurity threats presents insurers with a way to grow their business in a new area, deepening and broadening their relationship with consumers.