From Dallas Express · Dallas Express · · 2m
Nearly 1 in 3 insurance shoppers now ask AI
JD Power's first study of AI in insurance finds a third of customers already using it, and buying policies based on what it tells them.
In brief
JD Power's first study of AI in insurance finds a third of customers already using it, and buying policies based on what it tells them. AI has quietly become a front door to insurance shopping, so how well an insurer's own tools answer questions now shapes what customers buy. Originally reported by Dallas Express.
A third are already asking AI
JD Power's inaugural 2026 U.S. AI Insurance Experience Study found 29% of auto and home insurance customers use AI tools to research coverage, service accounts, prep a claim or shop a policy.
The new conduit to decisions
JD Power puts AI in the same category as the internet and mobile apps: a channel customers now route their biggest insurance decisions through.
“AI is rapidly becoming a critical conduit to key policy shopping, research and account management decisions”
Insurers no longer control the story
Many customers research and compare policies inside third-party chatbots, so insurers have to watch how large language models ingest and interpret their data and content.
Own tools vs outside tools
For research, 34% use insurer-provided tools and 33% use third-party ones. For quotes it is 25% versus 21%. Outside tools are nearly even with the insurer's own.
Servicing stays in-house
Account servicing is the exception. 27% use the insurer's own tools for it, while only 8% go to a third-party website or app.
It changes what people buy
Of customers who used AI to research products or coverage, 37% changed their policy afterward. Of those who used it to shop, 42% bought a policy as a result.
Comfort depends on the task
Customers are most at ease letting AI handle billing and premium calculations, least at ease with policy changes, claims and customer service. Gen Z and Millennials trust it more.
Most people still opt out
Majorities avoid AI for research (71%), quotes (75%), servicing (70%) and claims (87%). The reasons given are unfamiliarity, habit and not trusting the answers.
The next big insurer bet
JD Power's Eric McCready says AI tools are on their way to being among insurers' most important investments, and that execution will decide the customer experience.
“the future of the auto and home insurance customer experience will be dictated by how well insurers execute their AI offerings”
The takeaway
AI has quietly become a front door to insurance shopping, so how well an insurer's own tools answer questions now shapes what customers buy.
