HOMESITE INSURANCE
Case Study—
Reducing Cancellations & Driving Retention: A UX-Led Strategy That Saved $1.6M in Premiums
Pedro’s Journey
In early 2020, as the pandemic reshaped lives across the globe, Pedro faced a tough decision. With his restaurant job affected by lockdowns, he decided to move back home to save money, and to be closer to his aging mom who lives in another state. This move meant canceling his renters' insurance policy, something he assumed would be simple. However, what Pedro encountered was anything but.
Pedro logged onto his insurance provider’s website, hoping to find a clear cancellation option. Instead, he found a confusing interface that didn’t seem designed to address his needs. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he finally came across a vague instruction: “Contact customer service to cancel your policy.”
Frustrated but determined, Pedro called customer service. After a 30-minute wait, he explained that he was moving and wanted to cancel his policy. The agent asked him numerous questions:
"Are you canceling because you’re moving?"
"Do you no longer need coverage?"
"Have you purchased insurance with another carrier?"
The process felt unnecessarily complicated, and instead of feeling helped, Pedro felt like a burden.
(Roles)
UX/UI Design Lead
(Method)
Thematic Analysis
Affinity Diagrams
SWOT Analysis
(Tools)
Figma
Illustrator
Miro Board
Tableau
Before 2020, Homesite Insurance relied exclusively on phone calls to manage policy cancellations, subjecting customers to a frustrating and time-consuming process. This approach not only eroded customer satisfaction but also placed a significant financial strain on the company, with each call costing an unsustainable $18 on average. The inefficiency and expense highlighted a critical operational flaw that urgently needed addressing to maintain both customer trust and business viability.
“I’m moving to a new city for a job, and I just want to take my insurance with me. Why is it so complicated? I couldn’t find any clear instructions on how to transfer my policy, so now I’m considering switching providers entirely. It feels like they don’t want to keep me as a customer. ”
Context
As part of our broader initiative to retain policyholders by assisting them through the insurance transferring process (detailed in "Adapting to a Shifting Market"), we identified significant gaps in this process. Customers faced confusion, frustration, and unnecessary friction when attempting to cancel their policies. This experience highlighted the need for intervention to improve both user satisfaction and business outcomes.
Why are policy holders all of a sudden cancelling their insurance policies?
Retention has been declining in the last year (Perhaps COVID, people out of work, up or downsizing, experiencing new changes).
Hefty goal in 2021 to increase revenue by 2pts. For the Digital team, we are responsible to 1pt (16 million is a point of retention).
We have horrible retention data. We have a lack of discipline across channels. That’s a problem.
Lastly, Policy Cancellation is buried, hard to find, blows up the chat and the call center channels. It’s about $18/a call.
98% of customers with intent to cancel is hard to retain. So we will let them cancel. Most likely have another policy with someone else already.
We can intervene with a Cancel Save Attempt, and in best case scenario, we can gain 12-18 ‘percentage’ points.
Cancel reasons are one dimensional, but we can be multi-dimensional with all of our channels.
The Bigger Problem
Pedro’s story reflects a broader challenge many customers face when canceling their insurance policies. The process is not only confusing but fails to account for the variety of reasons people might cancel, such as:
Moving to a new residence in general and unsure how to transfer policies.
Switching to another carrier for better rates or bundled discounts.
Primary Use Cases
Dissatisfied Customer Cancelling Policy
Data shows that 98% of customers who decide to cancel their policy follow through with it. These customers are typically unhappy, and their decision to cancel is final.Customer Uncertainty During Life Transitions
Customers moving to a new location or graduating to homeownership often face confusion about their next steps. Clearer language and actionable guidance are essential to streamline the process for these graduators. (View this case study about new movers)Customer Seeking Better Pricing or Value
Some customers consider canceling their policy while actively searching for better pricing, improved value, or both. Providing competitive offerings and demonstrating value can help retain these customers.Homesite offers premium value for renter's insurance, but its slightly higher cost may not be immediately clear to new renters focused on price. Effective customer education is crucial to highlight our benefits and reduce the risk of customers switching to competitors for lower rates or bundled discounts.
Missed Opportunities
Pedro’s experience highlights key areas where the insurance provider fell short:
Clear Navigation: There was no straightforward way to cancel his policy online, forcing Pedro to rely on an overloaded call center.
Understanding Intent: The company failed to differentiate between reasons for cancellation, missing opportunities to retain customers like Pedro who were simply moving.
Proactive Engagement: Instead of offering a seamless process or incentives to retain Pedro, the system pushed him to switch providers.
An Opportunity Identified
Unique situations like seasonal workers or students needing short-term policies:
Canceling a policy can be a unique case for students and migrant workers. Students often need coverage only for the academic year, while seasonal migrant workers require coverage for specific months tied to their trade. These cancellations are not due to dissatisfaction but to limited coverage needs. From a business perspective, this creates a valuable opportunity for follow-up efforts to regain their business in the future.
Affected Users
The cancellation problem affects all our customers, but specifically data points to 6% which is about 160K customers.
“I wanted to cancel my policy because I found a cheaper rate elsewhere, but no one explained my options. What if I missed out on savings or benefits for staying loyal? It shouldn’t take hours of searching or multiple calls to figure this out.”
Problem Statement
How might we simplify the insurance cancellation and transfer process to reduce customer frustration, retain policyholders during life transitions, and improve overall user satisfaction?
UX Research
This case study on the cancellation process did not involve separate UX research. Instead, we built upon insights from the broader research conducted during the "Movers Graduation" project, outlined in the case study Adapting to a Shifting Market: UX Strategies to Retain Policyholders. That research offered a comprehensive understanding of user needs and behaviors during COVID-19 and uncovered a critical sub-problem: customers encountered significant difficulties when trying to cancel policies through our servicing platform. Leveraging these findings, we addressed this issue as part of a larger strategy to enhance customer retention and improve the overall user experience.
Business Strategy
Reduce cancellations through education, retention efforts, and process improvements.
Streamlined Flows: Designed a three-step cancellation process:
Step 1: Promote product value and educate users on transfer or re-quote options.
Step 2: Identify reasons for cancellation (e.g., moving, switching providers).
Step 3: Offer additional engagement channels, such as live chat or callback requests.
New Features:
Cancellation forms with pre-filled customer information to reduce effort.
Opt-in options for future contact (e.g., students or seasonal workers).
Integration of FAQs to educate customers on alternatives, such as transferring policies.
Data Collection:
Aligned with stakeholders to track reasons for cancellation.
Added specific cancellation options like "moving" or "seeking better rates" to gather actionable insights.
Customer Empathy
To prevent experiences like Pedro’s, we reimagine the cancellation process with a user-centered approach:
Guided Online Flow: A digital experience that asks non-intrusive questions like, “Are you moving? Let us help transfer your policy,” would have simplified the process for Pedro.
Tailored Options: Offering clear choices—“Cancel my policy,” “Transfer my policy,” or “Request a better rate”— could align solutions with user intent.
Retention Strategies: Introducing incentives like loyalty discounts or easy policy transfers for movers could have turned a cancellation into an opportunity to build trust.
By addressing these pain points, the company not only reduces customer churn but also strengthens its relationship with policyholders during critical transitions.
Pedro’s story isn’t just an isolated incident—it’s a reminder that thoughtful, empathetic design can make all the difference in retaining customers.
Design Thinking
We created wireframes tailored to address the cancellation needs of our policy holders with the intent to pivot the customer, focusing on Customer Retention.
Define Phase
Working on the cancellation and customer retention initiative benefited greatly from the lessons learned during the “Adapting to a Shifting Market: UX Strategies to Retain Policy Holders” project, which occurred in the previous quarter. These insights helped us better address the immediate needs of our customers while refining our collaborative workflow.
The product owner and I established a highly effective partnership, holding weekly meetings to touch base, participating in impromptu video calls, and collaborating daily on Miro boards to improve wireframes and brainstorm ideas. This close collaboration fostered a streamlined and productive dynamic. In fact, our strong working relationship meant we communicated easily and efficiently, often operating as a tight-knit team for over a year and a half. This foundation of trust and collaboration proved invaluable in tackling complex user experience challenges.
Ideation Phase/Brainstorming
Research Insights
Customers felt overwhelmed by the lack of clear options.
Migrant workers and students often canceled policies not out of dissatisfaction but because of temporary coverage needs.
Many customers were unaware of alternatives, such as transferring policies or exploring loyalty discounts.
Key Challenges
Identifying Intentions: Differentiating between cancellations due to moving versus switching providers or other reasons.
Creating a User-Friendly Process: Ensuring customers could cancel policies without frustration while capturing valuable feedback.
Business Alignment: Addressing how to retain customers through targeted solutions, such as opt-ins for future contact or loyalty discounts.
High-Fidelity Mockups
The Cancellation Experience.
Tailored Options: Offering clear choices—“Cancel my policy,” “Transfer my policy,” “Request a better rate” or “Are you moving? Let us help transfer your policy,”— could align solutions with user intent.
Pedro wants to cancel his current insurance policy because he's leaving his apartment in the big city to move back home with his aging mother.
To his relief, Pedro sees clear and straightforward options: "Review Policy for Savings," "Speak to Someone," and finally, "Cancel My Policy." Without hesitation, he clicks on "Cancel My Policy."
To better understand why customers are leaving, we collaborated with business stakeholders to identify and categorize common cancellation reasons.
On this page, customers are prompted to select their reason for canceling from a list of both common and root causes. This allows us to begin tracking and documenting valuable data about customer attrition.
Pedro quickly reviews the options and selects "moving" as his reason for cancellation.
We ask Pedro to specify when he wants his coverage to end.
Using a date picker, Pedro selects the day he wants to terminate his coverage.
Pedro is prompted to confirm his mailing address. To simplify the process, we pre-fill the form with his existing information. If he needs to use a different address, he has the option to manually update it.
As Pedro reviews his street address he realizes it's incorrect.
Pedro is relieved to see an option to update his address, ensuring he will receive any important legal paperwork. He selects the checkbox, which reveals fields for entering his updated address. After providing the correct information, he clicks "Finish" to complete the process.
Relieved, Pedro successfully cancels his insurance and is grateful for the convenience of doing it online instead of over the phone. He appreciates the clear confirmation details, including his policy number, the cancellation effective date, and the updated mailing address where final correspondences will be sent. He notices a prominently displayed customer service phone number and an option to schedule a callback at a preferred date and time, which he finds particularly convenient.
Additionally, Pedro spots a section inviting him to stay in touch for future insurance needs. It highlights potential loyalty or rewards programs and reassures him that his information is securely stored, making any future transactions faster and easier—especially if he decides to move back to the city or needs coverage again.
An opportunity identified:
Canceling a policy can present unique scenarios, particularly for students and seasonal migrant workers. Students often require coverage only for the academic year, while migrant workers need policies that align with the specific months dictated by their trade. These cancellations are not due to dissatisfaction but rather the need for limited-term coverage. From a business perspective, this creates a valuable opportunity for follow-up efforts to potentially regain their business in the future.
Pedro is unsure how long he'll be staying at his mother's house—it could be a short stay, a long-term arrangement, or even permanent. Regardless, the option to stay in touch with Homesite, especially with the potential for a future discount, intrigues him. Seeing no downside, Pedro opts to have Homesite follow up with him in six months. After all, he has nothing to lose and possibly a discount to gain.
Pedro has successfully completed the cancellation process. While he initially felt frustrated—after all, no one enjoys the hassle of canceling a service, whether online or over the phone—he found the process to be relatively straightforward. Now, with confirmation of the follow-up date clearly provided, he feels relieved and ready to move on with his life.
Dev-Handoff
Facilitating Team Adoption of Figma
As projects progressed through the quarters, I encountered a new team during the cancellation project that lacked familiarity with Figma. Recognizing the need for efficiency and collaboration, I designed a quick onboarding process tailored to bridge this knowledge gap.
This was a time before Figma had built-in tutorials, tooltips, or quick-start guides available in 2024. To address this, I created:
Step-by-Step Guides: Clear documentation outlining key Figma functionalities like inspecting layers, navigating files, and utilizing the inspect tool for developer handoff.
Live Training Sessions: I hosted collaborative video calls to walk team members through Figma in real time, answering questions and providing immediate support.
Reference Materials: Cheat sheets with shortcuts and tips were shared for quick reference, ensuring team members could confidently use Figma as part of their daily workflow.
Here are examples of just a few components I built in Figma; Radio button cards, two-columned layouts with spacing, user feedback notifications.. These were part of the design libraries we developed internally.
Impact Results
To alleviate inbound call volume, Our team designed a digital experience that decreased cancellation calls by 6% and drove additional revenue by 1.6M in premium as we retained customers and offered them a new rental or homeowners insurance policy for their new place.
Successes were reached in the customer moving and retention areas by expanding multi-channel communication, integrating multi-policy holder enrollment, and improving payment experiences.
Improved renter to homeowner’s experience in the servicing side by retaining 7,560 customers.
360K calls are not going to cancel; and instead, they are re-quoting for better offers.
10% of customers are opting into future chase emails, meaning they have agreed to allow us to email them at a later point
Since the release, 6% of our customers have been retained, equaling 1.6M in premium.
Timeline
Phase 1: Completed in Q2 2020.
Phase 2: Finalized by the end of Q3 2020.