US insurance consumers are becoming more demanding on what they expect from their insurance provider, according to a new insurance survey from Ernst & Young. They’re looking for more personalized service and want to be rewarded for customer loyalty. Consumers are also increasingly willing to buy multiple products from the same carrier as long as those products fit their individual needs.

The survey included more than 24,000 consumers of insurance products in 23 countries. “We designed this survey to be far-reaching, to touch across geographies and demographics, and as a way to help insurers contend with one of their biggest challenges: anticipating their customers’ needs and devising ways to serve them more effectively,” says David Hollander, Ernst & Young’s Global Insurance Advisory Leader in a news release. “This survey uncovers valuable insights into consumers’ perceptions that we think all insurers – in the U.S. and abroad – can use to change how they sell, service and market to consumers across multiple products lines.”

What they discovered as that consumers continue to want better service and more loyalty rewards. More than a third reported feeling that life and pensions insurance industry is lagging behind other sectors. The good news is, most don’t plan on going anywhere with 65% saying they are either not at all likely or not very likely to change insurers over the next five years. “This is the best time for insurers to make key investments in data analytics, predictive modeling and service-related technology that will help identify product leads and develop tailored messaging and personalized offers for existing consumers,” Hollander says. “With consumers claiming they are open to being sold new products when the time is right, insurers need the technology and systems in place today to manage their sales efforts across a large customer base.” The survey also found that while people are more comfortable with conducting research online, they still want to talk to a real person when they need to.

Don’t be surprised if your car salesman tries to sell you insurance, too. Car dealerships and auto manufacturers could see a major boost in revenue when they sell insurance products to car buyers. A new study from Finaccord, a financial market research group, found that when auto dealerships and manufacturers sell things like auto insurance, extended warranties, GAP insurance and roadside assistance, they can experience a profit increase.

“Across 26 countries, dealers sold policies to consumers worth an estimated at €16.8 billion [$22.8 billion] in revenue in 2010, which is the equivalent of 4.6 percent of the underlying value of the new and used cars that they sold to retail customers, across six financial services,”  the report showed according to Insurance Journal. “Insurance, warranty and assistance services are especially valuable to the automotive trade because policies last for more than one year, and in the case of motor insurance can be renewed as long as the customer owns the car,” Finaccord consultant David Parry commented to Insurance Journal. “This helps to smooth out the peaks and troughs in car sales themselves. Because most policies are multi-year or get renewed, 70 percent of this revenue came from policies in force at the start of 2010, while the remaining 30 percent came from policies sold in 2010 itself.”

In countries like Russia, selling this products have resulted in billions worth of premiums sold. In Germany figures are even higher according to the report. Finaccord says that about $1.6 billion of gross premiums came about through the auto industry. “Insurance, assistance and warranty products are very important to manufacturers and importers as well as car dealers,” Parry told Insurance Journal. “Dealers often use the official partner of their manufacturer brands only for these financial services, whereas they may have one or two independent providers for finance and leasing contracts as well. Because there is less competition through this channel, dealers, manufacturers and importers can benefit from higher margins, which can be essential when the car market itself is so highly competitive.”