Insurance policies in Australia will be sold entirely via digital channels in three years, according to most insurers polled by consulting group Accenture.

About 70% of the 30 local insurers surveyed expect their sales channels to be fully digitised by then, while 33% have social media strategies in place to monitor and interact with clients.

And 43% say the use of connected devices to create personalised insurance is crucial to growing revenue in the next three years.

“This is really a response to customer needs and expectations,” Insurance Strategy Lead for Asia-Pacific Ravi Malhotra told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The Australian respondents were among 414 insurers surveyed worldwide last year to determine the impact of technology on industry distribution channels.

About 52% globally are moving towards digital channels or plan to do so in the next three years. Clients will still have access to insurance staff, but not necessarily face to face.

“It’s not taking humans out of the mix but using digital as primary and having access to humans where advice is needed or where that type of interaction is desired,” Mr Malhotra said. “It can be a web chat or even video if you want to see someone.

“When we do customer research, we find customers prefer to interact with people in certain situations… claims being one of them.”

Insurers in the global survey offer general, life and multiline covers.