"As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, insurers must prioritise transparency and robust regulation to maintain consumer trust and confidence."
- Michael Cook - PwC
The 2026 Guidewire European Insurance Consumer Survey has found that a third of UK customers feel comfortable about insurers using AI only if human oversight is still used and there are strong safeguards in place.
30% of customers said they would be happy with their insurer using AI tools to make decisions about the price of their insurance policy, while 38% agreed they would be happy with AI assisting them in completing insurance documents and policy applications, and 39% are comfortable with AI supporting human call handlers in answering their questions.
With little year-on-year change in customers’ comfort with how insurers use AI, UK consumers highlighted three key priorities, with 33% citing the ability to refer the decision to a human operator if the customer disagrees with it, 26% citing an explanation of why the AI made the decision that it did, and 23% citing independent regulation to keep the technology in check.
The survey also found that customers who use AI daily in their personal lives are twice as likely as the rest of the UK population to trust automated insurance pricing, with 63% comfortable with 'human-free' decisions on policy, compared to 30% of the general public.
In addition, 80% of people who use AI on a daily basis said they would be happy for the technology to assist them in filling out insurance documents and completing policy applications, compared with 38% of UK consumers overall, and 59.5% of daily AI users are comfortable with the technology deciding and processing insurance claims or determining claim value, compared with 27% of the general UK public.
Nevertheless, 30.6% of daily AI users said that transparency was a prerequisite for trust, and 39% said that they would still require human checks to trust processes and decisions carried out by AI.
This comes after the FCA, in a joint statement with the Bank of England and Treasury, called for firms to plan ahead in order to mitigate cyber-attacks by frontier AI, the capabilities of which "amplify cyber threats to firms’ safety and soundness, customers, market integrity, and financial stability," thus highlighting the need for "effective protective, detective, threat containment and cyber response capabilities."
The statement said that firms should take active steps across governance and strategy, identification and risk management of vulnerabilities, managing AI cyber risks from third parties, and ensuring effective protection in terms of access management, network security and data protection, as well as plans for a quick response to and recovery from frontier AI-driven attacks.
READ MORE: Reassured launches AI non-disclosure risk identification solution
"AI is playing an increasingly important role in the insurance industry, and customers are becoming more comfortable with its use. Our report shows that when customers clearly see its value, they are significantly more likely to accept AI within the insurance process," Charles Clarke, group vice president at Guidewire, said.
Charles continued: "To further enhance acceptance, customers are calling for greater transparency, regulation, and human oversight. Insurers should work collaboratively with one another, with technology providers, and with regulators to meet these expectations and build lasting trust in how AI is used, whether those capabilities come from their core platforms, embedded assistants, or broader AI partners."
Michael Cook, partner at PwC, added: "The findings underscore a clear desire among UK customers for a balanced approach to AI in insurance, embracing the efficiencies and convenience it offers, while ensuring that human judgement remains integral to decision-making, especially as the use of AI moves beyond delivering efficiency into more value-additive work and ultimately, operating differently.
"As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, insurers must prioritise transparency and robust regulation to maintain consumer trust and confidence, including the adoption of the appropriate governance and frameworks and exploring the role of AI to 'manage AI'. Striking this balance will be key to unlocking AI’s full potential in delivering fairer, more personalised insurance services and moving to a very different way of operating with a combined people and agent workforce."
