Cold callers are still the UK's biggest time wasters
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Even in the age of e-mail spam, one in four people say that old-fashioned cold callers are still the UK’s biggest time-wasters, according to research by online insurer swiftcover.com. However, Brits say their absolute biggest waste of time is the daily commute, as cited by 29% of people, with 51% having a daily commute of an hour or more.
According to swiftcover.com’s survey, these are the UK’s biggest wastes of time:
• 29% of people said commuting to and from work
• 26% of people said telephone sales callers
• 25% said doing chores or the housework
• 23% said long queues in shops were the biggest waste of time
• 16% said doing paperwork, i.e. banking, filling out forms etc
• 14% cited slow drivers as the biggest waste of time
However, people are taking steps to remove some of the hassle from their lives, particularly when it comes to utilising the internet – seven out of ten people are now doing their banking and setting up their car insurance online, whilst four out of ten are doing their shopping via the internet.
Unfortunately, 11% of people admit they are eating a lot more microwave convenience meals to save time these days.
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, said: “We live in a fast-paced world where we want things to happen immediately and demand instant gratification, which is why the growth of online retailing has been so quick – the internet is fast, simple and convenient, letting us decide what we want to buy and when we want to buy it.
“But because our lives are so busy, this means our downtime is even more precious and we don’t like it when we’re invaded at home or on our mobile phones by sales cold-calls from old-fashioned call-centres, trying to sell us things we don’t want and have not asked for.”
swiftcover.com found the most popular time saving measures were:
• 70% of people have switched to online banking and insurance to save time
• 42% of people do their shopping online
• 29% have hired a cleaner to save time on chores
• 19% have got somebody to do their ironing
• 11% admit they eat a lot more microwave meals
• 11% have hired a gardener
• 9% of people have established a rota to share the chores
• 6% have paid their kids to help out with the chores
ENDS
Note: Research carried out amongst 1,100 people
Notes to Editors
For press enquiries please contact:
Paul Beadle or Joshua Van Raalte
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
01865 556 000
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About swiftcover:
Based in Cobham, Surrey and employing over 800 people, www.swiftcover.com started trading in June 2005 and was born out of a desire to revolutionise the general insurance market.
swiftcover.com offers car, travel and pet insurance online, and is Britain's only insurance company without call centres, which means that the cost savings can be passed directly onto the customer and premiums are kept low. In 2008 swiftcover.com featured as the cheapest insurance quote on the comparison website moneysupermarket.com more often than any other insurer.
This powerful operating model combined with successful marketing and competitive pricing has proven to be a tremendous success. In 2008 swiftcover.com achieved over half a million live policies and in May 2009 sold their one millionth policy. They are considered to be the fastest-growing insurer in the UK.
In 2007, AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Insurance UK PLC which forms part of AXA Group.
About AXA:
AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group. AXA is a world leader in financial protection. AXA’s operations are diverse with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA employs 120,000 staff and tied agents and, as of June 30 2006, had €1,091 billion in assets under management. AXA reported total IFRS revenues of €72 billion and IFRS underlying earnings of €3,258 million for the full year 2005. Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.
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