Guidewire, an insurance technology platform provider, has published its 2026 European Insurance Consumer Survey, finding that a third of UK customers are open to AI use by insurers.
The annual study found that 30% of UK consumers would be comfortable with their insurer deploying AI to determine the price of their policy. Acceptance climbs when customers can identify a clear personal benefit: 38% would welcome AI helping them complete insurance documents or policy applications, and 39% are comfortable with AI supporting human call handlers. Both figures holding steady from the previous year’s research.
With sentiment broadly unchanged year-on-year, UK consumers identified three conditions they consider essential for greater trust in insurer AI adoption. Human intervention was cited by 33%, transparency by 26%, and third-party regulation by 23%.
The survey also drew a sharp distinction between everyday AI users and the broader population. Daily AI users are twice as likely to trust fully automated insurance pricing, with 63% comfortable with policy decisions made without human involvement, against just 30% of the general UK public.
When it comes to completing insurance documents, 80% of daily AI users expressed comfort with AI assistance, compared with 38% overall. More than half of daily AI users (59.5%) were comfortable with AI deciding and processing claims or determining claim value, versus 27% of UK consumers as a whole.
Even within this more receptive group, transparency (30.6%) and maintaining a human in the loop (39%) remained important prerequisites for trust.
Guidewire group vice president Charles Clarke said, “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.
“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.”
PwC partner Michael Cook said, “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.”
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