Insurance and the comparison sites.

I changed car from a BMW 5 series (old) to a used Boxster a few years ago. Transferred the insurance over - as that was as good a deal as I could find on the comparison sites. It went up, of course, at renewal, but again seemed OK. Just got the renewal in and up again. So went back to the comparison sites. Same thing - seems I've got a decent deal.

So decided to try a not on the sites company. Direct Line, since my house insurance is with them. Cars used to be until they piled on the premiums.

Over a third less than my current insurer. Have the comparison sites lost their edge?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)
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I think that sometimes the premium offered to new customers is not always based solely on the risk but sometimes based on how much business the company has lost in the previous few months.

Reply to
alan_m

I lost all respect for comparison sites when they introduced a section for ?repair costs? after an accident. I?ve *never* been told the cost of an insurance repair job so couldn?t honestly fill in the on line form. The comparison company told me to chase up the data myself and couldn?t justify why they now ask for this figure.

Rather defeats the whole point of online comparison companies if they ask for data you can?t easily supply.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

I assume the questions the comparison site asks are a superset of the questions the underlying insurers ask. If one insists on asking the repair costs, the comparison site has to ask otherwise they'll never get a quote out of that insurer.

It's often cheaper to use the comparison site as a guide, and then go to your chosen insurer direct. So make up a number for the repair costs, see who it recommends, then go direct. Cashbacks are sometimes available too for direct purchases (ie you pocket the advertising kickback not the comparison site).

Theo

Reply to
Theo

I?m sure you?re right but they could simply put a tick box for folk who don?t know their repair costs. That way you could still get quotes from all the companies who don?t ask such questions. That particular insurer can just f*ck off or only quote for folk who do know their repair costs.

Forcing everyone to supply data they don?t have dramatically reduces the usefulness of the site.

Agreed.

Unnecessarily tortuous. I only use comparison site when I?m feeling lazy (as do most people I?m sure). Forcing lazy people to jump through more hoops is only going to encourage people to lie or go elsewhere.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

They usually show Churchill or Privilege at about the same price as Direct Line - but you should get 10% less as an existing house insurance customer.

Reply to
Nick Finnigan

I had a panic about that. The DL website showed I had no policies with them. House insurance was auto renewed a few months ago. Seems you have to enter a code from the policy to get it to appear on their site - even if you've logged in.

One thing I did notice when getting the DL online quote. No questions about where the car was kept overnight etc. Which features in the comparison site forms.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

My car insurance is due end of this month. For the past three years the price has come down, I always check the comparison sites for the same deal and they are more expensive. The Meercats etc are ?40 dearer this year for the same deal. I found that RAC insurance were the biggest bastards for trying to jack the price up.

Reply to
Mr Pounder Esquire

My Direct Line car insurance went up quite a bit this year - despite my complaint. I could not get a sensible better deal from a comparison sight.

Reply to
Michael Chare

IIRC several of the comparison sites are owned by Churchill/Bell/etc. I used to be with DL years ago, they went very pricey for me, but were by far the best at last renewal.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

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