Learn How the Home Insurance Comparison Sites Work and How to Work Them
Different home insurance comparison websites have different flaws. Whichever site you choose, make sure that you keep an eye out for the following problems listed in this article.
Home insurance comparison sites work by taking the information that you key in and automatically entering it all into the websites of several insurance companies and brokerage houses. When those websites process your information and come up with their results, the home insurance sites employ screenscraping technology to read off those webpages. The information is then passed back to you.
While this system works smoothly, you need to be aware that comparison sites only give you representative quotes. They don't pass your information to every insurance company out there. If your comparison site of choice doesn't look at the website of insurance company that has the cheapest rates, you'll never know about it.
The answer, then, is to use a multiple comparison sites. Merely using Confused, MoneySupermarket, Tesco Compare or Compare the Market doesn't guarantee you the cheapest quotes. You need to use all four and more, if possible. There is another problem too, depending on the comparison sites – there are a few major insurance companies that do not allow the comparison websites to display their results. You won't get Direct Line or Aviva on any comparison site. You need to look them up on your own to see what their prices are.
No comparison site is perfect
Different comparison sites have different flaws. Whichever site you choose, make sure that you keep an eye out for the following problems.
Opting out of the sites online marketing efforts is not easy, often. You are opted in by default and you need to hunt around to find the checkbox to uncheck.
A free online quote generating tool needs to make a few standard assumptions about the circumstances of each customer they come up with a quote for. They have standard assumptions on the size of home you have, the area you live in, the risk of theft or environmental damage you put up with, the excess involved and so on. It is often a good idea to check what these assumptions are before you take a quote seriously. Yet, many sites don't place their assumptions (or the way to edit them) in plain view. They are hidden.
When you find the cheapest quote
The cheapest quotes come to those who search on multiple home insurance comparison sites. Once you do find a great quote, you need to make doubly sure that you have accurate information. You need to go to the insurance company’s home website and key in the same information that you put into the comparison website.
Once the insurer's website comes up with the numbers, you need to study it carefully to make sure that it provides you find coverage you need. Is flooding damage covered? How about accidental damage? It's also worthwhile making changes to the numbers you plug in to see if it will bring your quotes down.
A few more tricks on getting a cheaper price
When you check for a quote with NatWest, they hold the quote for you for six months. HSBC, Barclays and Churchill, among others will hold your quote for three months. If you need to renew your policy, you should get a quote months in advance. If the prices go up by the time you actually need to buy, you’ll have an older, cheaper price in hand.
Some insurance providers and brokers offer to beat any price by 10%. You could make use of these offers.
Many insurance companies have unadvertised cashback deals with their online affiliates. If you want to buy Aviva insurance, for instance, you could go to a cashback website that pushes Aviva’s insurance (QuidCo and TopCashBack are popular). If you buy through them, they pay you back a certain percentage.
Finally…
Competition is cutthroat in the home insurance market. The insurance companies are desperate to hang on to whatever customers they can. Since it’s a buyer’s market, haggling actually works. To get the best deal, use all the quote generators that you can find. You should take the best numbers you get to the insurance company’s customer service and demand to be given a better price. You can be confident that they will relent.
Sam Jones the author often tells readers looking for home insurance comparison sites to visit uSwitch.com, a website full of information.
