Business Finance, Expert Advice & Information

The AA says that this year, the average cost of UK car insurance is up nearly 8 percent on 2007 with an increase of 2.5 percent in the first quarter alone. With premiums on the rise again, hard pressed consumers need all the help that they can get to find a good deal in 2008.

If you listen to the money experts, they all give the same advice – shop around for the best deal. But shopping around can be time consuming and confusing. It’s a good thing that there are now a number of powerful tools out there to make comparing prices and policies easier for those of us who don’t speak fluent insurance jargon or have all day to spend sat at a computer.

According to the experts, you can save up to £200 on your annual car insurance costs just by shopping around, and there are a lot of experts out there offering to help you find the best price. It’s easy to say ‘check the price comparison web sites’, but with so many out there claiming to offer the best quote systems and widest choice of insurers, just choosing the right shopping site can be almost as confusing as figuring out which insurer to buy from. So, here’s a little guidance to help you judge which price comparison web sites offer the best combination of choice and accuracy.

1. Use more than one insurance comparison web site
   It would be nice to believe that the price comparison sites are all run by friendly people who have your best interests at heart. The reality is that they exist to make as much money as possible and that income is derived from consumers using their comparison service and buying policies through them as a middleman. Some may make their money by accepting advertisements from insurers, others by taking a commission whenever someone (like you) follows a link from their site and makes a purchase.

   It’s important to be aware that not all insurance companies are represented on all the comparison sites, and this is why you should use at least two to ensure you are getting the widest possible comparison before making a decision. A few of the most popular sites are Gocompare.com, Moneysupermarket.com and Tesco Compare amongst others and you can find customer reviews of all three at uk-insurance-index.co.uk.

2. Understand the tools offered on each comparison site
   Every comparison site has its own quote system that promises to help you find the cheapest quote for your specific needs. But, depending on the site, you may get a generic quote based on the ‘most commonly selected options’, or a fully customized quote that takes into account the precise cover requested, and all the particulars of your specific requirements.

   Gocompare.com, for instance, allows you to add or subtract ‘optional extras’ to the standard quote, and checks the price with 39 insurers to tell you which of them will supply your insurance for the best price. The quote you get is based on the best price offered by those insurers for the cover that you want and is guaranteed to be accurate.

   At Tesco Compare, you’ll spend some extra time inputting personal details, but answering all those questions, they tell consumers, allows the site to generate a real-time, fully underwritten quote with individual prices that are based specifically on the options you select. Whilst the range of insurers quoted by Tesco Compare isn’t as comprehensive as some of the others, you are getting access to certain big name providers that aren’t quoted on any other comparison site, so give it a try.

   Moneysupermarket.com is the easiest to use – the questions take almost no time to answer – but you’ll also get the most generic quote. You’ll get a quick quote, but critics say that the quote is the most inaccurate of all the major insurance premium comparison sites.

3. Compare the comparisons
   At find.co.uk, you can compare car insurance policy data provided by the independent financial research company, Defaqto. This allows you to take the best quotes from the comparison sites and further compare detailed policy features side by side for free.
4. Talk to your current insurer before switching
   Why bother with all the comparison if you’re just going to stay with your current insurer? The answer is simple – because you may get a better price from them if they know you’re looking elsewhere. It’s in their best interest to try to keep you as a customer, so if you find an insurer that offers you a cheaper price for the same level of cover, give your current provider a chance to beat it. You may find that they’ll be happy to at least match the lower price, and you’ll save yourself the time and hassle of having to switch companies.

Tags: ar insurance comparisons, tesco compare, gocompare, moneysupermarket, car insurance broker, policy, cover | ar insurance comparisons, tesco compare, gocompare, moneysupermarket, car insurance broker, policy, cover

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 am and is filed under Money business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.