Insurance Ads: 'We're not on price comparison sites!!'

[collateral]

And now I see why - your quote is 2x the price!!

What's that all about then?

[touching cloth]

Annoys the hell out of me. "We don't pay them commission so can pass the savings onto you".... all well and good if you did but you aren't!!

[KrazyIvan]

I dont get how those price comparison sites stay in business, I use them, then promptly ring the 3 lowest companies directly and get the price even lower (normally £10-£30 less). I never buy my insurance through them or ever click on there links

[JQ]

Nope, Direct Line were the cheapest for me - both on my modified MX5 and Mrs JQ's C-Max. They beat all the comparison sites and price matched Adrian Flux and Sky.

As stated above these website should only be used as an indicator - you then phone them up speak to a real person and negotiate - you'll be amazed how much the premiums drop.

[obscene]

Was with DL last year, this year they are a rip off !!!

[mrmr96]

KrazyIvan said:

I dont get how those price comparison sites stay in business, I use them, then promptly ring the 3 lowest companies directly and get the price even lower (normally £10-£30 less). I never buy my insurance through them or ever click on there links

Not everyone is like you.

[Stubby Pete]

My favourite bit of "spin" was always:
We don't make introductory offers then increae our premiums next year, we give you twelve months for the price of ten.

[slipstream 1985]

i live my life by a few little motto's and one of them is

do exactly the opposite of what the "masses" are doing.

so if every tom dick and harry uses go compare etc says they are getting a great deal they most likly arnt.

[Tony*T3]

DL renewal: £507

Comparison site: £214 (not cheapest either, but best coverage from large insurer)


So cheap I couldnt be asked phoning their Bangalore office direct for another £10 saving.

[cs02rm0]

Direct Line quoted me > £1000.
Privilege quoted me < £500.

Privilege are on comparison sites and are owned by DL.

[ShadownINja]

I think they hope people don't bother checking. I use comparison sites to get quotes, then go direct.

[stigmundfreud]

The Crack Fox said:

Dunno, Direct Line were twice the price of everyone else for me, and I'm no great risk (on paper, anyway )

funny, they werent on comparrison sites and 2x cheaper than everyone else. I know just how much mark up such places make too and the prices they charge to insurers (our company uses them) so I would suspect most places are cheaper if they are not on such sites

you will find most places on such sites are the same underwriter just bundled under different brands

[Ozzie Osmond]

Direct Line can be much cheaper for some customers. My family have 3 cars with them.

Fact is you need to shop around every year in the whacky world of car insurance!

[JB!]

Ozzie Osmond said:

the whacky world of car insurance!

say whip.

[dibblecorse]

cs02rm0 said:

Direct Line quoted me > £1000.
Privilege quoted me < £500.

Privilege are on comparison sites and are owned by DL.

Privildge are Direct Line, it was their 'high risk' brand before it all went to RBS.

[freecar]

JB! said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

the whacky world of car insurance!

say whip.

Now say "cool whip"

[cs02rm0]

That's kind of my point...

[off_again]

I find Price Comparison websites nightmares. Not only do they not necessarily give you the best price, but then you get hounded by insurance sales people for weeks. Its a bloody nightmare! Did it for my car insurance renewal - oddly DL was the cheapest (Not on price comparison sites). Also did it for my house insurance and again DL were the cheapest.

What got me was that there were some seriously cheap quotes on the price comparison sites, so I follow them up and oh look, the prices increase when I get what I want. I guess the best use of them is to check the sanity of any quotes that you have had, but then you still have to do the donkey work. Phone around and get the price cheaper that way - its well known that price comparisons dont give you the real picture so its all a bit of a con.

[djmck30]

collateral said:

And now I see why - your quote is 2x the price!!

What's that all about then?

Always makes me laugh - "we're not on comparision websites, so we don't pay commission to middlemen".

Excellent, so all those ad slots on seemingly every primetime commercial break are free, then? Convinced Stephen Fry and Paul Merton to waive their usual voiceover fee, too? Thought not!

[Killer2005]

There's also the fact that some of the larger insurance companies own the comparison site, admiral own confused.com iirc