Some of the country’s biggest price comparison websites are not following new guidance designed to ensure that millions of their customers buy the right insurance policy.
The “Good Practice Guide” was drawn up by leading online distributors and by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in an effort to boost confidence in the fast-growing sector.
The guidance is voluntary, but online distributors are encouraged to follow it to reduce customer confusion over price and policy features. However, less than three months after its launch, some sites are diverging from the code of practice.
Confused.com, which generates more than 1m quotes a month, does not provide a breakdown of voluntary and compulsory excesses on its results page, as the guidance recommends. Instead, its customers are given only a “total excess” and must click on a box for the excess split.
The guidance also states that customers should be provided with quotes only for the cover they have specified – for example, add-ons such as windscreen cover.
Confused.com, however, provides quotes outside the customer’s specifications. “We did not agree with all the guidelines” a spokesman for the website said.
“Our approach is to show customers a range of quotes including those better on price, but we do make it clear which quotes have the add-ons. A separate box for the excesses division is also better, because customers can get information overload.”
Another comparison site, GoCompare.com, does not include the annual percentage rate (APR) in its quotes if a customer opts to pay in instalments, as the guidance sets out.
“We don’t tend to display the APR figure as our own research shows that customers value the actual amount over the APR, which does not reflect the true cost of a policy,” a spokesperson at GoCompare.com said.
Both websites insisted that they were constantly working to improve transparency, in spite of differing from the guidance in some areas. Their approach has, nevertheless, worried consumer groups.
“The guidance was put in place to set standards and raise consumer confidence,” said Dan Moore, of Which? “Divergence at this stage doesn’t bode well.”
He added that showing the APR in the total cost was “essential and should be included”.
Some websites were also accused of being slow to implement guidance on total price disclosure, which should mean no customer gets a “refer to insurer’” message on their quotes.
“GoCompare.com are able to provide the data and always have, so why can’t the other sites?” said the British Insurance Brokers Association.
Moneysupermarket.com, the leading price comparison site, said it was working to eliminate such messages, but stressed that it was reliant on data supplied to it by brokers and insurers.
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