A Fair Comparison

By Author: Chris Kouton
Total Articles: 10
Comment this article

The comparison website market has grown in recent years faster than any other. As the recession bites the advertising of these sorts of websites has gone up a notch trying to attract new customers who are looking to shave money off everything from insurance policies to mortgages to loans and anything in between.

Comparison websites operate on the old fashioned theory that to get the best deal you have to shop around - and though the theory is old-fashioned, it still, more or less, rings true. They offer to do the legwork for you and claim to offer a deal at the end of it that is the best out there.

Or is it? Not according to the FSA and definitely not according to certain insurance providers. Home insurance in particular is a problem because it is a composite form of insurance, and because there are many variables and no two sets of possessions are the same, no two home insurance policies are the same, and if they are, then you're probably not getting the best deal. .

Therefore, if you use a comparison website then there is every possibility that you will be getting some sort of template insurance that covers ...
... a large range of different things. The best home insurance policy is always the one most closely suited to your specific circumstances, so settling for a template isn't going to offer the best value for money.

Then there is the fact that not all insurance companies put their deals on comparison websites, and by their own admission different websites offer different deals as the best, yet, if they are all covering the same market in the same way, they should all get the same result.

The reason for this is that comparison websites make their money by commission from insurance companies and advertising. This commission doesn't come out of the insurance company's pocket, it comes out of yours and therefore the policy might be more expensive through a different website, or even directly from the insurer.

None of this means that comparison websites are altogther flawed. They are a great place to start your search because they will give you a generally low benchmark under which you should try and get. It is just that they are unlikely to find you the best deal.

Finding the best deal is about finding a company that will tailor a policy most closely to your needs, and for that reason you should take a look at Co-Operative Insurance as a good place to start your search, remember that you can always haggle with the insurance company to try and save money.

Choosing the right home insurance cover just got easier at The Co-Operative Insurance.