If you own a television, you can't help but notice the car insurance comparison companies bombarding your screen with repetitive adverts. They tend to have an annoying insistence of making sure they're at the front of your mind when you come to do your annual car insurance. But they also provide a valuable service - on the whole. But how do you separate the good car insurance sites from the bad? This is how...
Deciphering Car Insurance Comparison Site Advertising
Most comparison site advertising hinges on two areas - being the "cheapest" and market coverage. But they can't all be the cheapest can they?! It's 'possible' that some sites ask independent researchers to carry out their work at the same time as running a short term deal with an insurer or two - there are external factors that can make them appear cheaper when it counts.
But the fact remains that these sites are getting to a point where their panels are pretty similar and they're using the same technology. Differences in prices across car insurance comparison sites will come from manipulation of your excess levels and how well they've mapped your details from their site to the insurer's quote engine.
Also be wary of some very careful uses of terminology. One car insurance site has suggested that they compare "over 400 prices". When you think about it, this doesn't mean they're comparing more than 400 insurers, brands or even policies but few people spend the time to think about the message put out by the car insurance comparison companies.
Car Insurance Comparison Panels
There's no doubt that a car insurance comparison site is saving you heaps of time and saving your from repetitive form filling. This in itself is a huge benefit. Each "insurer" on a comparison site's panel represents anything up to a 10 minute time saving for you. But don't be mislead by the number of "brands".
Frequently, insurance companies are actually powering a large number of brands with only marginal differences in prices and policies. Although this provides you with good coverage (as each brand "may" specialise in different types of customer), you shouldn't be misled into thinking you've covered a wide variety of insurers just because you can see lots of logos.
It's also just as important for the car insurance comparison site to provide you with a range of different insurers on their panel. They should be making sure they have a reputable insurer for as many areas of risk as possible. Otherwise, their car insurance comparison service simply becomes a big brand comparison service.
