Peopleschampion.com urges consumers to ‘Challenge Sir Fred’

Sir Fred Goodwin, the Chief Executive of RBS Group, and the parent of Direct Line, should be challenged as to why his insurance businesses don’t like being compared in the consumer market place.

Jim Spowart, the Chairman of Peopleschampion.com, said: “Direct Line has decided to take a shot at independent price comparison sites, claiming we are in the pocket of financial companies. This is completely untrue in our case. I challenge Sir Fred Goodwin to take a few moments away from his bid for ABN Amro to tell consumers why his insurance businesses don’t like being compared in the market place.”

In Mr Spowart’s own experience it is because Direct Line is now not as competitive as other insurers, as his household position below indicates.

One of RBS’s insurance businesses is Churchill, which throws out a national challenge to customers, yet it is not on price comparison sites. Now Peopleschampion.com is calling on Sir Fred and RBS to explain the RBS Group policy of why it thinks it can operate without its products being compared.

“We are in a different climate now and there is no hiding place – the banks and insurers have a duty to explain their services – and we’d like to know why they don’t want to be compared against the rest of the market. I think consumers can draw their own conclusions about this.”

Mr Spowart, who was a founder of Direct Line financial services, saved a considerable sum when his household switched from Directline.

“The policies with Directline were in my wife’s name. The car insurance total premium with Directline was £385.35, yet Marks & Spencer quoted us £267.70 - a saving of £107.56. This was like-for-like cover. And on home Insurance our total premium was £324.45p, yet Marks & Spencer quoted us £215. 22 - a saving of £109.23. So on these two items our household saved £216,” said Mr Spowart.