uSwitch: Code of practice for financial comparison websites

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, the independent online price comparison and switching service, responds to the Resolution Foundation’s call for a voluntary code of practice for price comparison websites: “Price comparison sites play an important role in making complex decisions simple for consumers and help them to navigate a crowded marketplace to identify the best product for their needs whilst saving money.

“We make it very clear to our customers how we make money (outlined in the “About us” section of our website www.uswitch.com1) and have applied the same ethical principles of impartiality to all of our products. uSwitch.com is one of very few sites to have had EnergyWatch accreditation since 2001. In addition, we recently wrote to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) suggesting that a code of practice be developed for the personal finance price comparison industry.

“While the Resolution Foundation’s concept is still very much in its early stages of development, we welcome any initiative that will result in increased consumer confidence and are happy to be actively involved in a full consultation on this issue.”