Comparison sites still defaulting to higher excesses

Comparison sites are still defaulting to high voluntary excesses in order to provide cheaper quotations, according to independent financial research company Defaqto's latest report into the market.

The report: Web Aggregators 2009: The bubble is about to burst - which investigated nineteen major aggregators and over 60 white-labelled sites across the motor and home sectors - found that a number of aggregator sites still automatically defaulted to a selected voluntary excess without the consumer actually choosing the level required.

Report author, Mike Powell, insight analyst for general insurance at Defaqto, said: "It appears that some sites are more concerned with providing cheaper premiums by defaulting the voluntary excess level.

"Although most sites allow the user to change the voluntary excess to a level that is more acceptable before quotations are provided, it is an easily missed question. It is certain that there are some customers who either do not read the question or simply do not understand what is asked of them. Automatically defaulting to a higher excess takes away the need for the customer to understand what is being asked."

Mr Powell added: "For example, if an aggregator defaults to a voluntary £500 excess, quotations that are provided are based on this level of excess. If the customer chooses an insurance provider whose compulsory excesses are not clearly stated, they could find themselves with an excess of £600 or more when they need to claim. This clearly is not treating customers fairly and aggregators must remove the automatic defaulting of excesses and allow the customer to make their own choice."

In addition, Mr Powell highlighted the fact that with over 140 motor insurance providers and more than 200 policies available, the choice for consumers was both immense and confusing: "It can be very confusing as to which site they should be using and this completely defeats the point of comparison sites, which are meant to make the customers' purchase easier."

Go Compare topped Defaqto's motor insurance comparison website table (77%), closely followed by Tesco Compare (76%). The top ten sites rated by Defaqto were: Go Compare, Tesco Compare, Confused.com, I4Insurance, Moneysupermarket, Q4Insure, Tiger.co.uk, Uswitch, CheaperCover.com and Comparethemarket.

In 2008 Defaqto rated home insurance aggregator sites and found numerous issues within the market. After reviewing the sites this year Defaqto found that although some improvements had been made, there were still problems in the market. Cover information was unclear and consumers still needed to check with the insurers about cover limits, excesses and exclusions that were applicable.

As a result Defaqto rated home insurance sites but was not prepared to state who the best aggregator site was. Consequently, Tesco Compare and Uswitch were rated at 84%, followed by Go Compare, Confused.com, Comparethemarket, Moneysupermarket, BeatThatQuote, Only Insurance and Quotezone.