GoCompare comments on Citizens Advice’s research on home insurance loyalty penalty
GoCompare comments on Citizens Advice’s research on home insurance loyalty penalty
Ryan Fulthorpe, home insurance expert at GoCompare, said: “The tactic of charging existing, loyal customers more than new ones for the same products and services is still far too widespread.
“There is no good reason why providers should be able to offer a better deal to new customers than to existing ones – other than; they can get away with it.
“According to our research*, home insurance is the second easiest financial product to switch, after energy, with 81% of people finding it easy, so there really is no excuse to being caught in the loyalty trap.
“The CMA has proposed a series of recommendations to tackle this issue, but in the meantime, we urge consumers to shop around and take advantage of easier switching.
“And if you’re still unsure, there are a number of tricks you can use to reduce your bill. Haggle with your provider at renewal to negotiate a better deal – and don’t pay monthly if you can afford to pay the annual premium upfront, as most insurers will charge you interest.”
GoCompare’s tips to getting the best deal on your home insurance:
- Diary key dates including renewal dates and the end of introductory offers. This will give you time to review your arrangements;
- NEVER accept an insurance renewal without first checking that the new price you are being offered is competitive;
- Compare prices and headline rates and, read the small print. Make sure you’re making like-for-like comparisons and understand all the charges, any penalties, exclusions and terms and conditions you will be required to meet, and that the product is right for you;
- If you’ve signed-up for a product with an attractive introductory rate, review the arrangement before the end of the offer period - otherwise you could end up paying more in the long-run;
- Use a comparison website – they provide quick and up-to-date information on a wide range of financial products and services.
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
Anders Nilsson or Louisa Marsden at GoCompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 655 132
Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845
Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare
Notes to editors
*On 14 December 2018, Bilendi conducted an online survey among 2,001 randomly selected British adults who are Maximiles UK panellists. The margin of error-which measures sampling variability-is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and regional data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of United Kingdom. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
GoCompare
GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.
GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.
GoCompare does not sell its customers’ data.
When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.
GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
For more information visit www.gocompare.com and www.gocomparegroup.com