Why I refuse to use price comparison websites for my insurance
I absolutely REFUSE to use a price comparison site for insurance. I always go to a broker, luckily for me, there is one at the bottom of my road. Please read to the end and write your comments below.
Let me explain. A while ago my landlady insured my house online because she didn’t want a broker to get a commission on it. I told her that very often an underwriter will offer you one price but a broker will offer you the same product with the same underwriter but some 1/5th (20% cheaper.) I was overruled and left it at that.
Two years later we had a roofing emergency and I found out we had no insurance so we had to pay for it ourselves. It cost over £1200 some 6 times the cost of the policy. She hadn’t diarised the expiry and didn’t renew. It is also illegal to rent out an uninsured property. So she could have been in serious trouble.
Here are the advantages of using an insurance broker. As I said above an underwriter will offer you one price but a broker will commonly get you the same product through the same company but around 1/5th (20% lower.)
Your broker will have the expiry of your policy in his diary and will inform you in good time when you need to renew. In my case now for my car insurance one month before renewal my broker calls me to remind me, asks me a bunch of questions about changes, and then organizes the renewal policy. It’s done with a minimum of fuss and saves a lot of time. I do not have the time, nor the expertise to deal with such things so I get the broker to do this for me.
In fact two years ago my broker told me that the underwriter quoted £850 for a renewal but when they put it through as a new customer it was £350 so that’s what they did! Had I not used a broker the underwriter would have got away with it!
Lastly, if you need to make a claim just one phone call to your broker and it’s sorted for you. you aren’t passed from pillar to post in a bid to put you off claiming!
Never forget that in 2007 in the Sheffield floods many people who got cheap insurance from price comparison sites found they weren’t covered for flood damage.
So this is what I’d like you to do. Somewhere in your local community, there is an insurance broker, get your home contents and buildings insurance policy documents, your car insurance policy documents, and any other insurance policies you have. Ask that they take a copy and diarise a reminder when it’s up for renewal and search for an alternative. You’ll save yourself time, and money and help keep someone in your local community in work.
Now I welcome your comments.
Bibliography
Image from https://businesspartnermagazine.com/4-reasons-you-need-insurance-brokers-and-how-to-find-one/
