An investigation of 21 brands advertising on GoCompare, Compare the Market, Confused.com and Money Supermarket discovered the discrepancies when deals were compared with policy documents, which appear when a customer clicks through to an insurer’s website.
The investigation also uncovered near-identical policies being advertised at different prices across sites, making it more likely that people were being ripped off.
Price comparison sites have revolutionised the British insurance market. About 66 per cent of car insurance is now taken out through them, forcing providers such as Legal & General, Aviva and Prudential to be more transparent and competitive on pricing.
However, campaigners from Which? said that customers were now in danger of relying too heavily on these sites and may not be studying their policy documentation carefully enough. They also called for comparison sites to display policies more accurately.
The investigation by Which? found:
• That at least one detail published on a price comparison site was different from that posted on policy documents in 48 out of 79 policies.
• Of these, there were ten cases where comparison sites wrongly claimed that customers would be given a courtesy car while their vehicle was being repaired, on policies advertised on Go Compare, Compare the Market and Confused.com.
• Discrepancies in the level of personal accident cover provided on policies. Go Compare said one policy offered £5,000 for disability but in the policy document the limit was £2,500.
• Incorrect information about cover for loss and theft of keys.
“We were staggered to see such a high amount of errors across the policies listed on price comparison sites,” Harry Rose, the editor of Which? Money, said. Comparison sites said that they would work to ensure that the information was more up to date.
Compare the Market said: “We work with our providers and check that the information provided is accurate.”
Go Compare said that staff carried out a series of checks on policy information. Confused.com said it was “constantly reviewing how policy information is displayed to our customers” and Moneysupermarket said that if it picked up any inaccuracies it liaised with the insurer.
The investigation was carried out in May and June.
Article is care of Times Newspaper,the original article can be found here .
