Address FSA concerns as an industry, says Gocompare.com

Gocompare.com has responded to the conclusion of the FSA’s review of insurance comparison websites by insisting that the remaining issues highlighted by the FSA are industry-wide issues.

Hayley Parsons, chief executive of Gocompare.com said: “The comparison industry has embraced what the FSA is doing and the process has been beneficial to both the comparison sites and the consumer. Gocompare.com has been regulated by the FSA from day one so we have warmly welcomed their most recent review and worked with them to ensure we are continuing to do everything we can to exceed their expectations. We have had some very constructive meetings with the FSA and we will continue to work closely with them in future.”

“The remaining issues highlighted by the FSA are industry-wide issues not just comparison site issues. The issues around advertising, the use of assumptions in online quotes and the way excesses are displayed online apply equally if you are Direct Line, Norwich Union, Swinton or Gocompare.com. In many ways Gocompare.com is ahead of the industry because we built all our systems from scratch two years ago. But we need to address these issues as an industry, as consumers will not differentiate between one type of insurance website and another.”

“At this moment in time, we feel we have come as far as we can on our own. We have never used assumptions to calculate estimated quotes – all of our quotes have always been guaranteed. However, we would join the FSA in calling for insurers to play fair on excesses, for the benefit of consumers. We depend entirely on insurers providing us with accurate information. We would like to be able to show customers the level of voluntary and compulsory policy excesses separately to allow them to make even more informed decisions, but not all insurers provide this level of detail at the moment.”