Carlton Hood responds to FSA report on insurance aggregators.
Carlton Hood, chief executive of Confused.com has welcomed the FSA's review of price comparision sites.
He said: “Price comparison sites have provided a huge number of customers with substantial savings over the last few years and we are pleased to see that the FSA supports this innovation in the conclusion of its review of Aggregators. However, not all sites operate in the same way and there are issues which we feel can let the industry - and ultimately the customer - down. Confused.com therefore welcomes the FSA’s recommendations to the industry as this should help consumers to feel more confident about using comparison sites to save money.”
Hood also commented on the key findings of the FSA’s report:
A lack of clarity around the excesses that apply to insurance companies; “We have been calling for all aggregator sites to stop the practice of defaulting to a higher excess so that quotes appear cheaper for some time. This can mislead consumers; which is why Confused.com does not automatically default to a higher excess.”
Assumptions used to obtain quotes are not always made clear to consumers; “You can alter the price of a quote substantially if you apply certain assumptions. We do not make any assumptions that will alter the price of a quote, invalidate an insurance policy or create a shock when it comes to the claim. Any assumptions made on Confused.com are clearly identified and for motor insurance we do not make any assumptions.”
“In addition, we were pleased to see that the FSA have found that the advertising of most aggregators is not misleading to customers. Independent research has confirmed that for motor insurance Confused.com is the most accurate aggregator site, in terms of what you see from us as a quote is what you get when you click through to the Insurer, scoring 96%*; and we’re working hard to make that 100% across all products.
“At Confused.com we’re clear and not misleading about the providers we use and we’re confident that the quotes we offer are the best value on offer across our insurance panel.
“Our customers know they can trust us which is why over 50% of the traffic to our site is repeat business. We are committed to helping our customers by providing quotes that offer the right policy and the right price. The FSA report strengthens our position by highlighting the good practices that are second nature to Confused.com.”
