Insurer decides to put Churchill, Privilege and other brands on aggregator sites
Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance (RBSI) has placed the insurance brands it underwrites on the panels of Confused.com and Gocompare.com, in a change of strategy towards aggregators.
After a history of shunning aggregators RBSI surprised the market in September by launching Tesco Compare.com.
At the time, it decided to keep six brands – Churchill, Virgin, Prudential, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB and Privilege – exclusive to the Tesco site.
But while Nationwide and Prudential remain exclusive, the insurer has now allowed Churchill, Privilege, Lloyds TSB, Tesco and Virgin to appear on Confused and Gocompare.
An RBSI spokesman said: “[Confused and Gocompare] provide consumers with full quotes rather than indicative prices. That’s always a prerequisite for us. We always said we’d explore other opportunities.”
She added that RBS-owned Direct Line, which has long held an anti-aggregator stance, will remain direct only.
Confused.com managing director Debra Williams said: “Price comparison sites as a distribution model are one of the cheapest distribution or acquisition models that you can have today.
“The fact that they were able to put their brands on Tesco Compare and have experience with a price comparison site has led them to realise the benefits of using price comparison sites.”
RBSI said it was not ruling out the possibility of rolling out the brands it backed to other aggregators.
Postscript
Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance (RBSI) has made another U-turn on its stance toward aggregators by placing the insurance brands it underwrites onto the panels of Confused.com and Gocompare.com.
After a history of shunning aggregators RBSI surprised the market in September by launching Tesco Compare.com. At the time, it decided to keep six brands, including Churchill, Privilege, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB, Prudential and Virgin, exclusive to the Tesco site.
But while Nationwide and Prudential remain under lock and key, the insurer has now allowed Churchill, Privilege, Lloyds TSB, Tesco and Virgin to appear on Confused and Gocompare.
An RBSI spokeswoman denied that the move was a change of heart.
She said: “(Confused and Gocompare) provide consumers with full quotes rather than indicative prices. That’s always a prerequisite for us. We always said we’d explore other opportunities.”
She added that RBS-owned Direct Line, which has long held an anti-aggregator stance, will remain direct only.
Confused.com’s managing director Debra Williams said: “Price comparison sites as a distribution model are one of the cheapest distribution or acquisition models that you can have today.
“I believe that, coupled with the fact that they were able to put their brands onto Tesco Compare and have experience with a price comparison site, has led them to realise the benefits of using price comparison sites.”
RBSI said it is not ruling out the possibility of rolling out the brands it backs to other aggregators.
