Buildings insurance - cheaper quote via moneysupermarket than PRU direct

reddyman

Hi All,

I have been hunting around for buildings insurance. A money supermarket quote brings up Prudential as the cheapest.

However I wanted to do the usual moneysaving trick of going via a cashback site and getting a quote through them.

When I get a quote from the pru direct, it cost £150 more than via Moneysupermarket. And it is a like for like quote.

I dont understand how this is possible. The difference between the two is huge..!

Whats going on?

huckster

My understanding is that some of the rates offered via comparison sites are unique to that site.

It could be that the PRU have not conducted that much business via MS, so they are offering special rates.

Whatever, it could even be a mistake and you can take advantage, in th knowledge that they have to honour the premium.

reddyman

Thanks Huckster..

Thats really weird, but if they wanna give that much of a discount who am I to complain!

:money:

dunstonh

Think of insurance being like any retail product. Lets say a Panasonic TV model. If you shop around you will find that product priced hundreds of pounds differently through different retailers.

The retailers themselves wont buy them at the same price either. The more they sell, the cheaper they will be able to buy it for and the cheaper they will be able to sell it for (the Tescos vs cornershop principle - known as economies of scale).

It applies to financial services products just as much as any other retail product.

There is a backlash starting to happen though with some providers putting up their prices with quote sites compared to buying direct or through a traditional channel as its starting to become clear that products brought through comparison sites have more errors on them. This is creating an extra cost later on. You can notice this with the number of insurers that are pulling their products from quote sites or offering dual pricing.