Unsolicited Searches

TonySoprano

I don't have any insurance due for renewal nor have I applied for anything in a while and was surprised to see that my credit file had been searched by quote me happy.com


Is this common practice? is this allowed?

mcpitman

Guessing this is a site you have used in the past at some point.

Normal practice and often in the T's & C's they can do this (Meerkats and money supermarkets etc).

I don't think this is a full search, more of a footprint that allows address checks etc.

InsideInsurance

As long as the terms you agree to (you know, that page no one ever bothers reading) says they will do this if you proceed then yes they can do it.

It will either simply be an ID check in which case certainly invisible to others or it could be marked as an insurance quotation which may be visible to others but certainly wouldnt be of any concern to a lender

GingerBob_3

As I understand it, the reason is due to renewal quotes being prepared by the comparison sites. You can "turn off" the renewal quote option, in which case the searches should stop.

However, when using comparison sites it's a good idea to always use bogus, but realistic, personal information in the first instance. My experience shows you get virtually the same quantity of quotes as if you use genuine data.