Concerns about Compare the Market substantially cheaper than going direct to insurer

hojkoff

I'm trying to arrange buildings cover for my house. I've used Compare the Market to give me a market comparison, which is giving me a price around £230.

However, when I got to the insurer direct, Aviva in this case, what I believe to be the equivilent cover is coming in at around £430.

This is a significant difference, and I am very concerned that the quote from Compare the Market is not accurate, or not actually giving me the cover I think it is. There is no way to see how the quote has been generated from Aviva's end which means I cannot check the data that has been used to generate it. It seems too good to be true.

Has anyone else noticed this anomaly, or purchased through Compare the Market and have any feedback?

Sandtree

When you click through from CTM you will be taken to Aviva's website to make the purchase (assuming it is an aviva sold policy and not a broker selling a policy where aviva is the insurer). There you can check the details, and indeed should check the details though too many dont.

Insurers can vary terms, optional extras and pricing (direct and indirect) by different channels and so a price difference can be just because Aviva know price comparison customers are more sensitive to pricing or it could be that certainly optional extras are defaulted as included on the website but excluded on CTM. 

On a side note though, I didnt think Aviva sold via aggregators which would point to it being another seller and not Aviva in which case you are much more likely to see differences in terms

hojkoff

Sandtree said:

When you click through from CTM you will be taken to Aviva's website to make the purchase 

...
On a side note though, I didnt think Aviva sold via aggregators which would point to it being another seller and not Aviva in which case you are much more likely to see differences in terms

When I click through I am taken to Aviva's website. Is there still a chance this is being sold via another seller?

The price difference is so substantial, that I cannot believe that a broker, or third party seller could have negotiated that much off. This is what's making me worried about the level of cover, or the accuracy of the information that has been used to generate the quote.

Hasbeen

Or you can go through the cashback sites that also take you direct to Aviva.

Or even direct to CTM which then takes you direct to Aviva.

As long as you ensure any policy is what you want.

Sandtree

hojkoff said:
When I click through I am taken to Aviva's website. Is there still a chance this is being sold via another seller?

The price difference is so substantial, that I cannot believe that a broker, or third party seller could have negotiated that much off. This is what's making me worried about the level of cover, or the accuracy of the information that has been used to generate the quote.

Then its Aviva selling it... just wanted to make sure it wasnt Quote Me Happy, an Aviva subsidiary etc. The main thing is to check the details have come across correctly, the optional extras you want are included and you are happy with the terms of the policy.  Terms can vary between distribution channels so dont assume that just because both are Aviva Home insurance that they provide the same level of cover... some sold via aggregators are very much stripped down products to get them as cheap as possible.

The wholesale price of insurance can be substantially different to consumer pricing depending on exactly which aspects the retailer will be doing on behalf of the insurer (plus any variances in terms etc). One of the most expensive operational costs for an insurer is the cost of sale and brokers take this on. As an unrelated example a previous client sold 4 levels of breakdown insurance with level 4 adding european cover. As a consumer to add european cover almost doubled the cost of the product. If however you were a bank or such and wanted to give away insurance as part of a bundle then there was no difference in wholesale price between level 3 and 4 (that didnt stop some banks giving level 3 and charging a fee to upgrade to 4)

hojkoff

Thanks for all the responses, I've just had a chat with Aviva. They've said that the main difference is that there is no call centre with the third party.

The price difference is quite extreme. I now can't work out if I want a call centre or not. If my roof caves in, I'd probably like to speak to someone about it...

Hasbeen

What I do is check the comparison sites.Get a few quotes.
Then go through the cashback sites.And look at the companies quoted.
Once your a customer Aviva will speak to you from a call centre. When your roof falls in.  

Sandtree

hojkoff said:

Thanks for all the responses, I've just had a chat with Aviva. They've said that the main difference is that there is no call centre with the third party.

The price difference is quite extreme. I now can't work out if I want a call centre or not. If my roof caves in, I'd probably like to speak to someone about it...

That sounds like Quote Me Happy?  If it is then they do have a call centre for claims just not for customer service etc. So change of address or add a new specified item to the policy then its an online form and either self service or back and forth by messaging. 

I am fairly sure they do have different policy wordings though no idea if there is any material difference as via its various channels Aviva do cover a broad range of product quality

eddddy

Hasbeen said:

What I do is check the comparison sites.Get a few quotes.
Then go through the cashback sites.And look at the companies quoted.

I've heard quite a few people say that they get a better prices for each insurer on the comparison sites, than on the cashback sites - even after they've taken into account the cashback paid.

But as Sandtree says, perhaps the cover is slightly different.

Or it could be that the insurers have found that cashback site users don't typically check the comparison sites as well - so they can get away with quoting higher prices. (Maybe because cashback site users just assume they're getting a good deal because they're getting cashback - so they don't bother looking elsewhere.)

mattyprice4004

hojkoff said:

Thanks for all the responses, I've just had a chat with Aviva. They've said that the main difference is that there is no call centre with the third party.

The price difference is quite extreme. I now can't work out if I want a call centre or not. If my roof caves in, I'd probably like to speak to someone about it...

With live chat, quick email replies etc there's really no need to shell out a load extra just to have someone else tap the keys on a computer. 

csgohan4

I switched to Aviva last year due to the price difference, no issues so far and also via a Price comparison website.