Is it worth getting a quote from individual insurers?

enginestar

The insurance search engines have it tied up it seems
In MANY MANY years, going to the likes of Direct Line, I've NEVER had a cheaper quote

I've just come to the end of 2 hours time spent getting quotes - filling in the same data!
Not sure if I want to sit through another hour of doing the individual websites!!

Or maybe I should??
Would be good to hear

Thanks

BJV

Comparison sites make their money by charging insurance companies to be able to offer policies to their website visitors. You need someone like the Direct line model, which, instead of paying the comparison provider, discounts any policies you buy to you instead.

It is a bit of a pain but, I usually us one comparison site to gauge the price and then shop around.

Ps I think there must be loads of other insurance companies you could try that don't appear on comparission sites.

DullGreyGuy

enginestar said:

The insurance search engines have it tied up it seems
In MANY MANY years, going to the likes of Direct Line, I've NEVER had a cheaper quote

I've just come to the end of 2 hours time spent getting quotes - filling in the same data!
Not sure if I want to sit through another hour of doing the individual websites!!

Or maybe I should??
Would be good to hear

Are you buying on price or value?

Most people on aggregators are exceptionally price sensitive and as such insurance providers tend to create cut down versions of policies, remove optional extras etc to be able to achieve the lowest price possible. 

Many people who go direct to a brand's own website have already bought into that brand to some degree and therefore are often a little less price sensitive and as such insurance providers often offer a slightly higher quality product, may include some optional extras by default etc and so pricing is slightly higher. 

At the end of the day however if you perfectly match an insurer's target demographic then you are likely to get a cheaper price no matter which channel you approach them on and so you will find those that say DL come out cheaper for them every year when you don't find the same.