Motor Insurance Price comparison sites ripoff and misleading public

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ergates said:

If your business operates by providing information to consumers, and consumers find out that the information you provide is routinely (and/or deliberately) inaccurate you will go out of business.

Indeed which is why you'd expect GO Compare to have told OP something such as:

"Thank you for letting us know, we'll pass this along to the correct department and they'll ensure it's looked into"

OP would have walked away confident the matter would be addressed, Go Compare wouldn't have had to actually admitted anything is wrong or make any promises and this thread wouldn't be here.  

Ergates

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Ergates said:

If your business operates by providing information to consumers, and consumers find out that the information you provide is routinely (and/or deliberately) inaccurate you will go out of business.

Indeed which is why you'd expect GO Compare to have told OP something such as:

"Thank you for letting us know, we'll pass this along to the correct department and they'll ensure it's looked into"

OP would have walked away confident the matter would be addressed, Go Compare wouldn't have had to actually admitted anything is wrong or make any promises and this thread wouldn't be here.  

Which is an issue of poor customer service, not a conspiracy to rip off the consumer.  Whether that's down to someone not following the script or that the script is lacking we don't know - but the impact is the same.

Dookdik17095

I want to make it clear that it is NOT JUST go compare,,  the others are doing the same thing ,,,

would you fill up your car with £50 of fuel  at the pump  and then when at the Kiosk  accept to £ pay 60  as thats what they are demanding ...??  its the same principal

Aylesbury_Duck

Dookdik17095 said:

I want to make it clear that it is NOT JUST go compare,,  the others are doing the same thing ,,,

would you fill up your car with £50 of fuel  at the pump  and then when at the Kiosk  accept to £ pay 60  as thats what they are demanding ...??  its the same principal

It isn't remotely the same principle.   Until you actually commit to purchasing the insurance you are not compelled to do so if you don't like the price.  In your fuel example, you've already taken the fuel at the price marked on a calibrated pump and would have a perfectly lawful justification to paying no more than the £50 displayed at the pump.

eskbanker

Dookdik17095 said:

would you fill up your car with £50 of fuel  at the pump  and then when at the Kiosk  accept to £ pay 60  as thats what they are demanding ...??  its the same principal

That analogy doesn't fit - what you're talking about would be a third party site telling you that fuel was £50 (for x litres) but when you got to the petrol station it was actually £60.

Ergates

Dookdik17095 said:

I want to make it clear that it is NOT JUST go compare,,  the others are doing the same thing ,,,

would you fill up your car with £50 of fuel  at the pump  and then when at the Kiosk  accept to £ pay 60  as thats what they are demanding ...??  its the same principal

No.  The same principal would be if you went on "CheapestPetrolFinder.com" and it told you Tesco were selling unleaded at £1.40 but when you got there it was selling for £1.45.

It would be annoying - but CheapestPetrolFinder.com aren't selling you any petrol and have no involvement or control over what either the pump or the till say.

born_again

You also have to be aware that some ins systems do not interact fully or the question Ins co ask are different.
So it is possible that even a straight ins quote can come out different once Ins co request full details.

Just search "One Call Ins" on here & look at the stories.

DullGreyGuy

Because the price comparison sites are regulated by the FCA there will be a higher duty of care than CheapestPetrolFinder.com  and as such there is also the rules about complaint handling and ability to escalate to the ombudsman. 

Its important to note that the aggregator is not the seller of the policy, its terms and conditions that users agree to by using their site and its messaging to the users about checking things on the sellers website etc. You can see such considerations in the tiny number of ombudsman decisions on such companies (eg https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-3777525.pdf) with comments such as:

In short, CTM take the information the customer provides and generate offers from different providers, based on that information. There’s no pretence that they’re providing a final or binding quote or offer. And it’s clear that their communications are effectively an invitation to the customer to contact provider(s) if they want to shop around for their insurance.

I've never experienced the issue that the OP states having used aggregators frequently both as a customer and as an insurer. In my mind the OP's descriptions are also incomplete, they've said they clicked through on the inclusive price and found breakdown wasnt included but the price was the same, they haven't said what happened if they clicked through on the exclusive price. 

Ultimately their approach should be to log complaints with both companies and escalate if they remain unhappy with the outcome.

Dookdik17095

today a customer service agent  from Go Compare  called  me  to talk about my complaint  and it has been upheld , i will be receiving   £50    as   goodwill , they say that I was correct  and that the price quoted  should have included breakdown cover

Aylesbury_Duck

Dookdik17095 said:

today a customer service agent  from Go Compare  called  me  to talk about my complaint  and it has been upheld , i will be receiving   £50    as   goodwill , they say that I was correct  and that the price quoted  should have included breakdown cover

That’s good of them, and reflects well on their approach to customer service.

It’s “go away” money, but £50 is £50, and you can use it to purchase the breakdown cover.