What home insurance should I get? For most consumers with a vast array of needs this is a difficult question. Many quite naturally fall back on the quickest and cheapest options, both of which are easily found through searching for home insurance on comparison sites.
But are those customers compromising their cover for the sake of saving money with convenience? That very simplicity is what makes insurance comparison sites so effective and yet incomplete. Insurance policies offered might have a high excess, or not even provide the cover that’s really needed.
Cheap Home Insurance, Expensive Add-ons
Many home insurance firms offer radically stripped-down versions of their home insurance to reach the top of comparison listings. Everyone knows the added frustration of clicking through to the insurance provider only to be greeted with lots of expensive add-ons. Sometimes this approach can even lead to important cover being taken out of policies and leaves you at risk.
In December 2019 consumer advice brand Which? Found pricing quirks that could leave some homeowners paying as much as £414 more than necessary for their cover.
As well as finding a number of discrepancies increasing the premiums calculated on these sites, Which? also found a number of examples where an inaccurately low premium was calculated, which could leave homeowners with the wrong level of cover or an invalid policy.
In August 2018 Which? said it had examined insurance policy descriptions for 21 brands on four big car insurance comparison sites. Wordings from Compare The Market, GoCompare, MoneySupermarket and Confused.com were matched against the policy information provided on insurance brands’ own websites and in policy documents.
According to Which? six out of ten policies had at least one detail that did not match across the policy wording and comparison description.
Insurance Comparison Sites Don’t Provide Regulated Advice
The Money Advice Service, the Government’s free and impartial consumer financial information site, warns that comparison sites do not give regulated advice. “That means they provide you with product information but not whether a policy has the type and level of cover suitable for your needs,” it says. “So, don’t assume the first result is the best. Many of the insurance policies featured on comparison sites are ‘standard products’ and won’t necessarily take your personal circumstances and needs into account. If this is the case, you can speak directly to the insurance company or an independent financial adviser or broker who will be able to advise you.”
This latter point is paramount. Scrolling through insurance comparisons can’t compare to talking to trained staff who can fully explain our products and allow you to make an informed choice. Here at EmeraldLife this personal approach is key to our ethos.
Best Price For The Right Cover
Our main goal is to provide the best possible prices for the cover that you need. Because price comparison websites charge large commission fees, avoiding them means we can keep our policies as competitively-priced as possible.
Contents insurance from Emerald doesn’t just cover your belongings and personal possessions against loss or damage caused by disasters and crime. We also cover your cash and credit cards, and other assets like digital downloads of films and music, art, memorabilia, and other collections. We also offer home emergency cover so when crisis happens you can get the support you need fast.
These are before a whole host of optional extras like coverage for bikes or accidental damage. While we don’t provide landlord insurance we will cover up to three lodgers providing you still live in the property.
Apply online now or talk to our call centre so you can get the right cover for the right price today.
