We read recently that the Government is being lobbied to ban price comparison sites from offering commercial SME construction and liability insurance. The broker leading the charge believes price comparison sites are ‘highly dangerous’ and contractors could potentially be left with insurance policies which aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. He believes instead that contractors should always go through commercial brokers who will give thorough advice.

We disagree with the principle of banning aggregators all together. We live in an age where customers want choice, control, and access to instant, simple and easy purchasing channels. We do agree though that many people using them (and this applies to all services via aggregators, including insurance and utilities) aren’t necessarily getting the cover/service they need because they’re often buying purely on price.

Rather than lobbying for a blanket ban, brokers need to spend time educating clients, making them appreciate that cheap as chips policies may not include valuable cover, such as trace & access on leaks under a home insurance, and that not all policies are the same. To use a supermarket analogy, whilst people are happy to buy own-brand because generally it’s the same product in a different wrapper, the same cannot be said of such a vital purchase as insurance.