Price comparison website use: benefits and drawbacks

Rather than individually visiting the hundreds of different car insurance sites, you can get insurance quotes from a price comparison website. You can save money on online car insurance when you know where to look for the best deals. Here's some of the advantages and disadvantages of comparing insurance quotations online.

Advantages of a price comparison website

Save money on insurance
Checking quotes for auto insurance from hundreds of different insurers enables you to select the one that has the lowest price based upon the criteria that you specify. Ease and convenience
Rather than gathering quotes from multiple insurers, you can get all the information you need with a single mouse click. It allows you to gather more data and saves you a lot of time. Variety and choice
There are a wide variety of comparison sites to choose from, including moneysupermarket.com, comparethemarket.com, uswitch.com and tescocompare.com. You can use several of them to validate the accuracy of the figures. Smaller insurers
There are many lesser-known insurers, and a price comparison site could open your eyes to a money-saving deal.

Disadvantages of a price comparison website

False claims and assumptions
It isn't always clear what assumptions have been made when you compare insurance rates. There are concerns that insurers are using quotes for no-thrills cover so that company appears at the top of the results page. By the time you've added all the extras that you need to get full coverage, you haven't actually saved any money. Not all insurers use them
Not all companies use price comparison websites, so you may be missing out on getting a quote from one of the market leaders. For example, Direct Line doesn't use insurance comparison sites in order keep its prices low. Comparisons based on price
Your quote for car insurance is about more than just the cost, it's about establishing value. You need to check that the level of coverage hasn't been slashed in order to reduce the monthly premium. Different companies
Comparison sites work with a defined range of companies, but they don't trawl through all of the prices. It's worth looking through the list of companies and seeing if there are any big names that are missing. There's nothing to stop you from getting a quote for them or using multiple price comparison websites to get a few extra quotations. Sponsor results
You may find that some quotes aren't price-based, they're based on site sponsorship. It's advisable to use the reputable, established price comparison websites because they're far more likely to have come under regulatory scrutiny.