Price Comparison Sites Under Scrutiny

Garret Cunningham | 1:10 pm | January 22, 2008 | News

Price comparison websites are to be investigated by the FSA.

The FSA have investigated the work of sites such as moneysupermarket.co.uk and uswitch.com in the past, but following some fresh concerns in the insurance sector they will be revisiting the investigations.

The Insurance industry is concerned that price comparison websites are not providing customers with enough information, and as a result consumers are choosing insurance policies solely on the price, without a proper knowledge of the services which are being provided or are available.

One of the major concerns involves the fact these sites can sell insurance policies to consumers where as insurance brokers must meet certain criteria before they can advise on which insurance policy is best.

This raises the question of what is best for the consumer, to be lead down the path of opting into the cheapest insurance policy, or to be over-informed and pay over the odds for services they may not need or understand.

The FSA will be aiming to ensure the right mix is available to the consumer so they are always in control.