Price comparison websites can add up to £400 to the cost of home insurance, consumer group Which? reveals
- Households buying home insurance via comparison sites are ‘overcharged’
- Price comparison sites ask questions about homes to work out the cheapest deals
- Which? found imprecise flooding questioning raised a quote from £291 to £704
Popular price comparison websites are ripping off households by as much as £400 on home insurance, an investigation has found.
According to consumer champion Which? homeowners are being overcharged because the websites make too many assumptions when calculating costs.
This can also mean that some customers are undercharged – potentially leaving them with invalid policies or insufficient cover. Therefore, one must choose a price comparison site carefully.
![Which? found substantial differences between the sets of questions could leave insurers relying on assumptions about customers. Imprecise questioning about flooding, for example, pushed up one of the quotes to around £704 from £291 [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/08/23/9578498-0-image-m-110_1549667196701.jpg)
Which? requested quotes on three homes using Compare the Market, Confused.com, GoCompare, and MoneySuperMarket.
The sites ask questions about homes to work out the cheapest deals.
However, Which? found substantial differences between the sets of questions could leave insurers relying on assumptions about customers.
Imprecise questioning about flooding, for example, pushed up one of the quotes to around £704 from £291 – a £413 increase – and another down from £429 to £142.
![According to consumer champion Which?, homeowners are being overcharged because the websites make too many assumptions when calculating costs. The sites ask questions about homes to work out the cheapest deals [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/30/00/22781770-0-image-a-13_1577667003355.jpg)
According to consumer champion Which? homeowners are being overcharged because the websites make too many assumptions when calculating costs. The sites ask questions about homes to work out the cheapest deals [File photo]