Car insurance: The most switched financial product of the decade

In the last decade, 8 out of 10 Brits saved money by switching at least one financial services product, according to the annual GoCompare Switching Report. 

However, almost two fifths didn’t change provider for any products in the last 12 months and GoCompare is calling for the insurance renewal process to be reformed to protect consumers and help promote the benefits of switching for the next 10 years.

The Decade of Switching

To mark the start of the new decade, GoCompare looked at the Nation’s switching habits in the last 10 years.  Car insurance was the most switched product, followed by energy, home insurance and mobile phones.  57% of participants said they were now more likely to switch providers to get a better deal than they were 10 years ago.

The products that saw the biggest increase in switching activity over the last decade were energy (up from 9% in 2010 to 21% in 2019), mobile phones (up from 6% in 2010 to 17% in 2019) and broadband (up from 5% in 2010 to 14% in 2019) ².

While the majority (79%) of people have changed providers for at least one of the most common financial products and services, 21% admitted to not switching any.  Over the last decade men were more tuned-on to switching and saving than women, 82% of men changed financial providers compared with only 76% of women. 

Looking at 2019 in isolation, 61% of people switched at least one financial product or service compared to just 51% in 2015.  Car insurance typified this trend with 28% switching in the last 12 months, compared to 19% in 2015.³

Protecting switchers for the next 10 years

GoCompare is campaigning for urgent action to be taken on insurance renewals to reduce the impact of so-called loyalty penalties which could be affecting millions of insurance customers, while trying to promote greater transparency and remove the barriers to switching.

As part of the campaigning, the comparison website is also calling for the cooling-off period for auto-renewals to be doubled to 28-days, for insurers to do more to help customers understand their options at renewal and to provider clearer information on the price of cover.  It is also recommending limiting or banning cancellation fees for customers who switch during the extended cooling-off period.    

Commenting on the Report’s findings, Lee Griffin, CEO and one of the founders of GoCompare said, “The rise of switching continues!  The 2010s really were the ‘Decade of Switching’ thanks to comparison sites, faster switching and greater intervention. As a result, consumers are now much more likely to change provider to get a better deal than they were a decade ago.          

“Looking forward, we expect switching activity will continue to rise - partly due to the general economic uncertainty which continues around Brexit and potential price rises, and partly as a result of further regulatory moves to increase transparency and switching confidence. 

“We’ve got a huge opportunity now to improve things for the next generation of switchers.  The spotlight is well and truly on rip-off loyalty pricing tactics, which result in millions of existing customers paying more than new ones for the same cover.  We think reforming the renewal process is the quickest way to improve things significantly for insurance customers.” 

GoCompare’s five-point plan for getting the best deal on financial products and household bills:

1. Diary renewal and expiry dates to give you time to shop around;
2. NEVER accept an insurance renewal without checking if you could get a better deal;
3. Use a comparison website – it’s the quickest way to get the best deals;
4. Remember to compare product features as well as prices;
5. And finally, don’t forget to check the small print.

-Ends-

For further information please contact:

Anders Nilsson or Louisa Marsden at GoCompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 655 132

Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845

Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare

Notes to editors

¹On 20 December 2019, Bilendi conducted an online survey among 2,000 randomly selected British adults who are Maximiles UK panelists.  The margin of error-which measures sampling variability-is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and regional data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of United Kingdom. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

²2010 research commissioned by GoCompare carried out with 3,000 UK adults in August 2010 by OnePoll Research.

³On 5 January 2016, Bilendi conducted an online survey among 2001 randomly selected British adults who are Maximiles UK panelists.  The margin of error-which measures sampling variability-is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and regional data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of United Kingdom. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

GoCompare

GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.

GoCompare does not charge people to use its services, and it does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.

When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest, and has teamed up with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.

GoCompare is the only comparison website to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

For more information visit www.gocompare.com and www.gocomparegroup.com