GoCompare comments on new customer loyalty ‘rip-off’ probe
Georgie Frost, consumer advocate at GoCompare commented: “It’s completely unjustified that customers are still being punished for their loyalty, and this super-complaint from Citizens Advice shows the exact scale of the problem, as it isn’t just restricted to a small number of products and services.
“The so called ‘tease and squeeze’ approach to pricing is the go-to tactic in many industries, including car insurance and energy. New customers are attracted with a cheaper price and then subject to increasing rates if they remain loyal.
“It’s imperative that people keep shopping around and switching to avoid getting ripped off, but more also needs to be done to make it clearer how customers can switch to avoid being overcharged, and there should be protection for vulnerable groups who are most likely to fall victim to the current process.
“People mustn’t sit back and wait for change to come, and we would encourage them to continue to shop around for the best value products and dump the providers who are giving them a poor deal.”
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For further information please contact:
Anders Nilsson or Martyn John at GoCompare on 01633 654 054 / 01633 654 725
Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845
Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare
Notes to editors
About 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.
GoCompare does not sell its customers’ data.
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