Which? Slams money comparison sites.

Customer satisfaction levels are less than 50 per cent for money comparison sites like gocompare.com or Confused.com, said consumer champion Which? Money.

In its first survey on the sector, Which? members said they didn't trust comparison sites to locate the best prices and two thirds said they thought the results top ranked the products which earned the sites the best commisison.

A quarter of people said they did not buy through a comparison site because they found a cheaper quote elsewhere and 12 per cent said they were unhappy with the quotes they were given, according to Which? Money.

On insurance products, which are one of the most popular searches on comparative sites, several set quite high default voluntary excesses when a Which? Money expert looked at in detail. Which? Money asserted that this, along with the fact insurers then add a compulsory excess later in the search process, made it difficult for consumers to make a valuable comparison with the results.

Which? found that the most popular sites were Moneysupermarket.com, Confused.com and Gocompare.com and that car insurance, home insurance and savings accounts were the most searched for products.

James Daley, editor, Which? Money, said: "We found that using financial comparison sites is clearly not a happy experience for many - all the sites in our survey got low customer scores.

"If you're shopping around for a good deal, it makes sense to go to more than one site and be aware that some companies aren't featured. Watch out for things like voluntary excess, and make sure the policy you're offered is what you actually want."

Which? Money recommended that consumers compare the results from several supermarket websites and that customers keep a check on their application details to make sure the site hasn't reverted to a default answer.
 
Carlton Hood, chief executive officer, at Confused.com, said: "It might be an idea for Which? to compare their reviews! Earlier this year it congratulated Confused.com on our market-leading position. In fact its insurance expert Dan Moore said: 'Confused.com has shown that it is possible to give consumers what they want, a fair quote based on criteria they selected. Other sites should follow their lead."

He continued: "Confused.com has done a great job of making a market that was complex, difficult to compare and where many customers were paying too much for their cover into one that's simple, easy to compare and where many customers have saved money without compromising on the cover they receive."

Gocompare.com's chief executive, Hayley Parsons, said: "We take on board the views expressed by Which?. However, as usual with their reports, a slight pinch of salt is required.  The research was carried out amongst Which? readers only and this does raise the question of just how representative the findings can be.  Remember, for the last few years, Which? has been encouraging their readers to use the Which? ‘Best Buys' rather than independent financial comparison sites, so it would be naive to think that their readers are suddenly huge fans."

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