Moneysupermarket.com
High Street Brokers: Word on the street
While many had expected the increase in alternative methods of buying insurance to signal the demise of high-street brokers, they are still going strong. What are they doing right?
Expert Analysis: Autumn watch
IGO4’s aggregator analysis reveals that while demand for motor quotes remains high, home insurance has stalled at a disappointing level.
Money Supermarket slams rivals’ use of wide ‘most favoured nation’ clauses
Comparison site tells Competition Commission wide MFNs are ‘anti-competitive’.
Editor's comment: Falling out of favour
Insurers received a surprise this week when some of the market’s aggregators agreed with them over an issue that has been gnawing away at them for some time, most favoured nation clauses.
Money Supermarket's insurance traffic hit by changes in Google rankings
Money Supermarket said yesterday it had suffered a fall in motor and home insurance visitors in the second quarter after changes by search engine Google.
Money Supermarket revenues grow by 10% in H1
Money Supermarket’s group revenue increased by 10% to £112.3m in the first half of 2013 up from £102.2m in the first half of 2012.
Website review: Confused: Is it time for an MOT for Confused.com?
Compuware evaluated the web performance of Confused’s car insurance website between 17 May and 19 June using Gomez’s performance benchmark.
Household: On shaky ground
With cracks beginning to show in the profitability of the household insurance market, is the sector set to crumble or are its foundations solid enough to see it through?
Which report calls for transparency on aggregators
An investigation by consumer group Which found like-for-like car insurance quotes vary “widely” between the different comparison sites.
Moneysupermarket blames Google for slow insurance growth
Price comparison site Moneysupermarket has said changes to Google’s search systems have hit the company’s growth in Q2, with insurance business suffering.
Money Supermarket entrepreneur to sell 18.5% of his stake
Simon Nixon, co-founder of price comparison website Money Supermarket, is to net £200m after selling 18.5% of his stake in the business.
Website review: Money Supermarket: Slow site could lead users to shop elsewhere
Profits may be up for Money Supermarket but web performance is down
Aggregators: We don't need the aggravation
As aggregators come under fire for a lack of standards and insurance qualifications, some are still cool on improving professionalism.
Expert Analysis: Making changes
Price comparison sites are making changes to the way they operate, embracing telematics and moving into new product lines.
Website review: More Than’s site less than adequate
Loading times of up to 14 seconds contribute to site’s low score, says Gomez.
Aggregator quotes peak at 163m in January
Open GI has recorded its highest monthly volume of aggregator quotes, amounting to over 163m in January 2013, with motor quotations amounting to 90% of the this figure.
Insurers seek investigation into comparison site clauses
Motor insurers have pleaded with the Competition Commission to perform a U-turn and investigate the use of ‘most favoured nation' and ‘best price' clauses by aggregators – an omission that has been labelled "beyond belief" by one player.
Editor's comment: The no competition commission
You learn something new every day, or so the saying goes. Well I certainly learnt something new this week, along with several PRs — judging from the responses I got.
CC receives wave of industry response to private motor insurance investigation
Opening responses to the Competition Commission’s investigation into the private motor sector have been received from a variety of interested parties.
Clunes rages at Churchill over axe
Former Men Behaving Badly star Martin Clunes has labelled Churchill Insurance "neurotic and very heavy-handed" after it dropped him from TV adverts.
London, Leeds and Bradford residents most likely to make theft claim
Homeowners in London, Leeds and Bradford are the most likely to make a claim for theft or burglary and are paying 20% more for their home insurance, according to Money Supermarket.
Penny Black's Insurance Week
A recently rebranded insurance technology company may have to be careful about the territories it chooses for expansion.
Branding bigger than cost on comparison sites, survey affirms
Research from digital marketing agency Gravytrain has found that customers using price comparison sites are still more likely to buy from brands they trust than those with the lowest quote.
Aggregators audit software providers after hackers exploit SSP vulnerability
Insurance software houses have warned that hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in breaking through security systems, forcing businesses to engage in a "never-ending fight" to stay ahead.