What many insurers didn’t want you to see

Today we release a brand new service. This website has pioneered transparency in financial products, so it should be no surprise that today we expand our services to comparing various insurance covers available from the major companies. This has not been an easy process and we have had to do much of this with many of the insurers being unwilling to supply the data. Unlike banks and finance companies, from whom we receive excellent support, insurers have generally been unwilling to provide the information we requested. However, in most cases copies of policy documents are available for download on the web. Premium data has not been so easy to obtain however. A few of the companies were quite blunt in telling us they would not support this project.  I think they hoped we would go away or perhaps not include them in the research. We have had to largely rely on alternative collection methods, including mystery-shopping. This initial phase is now complete and we can reveal a comparison of policy features and pricing to help you understand more about your insurance options. We have been continually reminded  that it's not all about price! And, the companies saying this seem to have good cause for doing so. You can buy  inexpensive cover but you will compromise the scope of cover. But price and value are important. Try and tell the over 65 year olds who are looking to insure their car and find the range of premiums on offer in Tauranga, for example,  from a low of $293 (Tower) to a high of $522 (State). A comparison of policy features shows very little difference and therefore a saving of $229 is very significant. That's a saving of more than 40%. There have been many lessons learned from building this content and I look forward to sharing a number of stories to illustrate this with you. As always, your feedback, comments, and contributions will be read with interest. Take some time to look through the pages, and find a scenario that is close to your own position. You can review product comparisons and premium rates and compare them to what you are paying. You never know, the information on this site may help  you can save hundreds of dollars, or improve your coverage, and most probably both. Finally, I also hope that this new degree of transparency will help all insurance companies improve the coverage they offer and the prices they charge. There are some excellent products on the market, but there's also significant room for improvement. Some insurers will be feeling exposed about having their pricing data so openly available for comparison. I'm sure we will receive some criticism for not getting it 100% correct. For the companies that have cooperated with us, their data is 100% verified. For the others, they have all been given the opportunity to review and request changes. Few have done so.