No comparison

In a world where people can access the information they need at the touch of a button, it is all too easy to think of these sites as some sort of saviour for consumers, guiding them through a maze of complex customer offers on-line to ensure people find the best deal.

However, a respected consumer watchdog has just sounded an important note of caution. The Which? group is calling for tougher regulation of price comparison sites to ensure they treat customers fairly and transparently.

It has found overall customer satisfaction levels with comparison sites have fallen in the past year from 46 per to 42 per cent.

Customers regularly use such sites when deciding on annual purchases such as insuring their car.

Yet Which? has revealed that even the highest rated comparison sites are only on a par with the lowest rated insurance companies when it comes to levels of customer satisfaction.

It might also be assumed that if all these sites are effective they would find the same or very similar priced deals for their customers.

Not so, according to the new study which found that, despite entering the same details into 11 top sites, the prices ranged from just over £300 to £660-a-year.

It has also emerged that none of the top sites were able to cover more than a third of the market for home or travel insurance, despite telling customers they had no need to look anywhere else for the best deal.

It seems that, when shopping for the best price or most suitable product on the internet – as with much else in life – there is simply no substitute for doing the hard work yourself.