We thought we could get in early for you guys and publish a list of companies who attended the recent Comparison Consortium meeting. Alas, we’ve been beaten to it by a press release – never under-estimate the PR machine!! So who were the current Comparison Consortium attendees.
It can be revealed that those who attended the Comparison Consortium event include a number of anticipated names and perhaps one or two you might not have expected to see.
From the utilities market there was:
- Simply Switch
- Energy Linx
- Energy Helpline
Representing the spammers were:
- Leadbay (LeadX)
- Call Connections
A few product specialists (who you could argue are actually brokers and not comparison services) in the form of:
- Life Search
- Xbridge
- Drakefield
The anticipated comparison websites were also there:
- Tesco Compare
- MoneySupermarket
- Beat That Quote
- Money Extra
- Money Net
Then there were a couple of noticeable names (not) in attendance. In attendance was Lovemoney.com (the content and consumer focused spin off from Fool.co.uk) – perhaps a sign to the outside world of the intent to deliver on the consumers’ perspective.
Not in attendance (as with the latter stages of attempts with similar initiatives) were:
- Confused
- Compare the Market
- Go Compare
It would seem vital that those big three names get involved in the early stages of the guidelines being drawn up. Otherwise, the insurance side (possibly the biggest comparison market) will have a big hole and the vast majority of consumers will be using comparison websites which are not signed up to the Comparison Consortium accreditation – rendering the whole exercise pointless for the mainstream insurance market.
It’s also worth noting that CDL and Quote Exchange were not involved in the meeting. Although you wouldn’t normally expect them to be, the vast majority of hurdles in what the guidelines set out to achieve will have technical limitations. It’s probable that those outfits could add value to the process and also serve as a representative to a number of small comparison outfits (their clients) who are likely to be affected by these guidelines.
It’s slightly worrying to have seen the specialist insurance brokers at the "Comparison" Consortium event. In recent months and years, we’ve all seen an increase in the use of the term "compare" being splashed across the brokers’ websites, duping the customer into thinking that their strategically assembled panel of underwriters constitutes a true comparison (perhaps Drakefield are the furthest of the three brokers from that).
The Insurance IndustryAn Entrepreneur's Perspective
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Website is up and running.
http://www.comparisonconsortium.com/code-of-practice.php
All seems very vague and disappointing…
e.g.
Members must observe proper standards of market conduct. (this sentence means absolutely nothing..)
Members must conduct their business with integrity and must demonstrate due skill, care and diligence. (define skill? define care? define integrity?)
Members must deal with its regulators in an open and co-operative way and must disclose to the FSA anything relating to the firm of which the FSA would reasonably expect notice. (doh!)
Was it Leadbay or LeadX that attended? And what is the reason for calling them spammers? (I’m just genuinely interested, not trying to troll…
It was Leadbay not LeadX who attended
They are a completely separate companies with different business model. But hey why not just bung them in a category together and call them spammers. Perhaps you should do a little research before you publically make defamatory remarks about a company which have no basis in truth.
Do you even know what Leadbay does?
There is solotion for those people with criminal convictions please ask me for more info