THEIvass reject the sites that compare insurance prices Rc car, noting problems in the transparency and correctness of information, as well as an excess of advertising. In its "Survey on comparative sites in the Italian insurance market", published today, the Institute for Insurance Supervision asks to "remove these critical issues".
The sites in question, writes IVASS, "make extensive use of advertising messages formulated in such a way as to convince consumers that they can obtain considerable savings ('up to 500 euros') and buy the 'best product' or contact to the 'best company'. However, they do not indicate the criteria for evaluating products and companies or the basis for calculating the promised savings".
The study was inspired by the strong diffusion of the online comparison of insurance products in the motor liability sector (approximately 12,9 million estimates in 2013, through 6 sites operating in Italy).
The sites on motor liability, explains the Supervisory Institute, “compare only (or mainly) the products of a few companies with which they have concluded agreements and from which they receive commissions in relation to each contract stipulated through them. The number of companies advertised is generally higher than the number of companies actually compared”.
Furthermore, the comparison is based exclusively on the price and does not take into account the different characteristics of the products in terms of ceilings, deductibles, recourses and exclusions. This involves comparing products that are not homogeneous and are not always suitable for the insurance needs of consumers, a risk amplified by the widespread practice of automatic combination of accessory coverage not requested by the user.
To eliminate these critical issues, the authority "intervened on the insurance intermediaries who manage the comparison sites, asking them to adopt specific corrective measures by 31 January 2015".
