Online car insurance quotes - how cheerful is cheap?

There are huge numbers of online car insurance quotes providers of which the price comparison sites, as a group, are the most used. Many that use these services tend to pick the cheapest quote, often without necessarily applying much effort to investigate what their chosen policy features, or, indeed, what it excludes.

For such people, a group that we believe to be sizeable, cheap is indeed cheerful, that is, until they have an accident and actually need to claim on their, until then, unscrutinised policy. At that point, very often, no cheer is to be had when they realise the true financial impact of a no frills policy when you actually have an accident.

And this cost to the consumer of those policies associated with the cheapest online car insurance quotes generated by price comparison sites can be substantial as they don't just relate to a high Excess. Many costs may be capped, including the value of a written-off car or compensation for lost earnings.

The highly prevalent ultra-bargain-hunting mentality of UK drivers seeking low cost online car insurance quotes via price comparison sites, in our view, is a blinkered, ultimately self-defeating approach.

This is why we would argue that when you stop to think about it, cheap is not cheerful at all if you look at the only sensible approach to online car insurance quotes which is to buy with a view to what you would want in an accident, not what you would want to avoid in an accident.

The above underlines a point which does not necessarily represent a mainstream view but which is the logical consequence of this. Price comparison sites are good at saving you money but they are less able to help you find the best online car insurance quotes when you wish to apply a degree of quality control.

The message is clear. Always check out the policy and be prepared to go for more than just the cheapest quote if you're looking for a bit more from your cover. Where you are more serious about a more impressive level of cover, direct car insurers are more likely to appeal to you. Prices are always competitive from the leading insurers; so car insurance comparisons are by no means essential where quality is an important input to your choice.

Just because car insurance comparison services are ever popular is not sufficient reason to use them inappropriately and without due care. There are a lot of policies with very limited cover out there; so caution is essential.

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UK online car insurance quotes reviewed

Online car insurance quotes - how cheerful is cheap?