How do I pick the right insurance company and policy?

We compare lots of insurers to find you our best insurance price, but what should you look out for when you’re choosing an insurer and a policy?

What factors should I consider when choosing an insurer and policy?

The truth is, there’s no hard and fast rule for the best insurer.

It depends on your personal circumstances, the type of cover you want and how much you’re willing to pay. But we’ve put together a list factors you could look into when you’re choosing an insurer and policy:

1. Check the insurer’s credentials

You should always check that the insurance company you’re buying with is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

If you’re buying home or car insurance through us, you’ll find that the insurance companies we compare are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Confused.com is FCA regulated too.

The FCA looks at new and old financial firms on the market, and makes sure these firms are meeting certain requirements. For example, making sure firms are fair to consumers and not providing misleading information.

We also do our own checks on insurers. We make sure that the firms we compare are:

• Providing great services for their customers
• Resolving any complaints efficiently
• Treating our customers fairly

   

You can check if a firm is FCA regulated on the FCA’s financial services register. Here are some steps you could follow if you wanted to check a company:

• Enter the firm’s details into the FCA’s financial services register. If it doesn’t appear or it appears with a warning, it’s not authorised.
• Check the firm’s permissions match with the product you’ve been offered, so in this case, make sure they’re authorised to sell insurance.
• Make sure the contact details on the register match with the details you have.
• Check whether the company you’re using is protected by the Financial Services Compensation scheme. This gives you some protection if a financial firm fails.
• Make sure you understand the service itself. If not, you can get further information from the FCA.

2.Think about the type of insurance you need

You also need to think about the type of cover you need, and whether the insurer you’re looking at will provide the right cover. For home, car, van and motorbike insurance there are different types of policies. 

For car, van and motorbike insurance the types of policies you can buy are:

• Third party only is the minimum legal cover. It covers you if you damage someone else’s property or injure them while you’re driving. It covers passengers too.
• Third party, fire and theft has the same cover as third party only, but also covers you if your vehicle is stolen or damaged by fire.
• Comprehensive gives you the most protection. It covers you, your car as well as others and their property. Even though it’s the most comprehensive cover, this often works out to be cheaper than third party or third party fire and theft.

Usually you choose which type of policy you need for van and car insurance when you’re getting a quote with us.

You also need to consider how you use your car, van or motorbike. Typically, you might use it for social, social and commuting or business use.

There also might be specifics that you want to consider. For example, if you have a modified car. It’s worth checking that the insurer you choose can provide the correct cover for your needs.

Home insurance is slightly different - it’s split into two types, buildings and contents:

• Buildings insurance covers the bricks and mortar of the house. Basically, the home’s structure. If you’re renting, your landlord should take care of this.
• Contents insurance covers anything that’s moveable inside the house, from your TV to your sofa and any carpets or rugs.

For a contents insurance policy you may have to declare items that are over a certain amount. It’s important to be accurate when you’re declaring your contents cover. Our contents insurance calcuator could help you work this out.

You should also consider whether you want certain items to be covered away from home. For example, if you have a bicycle you need to insure while you’re out riding it. You can usually select this type of cover when you’re getting a quote.

Some insurers might not provide the right level of cover for certain types of building, for example listed buildings. Just like with your vehicle insurance, make sure you include these details when you’re getting an insurance quote. That way you can choose an insurer that provides the right cover for your needs.

3.Think about the price of the policy

We’re all trying to save some money at the moment. But you shouldn’t sacrifice your level of cover for a cheaper insurance price.

And vice versa, you shouldn’t be paying for a policy that has loads of add ons you don’t need.

For car insurance, if you want an estimate for how much you could pay for a policy, our car insurance calculator could help.

It uses data from more than 6 million car insurance quotes collected every 3 months to understand how prices have changed.

For home insurance, Our contents calculator can help you work out how much content insurance you need.

Or you could go straight for a quote for either your home or car insurance. Once you’ve entered your details, we’ll find an insurer that meets your needs. Usually we’ll display the results in price order, but you can filter your quotes by other factors, such as the product’s Defaqto star rating.

Before you go through and buy the policy, double check you have all the cover you need. Also make sure that you don’t have any unwanted added extras, which could bump up the price of your policy.

4. Look at the insurance policy’s rating

One way to decide on the right insurance policy is to look at its ratings. Confused.com uses Defaqto to rate the products insurance companies provide.

Defaqto is an independent rating service that gives a star rating to an insurance policy on a scale of 1 to 5. They base this star rating on the core features and benefits of a policy compared to other insurance policies on the market. For example, if an insurer provides breakdown cover it might get a star, and earn another one if it provides windscreen cover.

Unlike many other ratings, It’s not based on customer ratings. Instead, it’s based on extensive research and focuses on how well the product meets your needs.

This means you can see how comprehensive the policy is so you can make a better decision. 

If you want to look at all the companies we compare, our providers page can give you more information.

My cheapest quote is from an insurance company I don’t recognise, should I go for it?

All the insurance providers we compare are regulated by the FCA. So it could be worth going for a smaller brand if it saves you money - particularly as you have peace of mind that it’ll be above board.

We also check the insurers we compare. If you ever have an issue you can email us at communications@confused.com and we’ll do our best to help you. Or if you feel you’ve been unfairly treated we’ll work with our insurers to try and get you a fair outcome.

It’s always worth checking your policy details too. Read your policy documents carefully to make sure you have the right amount of cover before you buy.

You could also call your insurance company if you have any questions. They may be able to walk you through the policy and what you’re covered for.