Price comparison sites under fire - gimmicks over due diligence?

The Competitions and Markets Authority is reportedly investigating two sites for market rigging after they allegedly formed an agreement that they wouldn’t compete with each other when consumers searched on Google to find cheaper energy tariffs.

While this particular case relates specifically to energy prices, as an industry we should applaud any new reports which call into question the safety of relying on such sites.

Despite reports in the past about conflicts of interests and the dangers of aggregators which focus far too heavily on price alone, consumers are still falling for the apparent ease and speed they offer, often to their own detriment.

Indeed, following 2014’s major review into the sector by the Financial Conduct Authority there was plenty of damning news coverage yet things soon quietened down and consumers went back to the meerkats, the opera singers and countless other gimmicks.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think price comparison sites are wholly unhelpful. For many products they can be useful in fact and it’s always good to see consumers doing research before taking out a product rather than opting for the first choice they see.

But financial products like insurance are huge commitments and I cannot see how a few clicks on a comparison site can offer anywhere near the kind of due diligence needed to make a safe and sensible choice.