Price comparison websites (PCWs) will become even more popular in insurance as consumers look for savings wherever possible as the UK economy officially enters recession, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

PCWs are very popular among UK consumers when purchasing insurance. GlobalData’s 2019 UK Insurance Consumer Survey found that 31.3% of motor insurance sales are directed through a PCW. Furthermore, PCWs account for 26.7% of home insurance sales and 22.3% of pet insurance sales. While the direct channel is still the most popular across these three lines of business, PCWs will gain ground as consumers seek the best deals for a given insurance product.

Yasha Kuruvilla, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Travel insurance may be one line where the opposite occurs, with price comparison sites seeing less traffic as consumers’ value extensive cover to protect themselves against coronavirus-related events more than the price of a policy.”

Aviva, the UK’s largest general insurer, is noticeably absent from the four largest PCWs (Comparethemarket.com, Moneysupermarket.com, Confused.com and Gocompare.com). The provider removed its products from aggregator sites in 2008 in order to focus on its direct sales. However, the insurer is planning to feature its motor insurance policies once again on aggregator sites after an initial pilot with Confused.com in June 2020.

Kuruvilla concludes: “While economists predict a return to growth in 2021 as the UK adjusts to a new normal, PCWs will likely enjoy a period of increased traffic from consumers in the near future.”