You’ve probably already heard that home insurance is
cheaper when bought online. However, why is this and how can you find
these cheaper deals?

Home insurance is cheaper online
predominantly because it cuts out the overheads for the providers.
Effectively you do the work for them – you seek them out online, you
arrange the policy. There is no need for a call centre and staff and
some providers even give you the chance to manage your policy online so
you can make adjustments as and when appropriate.

If you have
already signed up for a home insurance deal online however, don’t
assume that the policy will continue to be the cheapest available over
several years. In fact, home insurers offer their most competitive
rates to new customers in an effort to attract new business and
generally increase premiums year-on-year as part of existing customers’
renewals.

Many policies come with automatic online discounts
available through each provider’s own website. However, that doesn’t
mean that you need to approach the insurer directly to capitalise on
these deals.

A more comprehensive approach to the online home
insurance market is to use an online broker or a comparison website.
Brokers compare offers from a range of insurers that they have deals
with – you get the best price from the deals they have available in
return for effectively paying a commission fee.

Comparison
websites by contrast, are effectively ‘full search’ providers. They
include prices from direct insurers and brokers – and their prices are
generally the same as approaching insurers directly. This is because
comparison websites make money by linking to the insurers in their
listings – therefore the insurer itself is paying the extra cash and
not the consumer. As such using one of these websites is usually the
most cost-effective way to get the deal you want.