http://www.trumpo.com/blog/business/comparison-websites-under-the-hot-spotlight/ Advice in good times and bad Fri, 16 May 2008 16:33:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 http://www.trumpo.com/blog/business/comparison-websites-under-the-hot-spotlight/#comment-960 Peter - Surrey Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:57:27 +0000 http://www.trumpo.com/blog/business/comparison-websites-under-the-hot-spotlight/#comment-960 Comparison sites certainly have their place and I regularly use them myself for credit cards and personal loans etc. It is common practise for new applicants to check the advice given and come back (after visiting comparison sites) with questions about other lenders and schemes however, established clients should be confident in your advice given and have no need to look elsewhere. I appreciate the hassle of having to justify the product against a better buy table however, isn't it a nice feeling to peel off the headline wrapper and rip the scheme apart. Comparison sites certainly have their place and I regularly use them myself for credit cards and personal loans etc.
It is common practise for new applicants to check the advice given and come back (after visiting comparison sites) with questions about other lenders and schemes however, established clients should be confident in your advice given and have no need to look elsewhere.
I appreciate the hassle of having to justify the product against a better buy table however, isn’t it a nice feeling to peel off the headline wrapper and rip the scheme apart.

]]> http://www.trumpo.com/blog/business/comparison-websites-under-the-hot-spotlight/#comment-959 Chris Wiles Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:01:30 +0000 http://www.trumpo.com/blog/business/comparison-websites-under-the-hot-spotlight/#comment-959 It is heartening to know that somebody in authority ( ? )is looking into these sites. I had a 7 year relationship, repeat client meeting last week, and after giving advice on a particular remortgage deal, he called me Saturday saying that there was a deal with the same company I had advised, but, at a lower rate for the same 5 year fixed deal. Needless to say, the comparison website was 2 weeks out of date! I asked him to go to the lending company's open website to check for himself, and lo and behold, I was correct. Although as you have said in your scribe above it is great for comparing gas, electric, telephone costs, it must keep up with the times and be more accurate. If not, as happened to me, it will instill a lack of confidence in professional advisers such as myself, and cause extra work in proving to these computer literate clients that we were correct in the first place. That updating of these sites needs to be accurate, and if possible be verified BEFORE they can transmit the details. The other factor is that they are not whole of market based. With regard to life assurance and protection, like car insurance, they only seem to show companies they want. Almost "cherry picking" the companies, I would suggest, does that follow that they only promote the companies where they get a "back-hander", or "introducer fee"? chris, dorset It is heartening to know that somebody in authority ( ? )is looking into these sites.
I had a 7 year relationship, repeat client meeting last week, and after giving advice on a particular remortgage deal, he called me Saturday saying that there was a deal with the same company I had advised, but, at a lower rate for the same 5 year fixed deal. Needless to say, the comparison website was 2 weeks out of date!
I asked him to go to the lending company’s open website to check for himself, and lo and behold, I was correct.
Although as you have said in your scribe above it is great for comparing gas, electric, telephone costs, it must keep up with the times and be more accurate. If not, as happened to me, it will instill a lack of confidence in professional advisers such as myself, and cause extra work in proving to these computer literate clients that we were correct in the first place.
That updating of these sites needs to be accurate, and if possible be verified BEFORE they can transmit the details. The other factor is that they are not whole of market based.
With regard to life assurance and protection, like car insurance, they only seem to show companies they want. Almost “cherry picking” the companies, I would suggest, does that follow that they only promote the companies where they get a “back-hander”, or “introducer fee”?
chris, dorset

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