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The top-performing home insurers not on comparison sites
Many of the best policies are only available direct
Price comparison websites are an incredibly powerful tool, condensing into a 10-minute task what would have previously meant days of sourcing separate quotes from dozens of insurers.
But while they're a great way to compare prices, you could be missing out on some of the best policies if you depend on them alone.
In July, we rated 75 home insurance policies from 34 insurers, giving each one ratings for their buildings and contents cover.
Some 40% of these policies don't appear on comparison websites and can only be bought directly, including nine of the 11 policies that made the cut as Which? Best Buys.
Here, we reveal which top insurers aren't on comparison sites, and how to use both on and off-site insurers to get the best price and policy.
The policies you have to buy direct
The table below shows the 30 policies that weren't available through comparison websites at the time of our analysis.
They're ranked by 'policy score' – our unique rating of how comprehensive the cover levels in the policies are.
Some of the most comprehensive policies we came across can only be bought directly from the insurer, including the highest-scoring policies from NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland and the majority of our Best Buys from Direct Line, Ecclesiastical, NFU Mutual, Royal Bank of Scotland, Saga and Sagic.
| 88% | 84% | 91% | ||
| 88% | 84% | 91% | Contents | |
| 79% | 78% | 79% | ||
| 79% | 78% | 79% | Contents | |
| 78% | 79% | 76% | Buildings & Contents | |
| 77% | 77% | 77% | Buildings & Contents | |
| 77% | 78% | 75% | Buildings & Contents |
In July 2024, we surveyed 34 insurers and rated 75 of their policies. The policy score reflects how comprehensive each one is generally - based on our assessment of 41 elements of contents cover, 26 elements of buildings cover and 25 elements that apply to both - such as admin fees. The higher the score, the more comprehensive the cover. The table is ranked by the 'combined score' - which is the average of the buildings score and the contents score.
'Average' scores shown are of all policies - available both on and off comparison websites.
Do home insurers keep their 'best' products off comparison websites?
The average combined score for policies available through comparison websites was 67%, while the average for deals that could only be purchased directly was 72%.
This is partly explained by the fact that some of the providers achieving the very highest scores in our analysis – such as Direct Line, Ecclesiastical, NatWest, NFU Mutual and Royal Bank of Scotland – avoid comparison websites altogether. NFU Mutual policies, for example, can only be bought over the phone.
However, most providers do sell at least some of their policies through comparison sites.
- Find out more: See all policies compared and learn more about how we review insurers.
Different policies through different platforms
With some providers, different policies – with different levels of cover – are available, depending on where you buy them.
For example, Aviva's standard policy – which you can only buy direct – scored more highly than its Premium and Online policies, which appear exclusively on comparison websites. The gap was largest with contents cover. Here, the direct policy scored 76%, whereas the Premium product scored 67%.
Best Buy insurer Saga also doesn't offer quotes for its Best Buy policy – Plus – on comparison websites.
Customers finding Saga through comparison sites will be quoted for its slimmer Select policy, instead. However, they are offered the opportunity to upgrade once they click through to Saga's site to complete their purchase.
But insurers don't always offer lesser versions of their policies on comparison websites. Halifax, for example, offers its Standard and Ultimate cover through comparison websites, and a Gold, Silver, and Bronze range to direct customers.
Gold has marginally better buildings cover than Ultimate (79% vs 77%), but Ultimate has substantially better contents cover than Gold (78% vs Gold's 68%).
Do providers 'hollow out' their products?
Insurers have to fiercely compete to stand out from the crowd on comparison websites, where the prime factor for ranking is price.
With premiums going up, this incentivises some insurers to trim away elements of cover to remain among the top handful of quotes that customers see.
Rather than offering different policies through different channels, some insurers just offer the same policy, but with different cover levels.
Insurers are sometimes more subtle. We found, for example, that MBNA's Plus policy – which is only available through comparison websites – can vary its compulsory 'escape of water' excess from £50 to £750, depending on which comparison site you've used to buy it.
- Find out more: How to find cheap home insurance
Why use a comparison website?
While no comparison website features all providers – or probably even all its providers' policies – they still remain an indispensable way to find out what sorts of offers are available in the market. This is true whether you're buying your first policy, looking to switch or mulling over a renewal.
For most people, comparison sites offer a wide enough selection of deals to help you locate the cover you need at a competitive price.
They can also prove a way of finding a cheaper price for a policy you've already been quoted for directly, as insurers sometimes run special discounts exclusively through specific comparison websites. You can then bring the comparison site quote to the insurer, and ask if they can match or beat it.
However, if you want to examine a provider's full range of policies, you'll need to look a little deeper into the cover.
And while comparison websites make shopping for cover more speedy and convenient than it once was, you'll still need to spend some time checking whether the policy meets your requirements before committing to a purchase. Usually, a too-good-to-be-true price is just that.
For our comparisons of policies and insurers, and advice on how to find the best one for you, check our home insurance guides and reviews.
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