People in Offaly among worst for switching household bill providers

Just six in ten people in Leinster (excl. Dublin) shop around for car insurance every year - less than the national average of nearly 7 in 10.

Only four in ten in the province do so for home insurance, while just three in ten will look for a better electricity and gas deal.

These are the findings of a new nationwide survey from Peopl.ie, a nationwide provider of home and life insurance. The survey of 1,000 respondents from all over Ireland, conducted by iReach, looked into the prevalence of switching insurance and home utility bills.

Mr. Paul Walsh, CEO at Peopl Insurance commented on the findings: “Our tendency to look around for better deals on our big yearly expenditures appears to be different depending on the product. Unfortunately, it seems that in the main, the people of Leinster, outside of Dublin, are not the best at this.

"Across Ireland, 68% of people said they shop around for their annual car insurance on a yearly basis, but this decreases to 61% when we look at people in Leinster alone. We would question why the other 39% are not – and whether they are aware that by accepting their current provider’s quote at renewal time they are probably overpaying by hundreds of euro. And the same goes for home insurance and electricity and gas, which even less people shop around for. In reality, it means that thousands of people across the country are paying too much on their various insurance premiums.

"The point we want to get across is, regardless of the product, there are really no instances where you should simply auto-renew without first seeing if there’s better value to be had. For example, customers that switched their home insurance to Peopl Insurance this year typically knocked 25% off their last year’s premium.

"Similarly, with car and home insurance the same policy with one provider could cost you double what it would with another.

"If you’re on the wrong deal, or are paying too much for your home or motor insurance – simply ditch-it and switch-it. Thousands of households across Ireland are suffering from higher price inflation, and much of this pain can be alleviated by switching provider.”

Gender and Age a Factor

The Peopl.ie survey reveals that, in the main, men appear to be better than women, to varying degrees, for switching – across all three products:

·       Utilities – 68% of men reprice at least every 3 years, compared to 57% of women

·       Home insurance – 79% men reprice at least every 3 years compared to 67% of women

·       Car insurance – 76% of men reprice at least every 3 years, compared to 74% of women

Peopl.ie report that observations from their survey show that age also has a role to play in switching behaviour, depending on the product.

Mr. Walsh commented: “The most active age group of switchers for car insurance is 25–34-year-olds. It’s easy to understand why the younger groups are more proactive when it comes to repricing car insurance on a yearly basis – because the premiums paid by motorists can be heavily dependent on age and driving experience. In terms of home insurance, it is 45–54-year-olds who are most inclined to shop around.”

Auto renewing

The Peopl.ie survey reveals that a substantial number of people only change their provider when the price increases significantly. There is also a relatively large cohort of consumers who still auto-renew every year. Combined, these “non-switchers” account for almost 3 in 10 consumers when it comes to home insurance, and almost 4 in 10 for utilities.

·       Home insurance                                         28%

·       Car insurance                                             25%

·       Utilities                                                      38%

Mr Walsh commented: “There are thousands of people throughout the country who simply allow their contracts to auto-renew, which is a major no-no.

"In our experience, one of the main reasons people stick with the same insurer is due to a concern over a loss of cover or service, as well as doubts over the hassle and perceived difficulty of switching. The reality is that switching actually takes very little time, and can be done online or over the phone.”

Mr Walsh concluded: “Both the home and car insurance markets in Ireland continue to be competitive so there’s always money to be saved. Unfortunately, everyone in the country is going to see their home energy bill go up this year (the CSO Consumer Price Index for November shows an increase of 12% on electricity and fuel prices year on year). For all of these reasons people should be scouring the market in search of the best deal.”