The centuries-old competition in between the UK and Australia might sustain small talk up until the club’s gone completely dry. Australia has much better weather condition, crispier fish and chips, and a premium cricket group.
But currently I need to confess there goes to the very least something the Brits do much better than us. When it involves lowering their home costs, they have us defeat.
We Aussies enjoy to simulated the “whinging poms,” however their reduced resistance for rate walkings suggests they extend their extra pound a lot even more than we do our buck.
Ask a British individual what they did when they obtained their insurance coverage revival and 9 breaks of 10 they’ll inform you they switched over to a less expensive offer.
Ask an Australian, and they’ll possibly state, “I forgot to check”.
Our world-famous care free perspective might be costing us, and as the Brits would certainly state, “that’s pants.”
According to market research, 87 per cent of UK consumers use price comparison websites to find better deals.
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But a survey of 1,000 Australians found 30 per cent had never switched energy retailers and a further 42 per cent hadn’t changed in over 12 months.
Meanwhile, more than half of people (53 per cent) with private health insurance had never changed providers. It boggles the mind when one fund increased its policies by an average 5.82 per cent last year.
So what’s to blame for this cultural divide?
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We Australians like to be seen as brand loyalists. How often do we hear our family members boast, “I’ve been with X Bank for over 20 years”?
It’s why so much marketing tugs at the heartstrings, to suggest big brands have our best interests at heart.
However, the reality is that often, the best deals are reserved for new customers, so rusted-on brand fans end up paying more over time.
Sometimes we stick with the same providers, even if we’re unhappy with the service we’re getting, just because they are a brand we know.
Often little brands don’t have the marketing budgets to compete on a level playing field, but that doesn’t mean they won’t satisfy.
In fact, smaller insurance businesses often share underwriters with the big names.
Maybe it’s time to give the underdog a try.
But isn’t it easier to stick with the same provider? We wrongly assume that comparing bills won’t be worth the time.
But look at it this way – comparing could pay a better rate than your employer.
One Compare the Market customer saved just over $285 by switching to a car insurer this year.
There aren’t many jobs with an hourly rate like that.
We need big business buy-in
But before we see Aussie consumers really embrace the spirit of comparison, the government and industry need to do some heavy lifting.
In the UK, the vast majority of brands willingly offer themselves to be compared.
Here in Australia, outside of energy and health insurance, many big brands choose not to participate.
Maybe it’s time the Federal Government dusted off the Senate inquiry paper into the General Insurance industry from 2017.
That report was titled “Australia’s general insurance industry: sapping consumers of the will to compare”.
Seven years on and we’re facing some of the biggest price hikes in history, with insurance costs up 16.4 per cent in the year to March 2024, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price index.
If you don’t see a brand when you compare, maybe you now know why.
Tell them they’re fantasizing
I actually think that contrast is the automobile for much better competitors in Australia.
Over the years, I have actually been come close to by lots of brand names to serve as an ambassador however I could not devote myself to a solitary offering understanding it might not constantly existing excellent worth to customers.
That’s why I picked to be a component of a group with a goal to promote the behavior of contrast.
So, the following time you obtain an insurance policy revival notification, order your laptop computer, run a contrast and see just how your expense piles up with various other deals.
We can not compel brand names to sign up with contrast sites– just you can.
Remember, the most awful point that can take place when you contrast is figuring out that you’re currently on a respectable deal. The ideal point might be conserving hundreds.
It’s time to import a bill-savvy way of thinking from Old Blighty.
No require to grab the mushy peas and vinegar – there’s just one point we require to squeeze from the poms it’s their interest to contrast.
