Apathy loses consumers hundreds of pounds

Apathy when it comes to choosing financial products is causing consumers to lose out financially, says Simon Burgess from the ethical payment protection provider BritishInsurance.com.

He says: “How many of us still do what our parents did and trudge off to the one of the High Street banks when we need a loan, mortgage or insurance?

“Despite the ease of applying for and buying products securely online, there are still millions of consumers who think that the big banks offer the most competitive products. However, the truth is that there are products sold by banks and High Street lenders that aren’t competitively priced at all. In fact, these are products that are basically a rip-off.”

And Burgess has all the evidence he needs to support this statement. If you look at add-on products sold by the big banks and lenders such as payment protection insurance (PPI), you’ll see that this is where they make the most profits. They make billions each year, in fact, in commissions. And it is easy money as PPI is the easiest product to sell.

Most of the time, these products are sold alongside the borrowing by the lender or bank as an add-on. Many consumers do not realise that the product is not compulsory and also that they do not have to buy it from their credit provider. Some do not even fully understand the product but sign up anyway due to the hard-sell.

Because the banks and lenders have the bums on seats, they don’t have to offer competitively priced PPI as they are halfway already to getting a sale.

However, it is not all bad news for consumers. Buying PPI from your lender is not compulsory and you can shop around for a better deal. There are low cost standalone PPI products available from companies like BritishInsurance.com which can save borrowers literally hundreds of pounds.

Visit BritishInsurance.com for more details.