Last year we told you that UK based price comparison company MoneySupermarket.com had launched the world’s first car insurance comparison app: “Buying cheap car insurance through your Smartphone” ,which retrieved quotes available through over 100 different providers in a matter of minutes.
The only limitation of the app was the fact that it was only available to those of us who own Apple products (i.e. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch). However, the company has set about addressing this limitation by releasing a version of the app which is usable on all android phones. The android version of the app can now be downloaded free of charge from android.com.
Developed by award winning digital communications company MIG (Mobiles Interactive Group), the app has been developed with speed and ease of use in mind. This is in evidence throughout the process, with the company purposefully trying to reduce the amount of time it takes to enter the information which is required in order for motorists to retrieve quotes; the aspect of the process which it has been found is the most likely to result in drivers simply choosing to accept their current providers renewal price rather than shopping around for better deals.
Indeed, it is the first time that the app is used that is likely to be the most time consuming for the majority; with users having to create a MoneySupermarket user account which will contain the required information about the user such as their age, occupation and the area in which they live. The great advantage of this is that this personal information doesn’t need to be entered on subsequent occasions as the app will just request that the user logs in in order to recover the required details; saving users a significant amount of time and effort.
The company has also made the stage where vehicle information is entered as simple as possible; with users simply having to enter in the registration plate of any vehicle that they are considering being insured on. The app will then retrieve the information about the vehicle which insurers required from the DVLA database; once again saving time and effort.
Once these two sets of information have been entered, the app will then retrieve the quotes which are on offer through over 100 different car insurance providers. The company estimates that using this process will save the average customer £375 per year on the total cost of their policy.
All of the quotes which are available will have two buttons alongside them; one called ‘purchase’ and the other called ‘click to call’. The ‘click to call’ button will allow users to contact the insurer directly if they want to make enquiries about specific details within the policy before committing to it, while the ‘purchase’ button will obviously allow the user to simply purchase a specific policy on the spot if they are sure that it covers everything that they need.
Although both the android and iPhone versions of the app are currently only usable within the UK, the company believes that the app will result in other comparison companies making efforts to emulate the app. This could well include comparison companies in other countries.
