The app market has become somewhat saturated over the past couple of years; with everything from games such as Angry Birds to social networking apps. However, in all honesty the vast majority of these have been more about fun than usefulness.
This is all set to change, with British price comparison company MoneySupermarket.com launching the world’s first car insurance price comparison app which scowls the prices available through over 100 different car insurance companies in order to find the cheapest quotes which are available to individual users.
Where and how?
You can download the MoneySupermarket car insurance comparison app free of charge from either iTunes or the companies own website.
The company claims that the main purpose of the app is to make the annual search for car insurance premiums both faster and easier. However, those who download the app will have to create a MoneySupermarket user account the first time that they use it. This is the most arduous task that will be required with the app as users will have to enter information about themselves which is pertinent in the calculation of car insurance prices. This arduous process is usually one which you are required to undertake every single time that you attempt to retrieve quotes. However, the advantage of the MoneySupermarket app is that these details will be saved for future reference; meaning that you only have to enter these details once.
Once the app has user’s personal details to hand, it will request information about the vehicle which the motorists is looking to be insured on. This is an very important factor in the calculation of premiums in the modern day and age, with insurers now factoring in the statistical likelihood of motorists who drive these specific types of vehicle being involved in an accident and making a claim. Security systems featured on the vehicle and its overall performance specifications will also be taken into account, all of which makes it vital that the details entered are accurate as otherwise the insurance policy could be rendered void.
The possibility of makes being made during this stage of the process has been reduced, with the app having a revolutionary feature where users need only take a photograph of a specific vehicle’s registration plate number. MoneySupermarket’s app will then access the database of the UK’s vehicle legislators to retrieve the information about the car which is relevant in the calculation of car insurance premiums.
Arranging for cover
Once the app has this information it will return quotes available through all of the companies that have a commercial presence on the MoneySupermarket website; over one hundred insurers in total.
One criticism that has been levied at the app thus far is the fact that it doesn’t display all of the details of the policy; with information about additional features such as whether or not windscreen replacement or courtesy cars are guaranteed for instance not featured on the display. Nevertheless, all of the quotes do have a button alongside them which allows users to directly contact the insurer telephonically to make enquiries about specific details within the policies.
Alternatively if users are satisfied with the information which the app makes available to them, then they can choose to click the ‘purchase’ button and arrange for the cover to be actioned, even while on the move.
Response
The App has received a generally positive response from users thus far; achieving an average of four out of a possible five stars for customer reviews on iTunes.
Praise for the app has also been forthcoming from industry experts, such as The Guardian’s Mark King who awarded it the title of ‘consumer app of the week’ upon its launch. King praised the app for its ease of use and the cheap quotes which it retrieved upon the process being completed.
MoneySupermarket’s Julie Fisher believes that the app will spark a revolution in the insurance industry; with Fisher predicting that other comparison companies will launch similar apps over the course of 2012.