Hi, I am looking to setup a travel insurance comparison site. The first decision to make is whether it should be database driven or static. HTML would be quick to build but dynamic would obviously be more powerful. Secondly, can anyone work out how the big comparison site store their data? Do they calculate the prices themselves or use feeds from the insurers? Notting
Which country are you in? Certainly in the UK the likes of confused get premiums live from the insurers themselves via web services or in a few cases screenscrapping (have worked on these from both developing one and working for an insurance company being listed on one) My recommendation if you are in the UK is simply not to do it. The one I was involved in with the launch (as a project manager not providing developers) was over £3m in development costs and you have to spend masses in advertising to get any share of voice Added to the development costs you also have to be regulated by the Financial Service Authority if you have any connection to insurance other than simply carrying advertising banners which is very long and painful
Thanks for the information. however it is not my choice whether to do it or not - it is my bosses! Does anyone know about any firms that will provide a comparison site on a white lable basis? Thanks notting
I would help if you said which country you are in as your $location really doesnt help. None of the UK ones offer white lable service which I am aware of. Even as such you would still need FSA authority, though possibly at a lower level. If it is at a lower level then the service provider would also have partial responsibility for your actions and so dont expect service charges to be low as ultimately your breach of FSA regulations could result in them loosing their license to operate. Even an unjustified complaint will result in up to £1000 fine (FOS charge under authority of the FSA irrespective of if the complaint was justified or not). You would also be bound by their level of authority - you can be authorised to provide on an advisory or non-advisory basis and the statutory requirements for advisory are significantly higher.
I have found 4/5 firms out there that offer the service!! just needed a bit of digging! I will look into the FSA thing. GL Notting
Actually, ignore me, FSA regulation is optional for travel insurance on a non-advisory basis. Not sure about advisory. There are calls for it to become regulated. I dont know if a price comparison site would be considered advisory or not. My previous employer did sell travel but it was only a minor product in comparison to motor & home so rarely did much with it.