11 October 2007
Financial services body the Resolution Foundation has said that price comparison websites should be signed up to a voluntary code of practice
Chairman of the foundation Clive Cowdery commented: "Comparison sites are valuable in making informed financial decisions - but many sites are undermined by a lack of transparency about their commercial relationships. A voluntary code of practice would address this and encourage a growing market, without the need for further regulation."
Welcoming the comments, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com Ann Robinson said: "Price comparison sites play an important role in making complex decisions simple for consumers and help them to navigate a crowded marketplace to identify the best product for their needs whilst saving money.
"We make it very clear to our customers how we make money and have applied the same ethical principles of impartiality to all of our products. uSwitch.com is one of very few sites to have had EnergyWatch accreditation since 2001.
"In addition, we recently wrote to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) suggesting that a code of practice be developed for the personal finance price comparison industry."
Ms Robinson went on to say that uSwitch would "welcome" any initiative which would raise consumer confidence in price comparison websites.
Research from YouGov cited by the Resolution Foundation shows that 45% of Britons have used such a website to help them in making a consumer choice in the last year.