The recent launch of Asda's online quotations for motor, household and travel, brings it into competition with a long line of retailing companies that use their existing brand image to sell financial products. Analyst Defaqto assesses their impact in the broker marketplace

Home contents insurance
The Norwich Union-underwritten Asda Home Insurance product was available in the market a number of months ago and has now been made available to purchase online.

This places it in direct competition with offerings from Sainsbury's Bank and Tesco and is another brand name with the potential to pull clients away from brokers. Marks & Spencer's product is not yet available to buy online, a fact that sets Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda apart.

In terms of the cover provided, Marks & Spencer excel on those criteria selected with a number of broker products close behind and comparable to the Sainsbury's Bank product. The newly available Asda product falls slightly short of the best retailer offerings in the market in what is a very competitive and close marketplace.

Areas where the Marks & Spencer Premier product outperforms the other products are as follows:

  • Automatic accidental damage cover

  • No limit on the sum insured for single items of valuables

  • Unlimited sum insured for loss of water

    • Drawbacks:

  • Not available online

  • No cover on contents for alternative accommodation

    • Single trip travel insurance
    The majority of single trip travel insurance is still purchased through travel agents although retailers with their massive brand presence are arguably best placed to eat into this market share.

    When comparing a number of travel brochure products it becomes apparent that the cover offered in some cases is comparable to the better retailer products. Asda Travel Insurance is competitive on the criteria selected although Sainsbury's offering is ahead of the game.

    While the travel brochure products analysed are comparable in cover to their competitors, the same is not true of the premiums charged for what is in effect similar cover. The average premium for the travel brochure products for a family of four to Europe for 17 days is two and a half times the average cost of the retailers products analysed.

    Asda Travel Insurance features:

  • Online quotation

  • £5,000 Personal Accident cover

  • £1,500 of baggage cover

  • £25,000 Legal Expenses cover

    • Drawbacks:

  • £200 limit on cash claims

  • Excess applied per section claimed under

    • NOTES

  • These charts use Defaqto's unique Numerical Analysis (DNA) scoring system

  • DNA illustrates the relative positioning of a product based on selected criteria

  • The criteria used in these charts are a representative sample only and may not be relevant in all cases

  • Other criteria are not available and may give different results

  • When used to match products to a client's circumstances, DNA can show how closely a product matches those requirements

    • Source: Defaqto
    For details:
    www.defacto.com

    freephone 0808 1000804

    To download a PDF of this article as it appears in the magazine click here p14

    p15 .

    Topics