Call for price comparison website ban  

Price comparison websites should be prevented from offering quotes to small businesses in the construction sector, an insurance broker has warned.

Mark Herbert, MD at Construction Insure, says the use of price comparison websites by contractors, including electricians, has led to a huge insurance shortfall in Britain’s construction industry.

He warns around half of all UK contracting firms, including builders, plumbers, roofers and electricians, do not have adequate insurance in place to cover their works leading to massive risks for the property developers, homeowners and councils who employ them.

He is now calling for housing minister Dominic Raab MP to introduce legislation preventing price comparison sites from offering their service to contractors.

He believes a change in the law is necessary to prevent independent contractors from being enticed into cheap insurance deals which fail to cover the work they undertake for clients, saying many are seduced by cheap prices as they can input what they want and are not given any professional guidance, as a result this may not be covering works adequately.