When you buy insurance directly from an insurer online, or from a comparison site which sells but doesn’t service you in the event of a claim, you are effectively flying solo. This means that if a potential claim arises you need to argue your case to be paid without professional help on your side. It’s a bit like fronting up to a court hearing without your lawyer. The chance of winning would be quite low.

If you are wondering why sometimes you can find really cheap insurance policies online, you should firstly read the fine print and secondly understand the probability of a claim being paid. They say about 40% less claims get paid in the direct market vs the broker market because brokers ‘know what they are doing’.