An insurance broker has called upon the government to ban price comparison websites from offering their services to plumbers, electricians and other trades.

Mark Herbert, Managing Director at Construction Insure, says that price comparison websites are enticing smaller contractors into cheap insurance deals which fail to cover the work they undertake.


According to the firm's own research, he claims that around half of all UK contracting firms 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.


Consequently, the Construction Insure MD has written to Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP about introducing legislation preventing price comparison sites from offering their service to contractors.


Mark explained: "Many visit comparison sites, tap in the minimal amount of information needed for the cheapest quote and then they’re given an insurance document that looks the part when presented to customers.


“But these policies are cheap for a reason. The small print is filled with caveats and usually they only provide a minimal level of cover, often not adequate for the work the contractor does every day.


“The use of price comparison websites may seem to be convenient but nothing is more inconvenient than having a crisis and discovering your insurance policy isn’t fit for purpose."


He concluded: “This is a very serious issue and it is high time something was done to close this insurance shortfall.”