A critical report on price comparison sites by Which? magazine has provoked rebuttals from two of the three sites mentioned.

The report, which looked at moneysupermarket.com, Gocompare.com and Confused.com, concluded that, while comparison sites can be a quick and easy way to get quotes for insurance, or search for financial products such as loans and credit cards, they have their limitations.

It found that in most cases the cheapest quotes were different on each site; different websites sometimes gave different quotes for the same insurer; it was sometimes difficult to make sure that the websites were comparing like with like; some websites offered more insurance policy details than others, and the websites did not always come up with best loan and credit card rates.

Stuart Glendinning, managing director of moneysupermarket.com, said: "This is not a comprehensive report from Which? on price comparison sites.

"Accuracy is of paramount importance to us. moneysupermarket.com is the only price comparison website with a clear commitment to customers on how it will behave. Our customer promise makes it clear that our aim is to compare more providers than any other site, to list every provider (and make clear which ones we don't list and why), that the price you see is the price you pay and that you won't get cheaper by going direct.
 
"As well as price we provide a huge amount of supporting information to help customers find the product that best meets their needs.  This includes customer reviews of providers, expert reviews of providers, detailed terms and conditions, user forums, video blogs, editorial and more."

Hayley Parsons, chief executive officer of Gocompare.com said: "The Gocompare.com service combines extensive market coverage and a clear display and explanation of the comparison results and features.

"There are various reasons why Which? may have found quotes differed from site to site. For example, some comparison sites don't compare as many insurers or products as we do, therefore the search results would be different. It's also worth pointing out that this research is nearly two months out of date, and since then we've added even more insurers and products to our service and will be adding still more in the very near future.

"In addition, there are still some assumptions used by other comparison sites that can mean people get seemingly lower premiums. By contrast we ask every question possible to get an accurate premium that we can then guarantee won't change when you go through to the insurer.

"Which? has shown that comparison websites are an essential service which can save consumers hundreds if not thousands of pounds. Indeed, just one of the real-life case studies featured in the Which? investigation saved over £1100 a year by using a comparison website to search for home insurance.

"The key finding of the Which? investigation has to be that shopping around using a comparison website can be a great way to compare lots of products and save a lot of money."
 

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