Expansion Set for the Comparisons

Successful launch drives new appointments

Following strong business growth, thecomparisons.com, the new Leeds-based price comparison website which launched at the end of last year, has recruited two new team members.

The new additions will be Dianne Hough, who joins as Business Development Manager, and Simon-John Roberts, who has been appointed as Web Development Manager. Both are set to play a key role in the ambitious growth plans of the business over the next year.

Dianne Hough previously worked with Yorkshire digital agency, Leap Frog. In her new role as Business Development Manager, she will be responsible for building relationships with the company’s extensive panel of partners and will work to implement and develop new and existing services and products for the website.

Dianne said: “I am looking forward to the challenges of working with such an ambitious and focused team. It is an exciting time to joining the business, which has already made its mark in the industry, despite its relative infancy.”

Simon-John Roberts joins thecomparisons.com from Idesta, where he was involved in developing 3D emergent technology. As Web Development Manager, he will be responsible for driving the technical aspects of the site and maintaining a unique customer experience. He is currently focused on bringing in new channels and services as well as overseeing technical development.

Simon said: “I am passionate about working with emergent technologies and am very excited about The Comparisons as a brand, which is unique and has immense potential.”

Chris McDonald, Director of thecomparisons.com, said: “Our first two months have been incredibly positive and we are pleased with the rate at which our team is expanding. With the right people in place we can continue to build and grow the business.”

Students Could Be at Risk

A large proportion of students running cars in the UK could be unknowingly compromising their insurance cover by not properly registering details, warns new price comparison website, thecomparisons.com.

With students returning to university this month and many receiving cars for Christmas, the temptation to register insurance details using a home address, where premiums may be lower, can be too great. It is also thought that a large number may simply be unaware that they need to act and update their policies.

Chris McDonald, Director of thecomparisons.com, said: “Students often live in inner city areas where crime rates can be high, and criminals specifically target student neighbourhoods. While it might be tempting to register insurance details for a car using a home address where premiums can be lower due to off-road parking, private garages or rural locations, it is important not to.”

“If a claim does need to be made and an insurer has not been told about the change of address and circumstances, this could risk causing complications and delays in a claim, or worse still, result in a non payment from an insurer.”

“More than anything, it’s pointless to pay an insurance premium if you’re not going to be correctly covered and it really is a false economy. Students should get in touch with their insurers and make sure that their policy is up to date or spend a few minutes researching a sufficiently flexible and good value policy.”

The Nation’s Favourite ‘Fakes’ Revealed

‘Ben Dover’, ‘James Bond’ and ‘Al Coholic’ all make list

According to new research from price comparison website thecomparisons.com, the famous faces most likely to be applying for online car insurance quotes are Bob Marley, David Beckham and Marilyn Monroe – despite only one of them being alive!

Using a data resource of more than eight million people across the UK, thecomparisons.com has produced a definitive chart of the fake names Brits use when filling in online forms – such as car insurance quotes or mailing list applications – to help it better understand customer behaviour.

Topping the list was the pseudonym ‘Joe Bloggs’, which accounted for 48% of identifiable fake entries monitored by thecomparisons.com during a one month period. Coming second was ‘James Bond’ with 11% of entries and in third place came ‘Fred Bloggs’ with 10%. In joint fourth place came ‘Bob Marley’ and ‘Ben Dover’ with 7% each.

The most popular fake female name emerged as ‘Marilyn Monroe’, accounting for 1% of all fake names entered during the month.

Just outside of the top ten were the suspect-sounding ‘Al Coholic’, ‘Jock Strap’, various members of the Simpsons family and several Star Wars characters including ‘Darth Vader’ and ‘Jabba the Hut’.

The top ten fake names
1) Joe Bloggs – 48%
2) James Bond – 11%
3) Fred Bloggs – 10%
4) Bob Marley – 7%
5) Ben Dover – 7%
6) Jo Bloggs – 6%
7) Bob Builder – 4%
8) Fred Flintstone – 3%
9) David Beckham – 2%
10) Marylyn Monroe – 2%

The findings are based on data provided by thecomparisons.com, monitored during November 2007, with the suspected fake names are automatically filtered out of more than 700,000 entries.

Chris McDonald, director of thecomparisons.com, said: “It’s fascinating to see the false names people use online, and it’s something a few of us have been guilty of at some stage. However, it’s worth remembering, price comparison websites are all about giving the customer added value and saving them huge amounts of time, and using false names will only make this process take longer than it needs to.”