What happens to your details when you request a quote

The basic arrangement

Nearly every free UK comparison service works the same way: you submit an enquiry, the enquiry is passed to one or more suppliers, and those suppliers pay for the introduction. That is how the service is free, and there is nothing improper about it as long as it is disclosed and you know how many people will be contacting you.

The part worth paying attention to is the number. An enquiry passed to one matched supplier is a different experience from one sold to five, and the second is where the reputation for relentless phone calls comes from.

What the law requires

Under UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, a site must tell you who it is, what it will do with your data, and who it will share it with — before you submit, not afterwards. Sharing with unnamed "carefully selected partners" is not adequate; you are entitled to know the categories, and often the names.

You also have rights after the fact that do not depend on anyone's goodwill: the right to ask what data is held about you, the right to have it corrected, the right to have it erased in most circumstances, and an absolute right to object to direct marketing. That last one is not a request. If you object to marketing, it must stop.

Practical control

Read the consent line before you tick it, and check whether it is one box or several. Separate boxes for the quote itself and for future marketing are a good sign; a single box covering both is a worse one.

Use a phone number you are willing to answer, and be specific about your contact preference if the form offers one. Reputable operators honour it because they are also bound by the marketing-call rules.

If you want to stop calls later, say clearly that you are withdrawing consent and objecting to direct marketing, and say it in writing where you can. Registering with the Telephone Preference Service helps with unsolicited calls generally, though it does not override a consent you gave.

What we do

Comparison Experts does not collect quote enquiries. This site publishes guidance and points you to the specialist site for your category, and that site handles the enquiry and states its own terms on its own privacy page.

Our sites pass an enquiry to matched suppliers so they can quote. Each site tells you what it does with your data before you submit it, and any of them will action a deletion or marketing objection.