Most people compare contracts by looking at the price first and then trying to remember what else was in the paperwork. That order is backwards. Price only means something once you know what each contract actually says on the same points.
Build the grid before you decide anything
Take a blank sheet and list the terms down the left side. Then fill in one column for each contract, using the full form rather than the sales summary. Keep the order the same for every column so your eye can move across the row and see the differences at a glance.
Include the terms that decide a claim
- The length of the term and the mileage limit at which coverage ends
- The maximum vehicle age the company will accept at signing
- The waiting period and what starts it
- The deductible, and how it is counted
- The exclusions section, read in full
- How claims are filed and who pays the repair shop
- How cancellation works and how any refund is calculated
- Whether the contract can be transferred if you sell the car
Check the definitions in each column
Two contracts can use the same heading and mean different things by it. Look up the key words in the definitions section of each form and write the meaning next to the heading in your grid. A word that is defined narrowly in one form and broadly in the other changes what each contract is worth to you.
Add the price only after the grid is full
When the grid is complete, add a row for the price and the payment terms. Now the price can be read against the rest of the row. A lower figure with a longer waiting period or a narrower definition may not be the better deal, and the grid makes that visible.
Use published figures from this site
This site publishes its comparison tables and the method behind them, so you can check our figures against your own grid. The term-by-term comparison page sets the companies side by side, and the methodology page explains how the scores are built. Start with the published terms, then confirm them against the actual form before you sign.