[kamjam]

Welcome to doing something that has been done in Europe for many years now, and not just on auto-isnurance:

http://www.confused.com/

http://www.comparethemarket.com/

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/

to name a few...

I understand that this was a legal issue due to the insurers (but even so, they only launched a year ago...) but what is it with American companies that they just don't seem to get the internet?

Comparing price of auto-insurance is really no different than comparing the price of flights, travel insurance, cars, houses, whatever. It's a product/service and it is not going to be one size fits all. Some insurance companies will be a better fit in terms of price and options available, so insurance companies that are competitive will actually get more customers by being on the comparison sites.

[jasontraff]

This is very true, and actually had a strong influence on Leaky - especially in the early days. I spent a lot of time in the UK (and actually spoke at a price aggregation conference in London), and there are a few structural reasons for why the markets evolved so differently and have made the US much more resilient to adopting comparison services. Suffice to say, we think that's changing.

[kamjam]

Glad to read you are launching country wide, and with over 100 companies on board. Hopefully that will be a wake up call for the remaining to get with the times and open up some services to consume.

Good luck with the venture.

[kpommerenke]

There are legal reasons why the U.S. doesn't have true comparison sites, unlike the UK. Screen-scraping is illegal here, but not in the UK, so you need the cooperation of the carrier to show their quotes.

Most U.S. carriers don't cooperate with independent comparison sites, since they don't want to see their product commoditized.

[Jach]

It's not illegal, but it's not very strongly settled one way or another. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping#Legal_issues

[kamjam]

There are legal reasons why the U.S. doesn't have true comparison sites

Yes, and I stated that in my original comment. My point is that these corporations need to get with the modern times. It's a global playing field these days, technology does not stand still in one part of the world whilst your (not personally) archaic thinking catches up. It's the same thinking model as the RIAA.

[josh2600]

Replace Insurance with $Entrenched_Incumbent and you've nailed it for any industry.

Competition creates a price efficient market, which is the enemy of high margin businesses.

[shrikant]

I take it you're not a fan "Go compaaaaare!"? (http://www.gocompare.com)

[kamjam]

Only if you don't start singing the theme tune! :)