Our methodology — how we test, check, and rank
The 5-point evidence check
Every company profile and legit check runs the same five checks. Each point is marked Pass, Concern, or Not found, with a note and a source. “Not found” is an honest result: it means we could not verify the point from public sources, and we say so instead of guessing.
- Business registration & identity — Is the company who it says it is? For insurers: licensing, founding, headquarters, and parent company, checked against regulator and reference sources.
- Pricing transparency — Can a consumer learn what things cost before handing over personal details? Are published prices labelled as examples or averages?
- Complaints pattern — What do regulator complaint data and recurring themes show? For insurers we use the NAIC complaint index, where an index of 1.00 is the market average for a company of that size.
- Refund & cancellation terms — Are the terms for cancelling and getting money back published and findable?
- Independent evidence — What do independent third parties (regulators, rating agencies, established reference sources) say, separate from the company’s own marketing?
How comparison rankings work
Comparison pages organise insurers by “best for” use cases instead of crowning one winner for everyone. The inputs we weigh are: the evidence check above, market position and availability, how the company sells (agent, direct, or both), and documented product features such as telematics programs. A company’s commercial relationship with us is not an input. If a company is not yet rated, we publish it as “Not yet rated” with the reason, rather than inventing a score.
Scores show their inputs
When we publish a numeric score, the inputs and weights appear on the same page. A score with no visible inputs does not ship. Tool estimates (like our car insurance overpay quiz) publish their full scoring model on the tool page itself.
Reviews
Reader reviews are moderated by a human before they appear, are published whether positive or negative, and are labelled verified only when we can verify the reviewer (for example, by email confirmation). We never show a review form only to customers we expect to be happy, and businesses cannot pay to remove or change a review. Business responses are labelled and dated.
Corrections
Companies and readers can flag a factual error via our contact page. Verified corrections are made and noted with the date. Verdicts change only when the evidence changes — never because a company asked, paid, or threatened.