Leaky (YC S11) Relaunches with Real-Time Price Updates(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Leaky (YC S11) Relaunches with Real-Time Price Updates
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/26/leaky-relaunch/
25 comments
Hey Dan, sounds like you're getting a good deal! As for Leaky, the prices we show are based on switching/new customers - so there are longevity discounts and multi-line discounts (such as insuring your home) that aren't included in our current prices.
I currently have allstate and pay around $315 per 6 months. True I get discounts it didn't ask about here such as a discount for having home owners insurance with them as well but they quoted allstate at double what I pay, $629.97. The cheapest they quoted was Geico at $434.55. Cool idea but with quotes like this I don't exactly think I'll ever use it. One thing I will say though is they said they don't officially support my area and the quotes would be estimates.. but still.
I don't know what kind of deals agents might be able to find, but I do know that some of them are a little loose on the facts, like leaving out bits of your history or nudging values into ranges they know will give better rates (like how far you expect to drive your car, etc.).
There might also be discounts for home owners insurance, good grades, etc. that could be in effect.
There might also be discounts for home owners insurance, good grades, etc. that could be in effect.
Same; my 6 mo quote was almost $1000 off. Even when I was a new customer under 25 with more traffic citations on record, its still 800+ off.
This is the best website i've ever searched for insurance on! The lack of spam alone is a major selling point, but in addition to that, its quick, and snappy. Quite the amazing job. Also, you just saved me $100 on insurance... so my opinion may be biased :D
It would be nice if you integrated with CarWoo, so while I search for my car I can see how my insurance will change.
It would be nice if you integrated with CarWoo, so while I search for my car I can see how my insurance will change.
i never searched on anything else than the providers website before.
if they agreed on a naming convention for their forms elements so autocomplete would work on all sites, they would take out every agregator out of business.
if they agreed on a naming convention for their forms elements so autocomplete would work on all sites, they would take out every agregator out of business.
I don't think they are out of woods yet. They are still reliant on the insurance companies for their revenue(essentially they are just an affiliate site)...so they've complied with the letter of the complaint, but not the spirit.
They are still doing something that insurance companies care enough about to shut them down over.
They are still doing something that insurance companies care enough about to shut them down over.
I don't really think that's something to be worried about. Millions of insurance agents are reliant on insurance companies for their revenue - I don't see how this is any different.
As far as just being an affiliate site, you seem to overlook the fact that there is currently no way for consumers to price-compare different insurance companies without going through an agent. This is huge and I'm willing to bet they're hard at work on expanding into the even more lucrative homeowners insurance space as well.
As far as just being an affiliate site, you seem to overlook the fact that there is currently no way for consumers to price-compare different insurance companies without going through an agent. This is huge and I'm willing to bet they're hard at work on expanding into the even more lucrative homeowners insurance space as well.
I am willing to bet that prices being only comparable through an agent is completely intentional on the side of the insurance companies.
Talk about tenacity! And there's such a huge amount of disruption to be had anywhere in the insurance industries - looking forward to them earning the 'hipmunk for insurance' title.
I enjoyed that the prices refreshed (though they did not change) when I entered my first name. I could imagine: "Oh, your name's Phillip? +$30/year."
A huge (multiple million policies) missing market that no one is covering here is motorcycle coverage. Almost every site caters to car insurance, but no one touches bikes.
Opportunity for someone for sure.
Opportunity for someone for sure.
care to elaborate, pls?
I have multiple motorcycles. I'd like to buy insurance for them (already covered, but I wouldn't mind price shopping). Nearly all websites like this cater to finding you a better price on coverage for a newer car. I have a 30+ year old motorcycle and a 2 year old motorcycle. If there was a site that made it so I could find a cheaper (and better) insurance policy, I'd be totally up for it.
One key point here is 'better' as well- not just cheaper. If the insurer is likely to triple my premium after a claim, and another would only increase it by 10%, then I'd rather have the latter.
Kinda like Hipmunk- not just about the flight price purely, but the agony involved in flying that trip. No use on saving $5 on a ticket, only to need to spend 12 hours and 3 meals in an airport on layover, or stuck at an airport that will always leave me stranded with cancelations.
I doubt this is a 300 billion dollar business (it isn't), but I can only imagine there's enough money in this to employ a few dozen people and make real money.
One key point here is 'better' as well- not just cheaper. If the insurer is likely to triple my premium after a claim, and another would only increase it by 10%, then I'd rather have the latter.
Kinda like Hipmunk- not just about the flight price purely, but the agony involved in flying that trip. No use on saving $5 on a ticket, only to need to spend 12 hours and 3 meals in an airport on layover, or stuck at an airport that will always leave me stranded with cancelations.
I doubt this is a 300 billion dollar business (it isn't), but I can only imagine there's enough money in this to employ a few dozen people and make real money.
I've never found a company whose motorcycle coverage came even close to being as cheap as Geico's. So there's your comparison right there :-)
Geico offers all new cars extended warranty for 30/year. 7 years 100k miles, 250 deductible. This caused me to go with Geico, they also have very inexpensive road side assistance. $20/year for two vehicles. It would be nice if these types of add-ons are also included in the comparison.
Dealers hate Geico extended warranty. They try very hard to not let you talk to the Geico rep, because they want to sell you an outrageously priced extended warranty.
I had a bad experience with a Nissan Sentar (motor went at 90 k miles) and was looking into extended warranty for my next new car purchase. The Dealer tried to add the new car to my Geico policy without me talking to the Geico rep. Geico will not insure a vehicle with out talking to the owner. I ended up driving the car (2011 Chevy Cruze) off the lot without insurance (very long story).
Dealers hate Geico extended warranty. They try very hard to not let you talk to the Geico rep, because they want to sell you an outrageously priced extended warranty.
I had a bad experience with a Nissan Sentar (motor went at 90 k miles) and was looking into extended warranty for my next new car purchase. The Dealer tried to add the new car to my Geico policy without me talking to the Geico rep. Geico will not insure a vehicle with out talking to the owner. I ended up driving the car (2011 Chevy Cruze) off the lot without insurance (very long story).
Not to sound like that guy.. but I'm skeptical of their model.
Normal price comparison sites make a ton of money.. why? because they dominate the search results. Makes sense.. hard to make a brand out of something that sounds boring like comparing prices. Yet I think Leaky is betting the brand will attract users.
And if they do acknowledge they'll need search engine visitors, then that's a huge risk because 1 penalty and they're dead. And where's the "thick" content? Google frowns upon any site that looks like thin content.
Second, this is insurance. Noone's gonna compare prices regularly, like they do with regular purchases. It's not like airline tickets where people buy them 3-4 times a year either. It sounds like something someone would use once, then forget for a long time.
Normal price comparison sites make a ton of money.. why? because they dominate the search results. Makes sense.. hard to make a brand out of something that sounds boring like comparing prices. Yet I think Leaky is betting the brand will attract users.
And if they do acknowledge they'll need search engine visitors, then that's a huge risk because 1 penalty and they're dead. And where's the "thick" content? Google frowns upon any site that looks like thin content.
Second, this is insurance. Noone's gonna compare prices regularly, like they do with regular purchases. It's not like airline tickets where people buy them 3-4 times a year either. It sounds like something someone would use once, then forget for a long time.
You are looking at this from the point of view of what's currently in the market - insurance affiliates who compete on who can better game Google. There is no reason why Leaky should get a penalty, they are in the insurance comparison business, not the SEO business.
While many people (I don't know if most people) buy more plane tickets than they do insurance, when it comes to commission, the insurance market is more lucrative than the airline ticket market. Airlines pay very little for every ticket sold.
If Google does it's job right (which I agree it doesn't always do) than if Leaky is the best online insurance comparison site than it will be the first result for that search term. I don't think Leaky should be worrying about this at the moment. The way the site currently works is how most visitors would want it to work, clean, fast and intuitive.
While many people (I don't know if most people) buy more plane tickets than they do insurance, when it comes to commission, the insurance market is more lucrative than the airline ticket market. Airlines pay very little for every ticket sold.
If Google does it's job right (which I agree it doesn't always do) than if Leaky is the best online insurance comparison site than it will be the first result for that search term. I don't think Leaky should be worrying about this at the moment. The way the site currently works is how most visitors would want it to work, clean, fast and intuitive.
They are in both businesses. Without SEO, Leaky is going nowhere in the long-term. And to us, Leaky may seem like the best insurance comparison site, but if you don't have thick, valuable content (that can be crawled by search engines, you aren't going to be found.
Also, google "TeachStreet Panda". This was a site you could've said the same thing. "No way they should be penalized"... they went out of business after Panda because Google deemed their content to be non-valuable even though it filled a need.
Also, google "TeachStreet Panda". This was a site you could've said the same thing. "No way they should be penalized"... they went out of business after Panda because Google deemed their content to be non-valuable even though it filled a need.
I almost was part of a startup (which we were going to submit to YC) that did exactly the same thing. We were trying to negotiate with providers of insurance comparison quotes to get the data, with web scraping as a backup precisely because I knew the insurance companies would not like us scraping their sites. We were not able to make our data deals go through, and so the only option left would be exactly what Leaky is doing now: compute from the publicly available data. We did not feel we could do a good job of that at the time and that combined with other reasons caused our efforts to fall apart. (This was 2010, though we'd tossed the idea around since 2008 I believe.)
Anyway, I get what Leaky is going through and also the need for a product like theirs in the industry.
Anyway, I get what Leaky is going through and also the need for a product like theirs in the industry.
The insurance market is very lucrative. It's up there with gambling and loans. There are so many insurance quotes affiliate sites who do nothing but blackhat google so they can get their useless site on top. I say useless because these sites can't really offer you the insurance rates comparison that they promise, they do not have the data. They are just in it to collect your details and pass them over to an insurance agent.
I used to run sites like these and it was frustrating because there isn't much you can to differentiate yourself from the competition.
I used to run sites like these and it was frustrating because there isn't much you can to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Thinking more generally than just insurance, there are a lot of things I buy on a recurring basis which, if I just allow my current providers to have their way with me, tend to get more and more expensive over time. Lawn weed control/fertilizing is the example which comes immediately to mind. I'd love to set-up a profile of my lawn with a site which would then allow providers to quote me prices for services semi-continuously. This would keep my current provider in check.
A "dating" service for your home. So brilliant that you shouldn't have given it away here :)
Plug in your particulars (house/room sq. footage, number of rooms, number of doors and windows, if it's on a hill, the acreage of your yard, soil type, etc.) and have companies compete on services ranging from exterior painting to mowing and tree planting to powerwashing to deck work to carpet shampooing.
No estimates, no (total) surprises, no upcharge. Do work, pay bill (or release escrow hold),happy home.
Plug in your particulars (house/room sq. footage, number of rooms, number of doors and windows, if it's on a hill, the acreage of your yard, soil type, etc.) and have companies compete on services ranging from exterior painting to mowing and tree planting to powerwashing to deck work to carpet shampooing.
No estimates, no (total) surprises, no upcharge. Do work, pay bill (or release escrow hold),happy home.
Here is what I'd like from a service (like this):
I submit my insurance profile/needs (cars, bikes, boats, RVs, home, life, disability and umbrella). Your service checks for a combination deal every month and emails me if a better deal is out there.
I buy insurance for many things and auto is only one of them. Usually I use the same company for all/most policies because of the combination discounts and the less hassle in dealing with multiple companies.
I submit my insurance profile/needs (cars, bikes, boats, RVs, home, life, disability and umbrella). Your service checks for a combination deal every month and emails me if a better deal is out there.
I buy insurance for many things and auto is only one of them. Usually I use the same company for all/most policies because of the combination discounts and the less hassle in dealing with multiple companies.
I've always wondered if YC would fund ideas that were based on scraping (like this one) and therefore liable to receive this sort of letter at any time
Now I know! Usually there is some sanctioned way to get at the data that you're scraping, but it's impossibly expensive. Looking at you, ATPCO... (raw airline fare data)
Kudos to these guys for sticking with their idea and finding another way to feed it data!
Now I know! Usually there is some sanctioned way to get at the data that you're scraping, but it's impossibly expensive. Looking at you, ATPCO... (raw airline fare data)
Kudos to these guys for sticking with their idea and finding another way to feed it data!
The deals in insurance don't come when an insurer follows its filings religiously. They come when insurers make a big move for market share and max out their deviations from manual/filed rates, which vary by state.
This happens infrequently, unpredictably and, sometimes, for short periods of time. Real shoppers are probably still better off going direct.
This happens infrequently, unpredictably and, sometimes, for short periods of time. Real shoppers are probably still better off going direct.
I spent a few years working for a P&C insurance company. The most valuable variable for determining the expected value of future claims (and therefore one which significantly impacts price) is one's credit score. That Leaky is quoting without knowing my credit score means that the rates provided can't be terribly accurate.
Hey Jason, I worked at a company called Comparison Market that later bought Insurance.com between 2002 to 2008. I might be of some help to you, and if you have any questions about pretty much anything in that industry my email is in my profile.
If you want to compare real quotes coming directly from the insurance companies you should check out Answer Financial (www.answerfinancial.com). We're a national auto and home insurance agency that represents over 20 insurance carriers. You can compare quotes and buy online or over the phone with an insurance agent. We do this via direct XML connections into the insurance companies we've contracted with.
Fascinating! The real time aspect is actually fun to play with.
It allows you to probe the black-box and see what comes out the other end. For example, I would be saying a lot of money if I were a married 60 year old woman called Mary. But I guess we all knew that!
It allows you to probe the black-box and see what comes out the other end. For example, I would be saying a lot of money if I were a married 60 year old woman called Mary. But I guess we all knew that!
Congratulations, looks good. It didn't appear to have information for my zip-code (01267), but I was able to play around with pricing and get an estimate (which is frighteningly high for a 20 year old male).
These companies are the only way anyone buys insurance in England. Fantastic businesses that make tons of money.
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This is a pretty awesome hack.
Great work guys!
I just tried it, and it quoted me double of what I'm paying.
their drop downs bugs made me give up halfway.
doesn't help that they were $1.300+ off real quotes either.
doesn't help that they were $1.300+ off real quotes either.
I got my policy through an independent agent that came recommended by a relative. They set me up with Travelers for my home and car. My auto policy for a 2009 Nissan Altima with comprehensive and collision coverage is only $800 per year. The lowest quote from Leaky was about $650 per 6 months, or $1300 per year.
I've looked through the actual policy documents for my coverage and the limits all look the same as when I was with Geico paying twice as much. Now I wonder if I'll find out there's some kind of mistake and I'm not actually covered if I get into an accident. The discount for having multiple policies with the same company is usually 10%, so that doesn't explain the 60% difference.