Wigan Named as Savviest Town for Insurance

LONDON, December 9, 2010 - Wigan is Britain's savviest town when it comes to buying insurance online
according to a new poll from price comparison website comparethemarket.com
(www.comparethemarket.com/). The Lancashire town topped the Savviest
Town Index with a rating of 133.72, showing that its citizens lead the
country in terms of getting the best insurance deals.

The Index was created by comparethemarket.com by comparing the number of
insurance quotes it provides with the population figures to produce an
overall "Savviness Rating" for towns across England and Wales.

Northerners came out as the savviest overall with nine towns in the top
ten. Only the Welsh City of Swansea (number three, with a "savviness rating"
of 124.27) broke the northern stranglehold. But Yorkshire's reputation for
financial prudence was dealt a blow with just one town (Huddersfield, 113.40)
ranked in the top ten compared with six - Wigan, Bolton, Oldham, Manchester
and Blackburn from the other side of the Pennines. Sunderland and
Middlesbrough completed the top ten.

    1) Wigan (133.72)
    2) Bolton (129.92)
    3) Swansea (124.27)
    4) Oldham (117.46)
    5) Middlesbrough (117.15)
    6) Sunderland (116.74)
    7) Warrington (113.96)
     Huddersfield (113.40)
    9) Manchester (113.21)
   10) Blackburn (111.76)

Peterborough, hometown to www.comparethemarket.com was the
Savviest Town in the south, rated 11th (111.09). The index was developed by
comparethemarket.com based on quotes provided to customers on car insurance,
home insurance, life insurance and commercial vehicle insurance.

"We were interested to find out more about how our customers were
distributed across the country," said Kal Atwal, Managing Director of
comparethemarket.com. "Although towns and cities in the northwest featured
heavily in the top ten it is clear that use of price comparison for insurance
is now widespread right across the UK.

"Just a few years ago, the idea of using the internet to compare quotes
and select the best product was simply that: an idea. Now it is the main
route for consumers searching for the right product and price for them. Price
comparison websites have redefined the way people buy insurance products."

comparethemarket.com (www.comparethemarket.com/) currently
provides around two million quotes per month on van, bike, home, life and car
insurance quotes (www.comparethemarket.com/) as well as other
financial products including loans, credit cards and mortgages plus
utilities.

Penny Mairoudhiou at Good Relations, Tel: +44(0)20-7861-3176, Email: Pmairoudhiou at goodrelations.co.uk