Insurance comparator Compare The Market is facing an investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over its deals with insurers.

The CMA’s final report following a detailed study into the use of price comparison sites says such sites offer a range of benefits, including making it easier for consumers to shop around and forcing businesses to “up their game”.

But it says it will open a competition law investigation into how Compare The Market has set up its contract with insurers, because it “suspects this may result in higher home insurance prices”.

CMA CEO Andrea Coscelli says most UK residents have used a comparison site at least once.

“The good news is that more than 90% of the people we surveyed were very or fairly satisfied with the sites they used,” he said.

“But we have also found that improvements are needed to help people get even better deals.

“We have set out ground rules for how sites should behave, as well as being clear on how regulators can ensure people have a better experience online.

“We are also taking enforcement action where we suspect the law may have been broken.”