Suncorp will sustain “strenuous resistance” to aggregator websites despite conceding it’s fighting a losing battle over increasing commoditisation of personal insurance.

The company’s stance comes amid fresh threats of legal action by Suncorp and rival IAG against price comparison websites for publishing their premium information without permission.

While insurance comparison websites are commonplace in the UK, Suncorp personal lines spokesman Mike Sopinski told insuranceNEWS.com.au the personal lines business in Australia will not support the aggregator model.

“Suncorp has concerns about the quality and accuracy of data on aggregator sites,” he said. “Brands have been continuously misrepresented on these sites. They fail to recognise every feature of a product other than price.

“We are not prepared to work with profit-motivated private companies who, for the most part, give customers misleading information about insurance policies.”

NRMA Insurance spokesman Andrew Tubb says comparison sites don’t take into account widely available discounts which can dramatically lower a premium.

“We have seen instances where price comparison sites have presented wildly inaccurate and inflated prices for our insurance products – in some instances hundreds of dollars out.”

But consumer group Choice believes price comparison sites are where the market is heading. Spokesman Christopher Zinn says insurers are taking an “ostrich approach” by ignoring online aggregators.

“I think the point is price comparison sites are the way of the future,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “That having been said, we’d like to see an industry code of practice developed… that is transparent in terms of who pays what bills and are reliable in terms of the information they give.”

Car insurance comparison sites iSelect and Ratecity have found a niche among consumers looking to quickly compare insurance premiums. However, in the face of the two insurance giants’ threats, the sites don’t scan IAG and Suncorp companies, even though they account for more than 70% of the personal lines market.

Ratecity CEO Damian Smith says Suncorp and IAG have threatened legal action should his website publish comparative tables. Mr Smith describes the threats as “anti-consumer”.

JP Morgan analyst Siddharth Parameswaran says insurers loathe the “perfect anti-selection” generated by comparison sites, where price takes precedence over policy details.

“Effectively it’s another mouth to feed in the value chain,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Sopinski admits personal lines are steadily becoming commoditised, but argues participation by Suncorp will only make the situation worse.

“These outcomes are not desirable from a consumer perspective,” he said.

But Choice’s Christopher Zinn says insurers’ complaints about the reliability and accuracy of the comparison websites are partially self-fulfilling.

“Their pricing information is the key to their business,” he said. “It’s difficult to say they should hand over everything and make it available.”

He says while Australia should not “slavishly follow” the UK aggregator model, it would be “extraordinary” if a similar approach were not adopted here.