Two CAR quotes side by side are rarely the same product at a different price – typically they're two different covers at two different prices. Anyone who looks only at the bottom line is comparing apples with pears. That's why we work with a comparison table: every quote goes through the same grid, and the differences show up on their own. We show the table openly – here it is.
- The table's rows: section sums and limits, extensions, deductibles, differences in exclusions, requirements, service elements.
- The premium is the table's last row – not its first.
- The goal isn't crowning a "best" quote, but an informed decision: what it offers, what it asks for, at what price.
- The decision is always the client's.
The table's first block: what does it offer?
Row by row: the property section's sum insured and its sub-limits (theft, water damage, natural-catastrophe losses); the liability section's limit (combined or split); whether the extensions are present, and their content – here we're not collecting ticks, we're reading the wording: there are material differences between the two levels of maintenance cover, or between design-defect clauses, that sit under the same name.
The second block: what does it ask for in return?
Deductibles by type of loss (a high theft deductible empties out the most frequent type of loss); protective requirements (level of security, storage rules – can the project actually meet them?); notification duties (change of value, bringing in a subcontractor). This block decides whether the cover is strong on paper or on site: a cheap quote with unworkable requirements turns expensive at claim time: the trap article.
The third block: how does it work?
The practical side of claims handling: claim-notification channels, arranging site inspections, document requirements; the flexibility of certificate issuance (tender languages, formats – certificate article); for an open cover, the administration (notification interface, settlement arrangements). These aren't "soft" considerations: they're what you'll meet most often in the project's day-to-day life.
And the premium
The premium is the last row – not because it doesn't matter, but because it can only be interpreted once you know the content: the premiums of two quotes with different deductible structures aren't directly comparable. At the end of the table, the picture is typically not "one winner" but two or three genuine alternatives with different emphases – and from here the decision is yours: I show you the differences, I don't take the choice away. The whole process: How it works; the preparation: needs-assessment article.
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