What is a Defaqto Rating?

Defaqto is a service that enables you to easily compare a range of financial products from different providers. 

As you’d probably expect, this includes everything from credit cards and mortgages to pensions and investments - but it also has a part to play when comparing medical travel insurance policies. 

So, if you’re here to compare cover, then it’s definitely worth having a read. Here we’re going to explore everything there is to know about Defaqto - and how you can use it to help you compare travel insurance across different providers.  

Who are Defaqto and are they independent?

Yes, Defaqto is an independent service and is used by financial advisors, banks, insurance brokers and comparison sites just like Medical Travel Compared. Although Defaqto are used and trusted by more than 250 different brands, they operate impartially with no bias or affiliation towards any companies or third parties. 

Defaqto is made up of a team of expert analysts who gather the most up to date information about financial products, such as travel insurance. 

This impartial information can then be used to give a comprehensive overview of the market, enabling providers to tailor their offerings responsively and support customers when making purchase decisions. 

Ultimately, the aim is to provide customers with an unbiased rating, designed to help them make wiser choices when comparing things... such as travel insurance!

What do the Defaqto stars mean?

A Defaqto rating is a trusted industry benchmark for the quality of a policy based on a star rating system. Without getting too technical, Defaqto analysts take an unbiased approach to gathering the data around each particular financial product and assign a star rating based on their findings. They will look at the terms and conditions of policies alongside  the quality and comprehensiveness of features and benefits that they provide.

The star rating reflects quality across one to five stars. A one-star rating indicates a basic product with very few features or benefits, whereas a five-star rating is reserved for the highest quality financial offering. 

In simple terms, the star rating system is designed to be a quick way to assess the quality of a proposition at a glance - without a focus on price or provider.

What are the criteria for Defaqto stars?

According to Defaqto themselves, they select the most important features and benefits for each product area to produce the star rating. This in-depth assessment could review anywhere between 40-100 different elements, which are each individually scored - and then subsequently used to calculate the overall score. 

Defaqto keeps its criteria vague, but essentially - these are the things that the customer is likely to deem important as they make a decision whether or not to buy.

Defaqto vs Trustpilot

Defaqto and Trustpilot have one key difference. 

Defaqto is an impartial, independent organisation made up of expert financial analysts. 

On the other hand, Trustpilot is a platform for user-generated customer reviews. 

These reviews are all based on independent experience and can have a big say on how online shoppers behave when making financial decisions. 

Trustpilot, therefore, is arguably just as (if not more) influential than Defaqto. However, rather than using both in isolation, financial organisations can provide better information for their customers by using the two together.

So, if you combine the industry-standard star rating, with real customer reviews you'll get the perfect blend of information that will help you choose the right travel insurance for you.

Is Defaqto reliable?

Can you trust Defaqto ratings?

Provided you’re satisfied with the way in which Defaqto operates - particularly in terms of the methods they use to assess the quality of any given financial product, then you should generally find their ratings pretty useful. 

However, while these ratings are drawn from impartial and intelligent insights, it doesn’t mean they’re always 100% correct. 

There have been some examples of discrepancies in the past - particularly for things like credit cards. 

When you compare travel insurance Defaqto is great, it does all the hard work for you reviewing all the technical information, and giving you the top options.

Why does Defaqto matter for me?

When it comes to travel insurance, Defaqto ratings are generally seen as an important part of the experience when comparing cover across a range of different providers.

The star rating is great because it helps you compare products based on their inclusions and not just the price.

Having the input of a trusted service like Defaqto gives you the peace of mind and assurance that your cover has been matched against criteria highlighting the most important features of medical travel insurance.

Is a low Defaqto rating always a bad thing?

A low rating is not always necessarily a bad thing. 

Let’s not forget - Defaqto ratings don’t take cost, or value for money into account. So, if you’re particularly conscious about price and don’t mind spending less, you probably won’t need to pay as much attention to the rating when shopping around. 

Ultimately, it depends on how much cover you need. You’ll find that the policies with less cover and fewer features will cost less, while the more comprehensive policies (likely to have a higher rating) will be more expensive.

When it comes to travel insurance, our advice would always be to favour cover over cost - particularly if you need specialist cover for pre-existing medical conditions. 

We use Defaqto ratings to help you make the best possible decision when comparing cover from over 30 specialist travel insurance providers if you'd like to give it a go, click here.