03/10/2008 NatWest offers a 10% discount for buying home insurance online, which combined with their 15% discount for new customers, seems like an attractive deal. They put their Key Facts up front, unlike a lot of companies, so that impressed me too. Their quotation form is surprisingly short - much shorter than other companies. Unfortunately though, NatWest's quote for their standard cover wasn't at all competitive - I've had at least two cheaper quotes elsewhere. I assume that their quotes included the discounts, but that wasn't made clear.

03/06/2008 The online quotes system was down which was a bit of a pain. Reluctantly I filled in the inquiry form instead. It said that someone would get back to you in a few days and it did actually take a couple of days for someone to call me back...a bit pointless because I'd already bought from someone else whose online quote system was working. Couldn't actually see the policy details anywhere on the site either and not sure if you only get these when you actually take out the policy or if I should have asked more questions over the phone. Also received many emails afterwards reminding me of the details of the quote and was not really sure how you are supposed to stop these.

25/05/2008 Usefully this site includes a clear statement of the key facts without too much jargon. The form you need to complete to access a quote is a bit too long and they want information they do not need at this stage. This would put me off using the site if all I was doing was looking for initial information on relative costs. I have had experience of being contacted by sales people as a result of leaving this sort of information. It is good that you can customise your quote and contact them if you need something that does not fit the standard categories.

13/05/2008 Saturday lunchtime - no online applications for insurance available - systems down. Not what you expect from a bank! They are a very clear site though. Before going on to apply, they display options in a table showing what is covered with different policies next to each other so it's easy to see, before you bother going through the form filling process. Finally got on to the quote page, a day later. Quite high quote but does include a courtesy car, but as the extra cost of the policy is more than hiring one yourself I wouldn't really bother with it.