Comparing quotes is not an art but a method – and the method has a name: the criteria table. The same questions, put to every quote, with the answers side by side. This article walks through how my table is built, column by column: this is what the building receives at the end of the tendering, and it is worth looking at any quote through the same logic – including quotes that do not come from me.
- The table has six blocks: basic details, scope of cover, sums and limits, deductibles, service, premium – in that order.
- The principle: substance first, premium only at the end – the “cheapest” label without substance is misleading.
- The table is a meeting-ready format: one page, plain-language rows, with the critical differences flagged.
Basic details and scope of cover
The first block establishes whether all the quotes refer to the same thing: the sum insured, the basis of cover (what is insured and at what value), the renewal date, the term. If there is a discrepancy here – one quote is written on a different sum – the rest of the comparison is false; in that case we align them first. The second block is the scope of cover: the covers row by row – the list of natural perils, water damage from pipes, glass breakage, liability, burglary and vandalism, riders – marked for each quote: included, available on request, not offered. This is where it becomes clear that “comprehensive” means something different in every quote (the cover map).
Sums, limits, deductibles
The third block belongs to the numbers: alongside the main sum insured, the sub-limits – for glass, for vandalism, for liability, for building systems. Limits are the most frequent explanation for premium differences: a lower limit means a cheaper quote and less protection; that is why they sit one beneath the other in the table (the lesson). The fourth block belongs to the deductibles, cover by cover: fixed, percentage-based or combined – and what that works out to in forints for a typical claim. The deductible article adds the background to the decision.
Service and premium
The fifth block is the substance beyond the paperwork: claim reporting channels, claims handling commitments, the renewal process, the additional services available. Not everything can be measured in numbers – but whatever will matter at claim time belongs here. And finally, sixth, the premium: on an annual basis, with the payment schedule. The order carries a message of its own: by the time your eye reaches the premium, you already see what the building gets for it. That way the decision is not “which one is cheapest” but “which one is the best buy” – and the two are not always the same.
Using the table in the decision
The finished table is the core of the decision-support pack: it goes before the general meeting on a single page, with a short professional summary beside it – what each quote is strong at, and what the arguments point to. For the questions there is the five questions list, and as a blank template the table skeleton in the Resources section. The method is an open secret: someone who looks at quotes this way is hard to win over with a glossy brochure – and that is precisely the point.
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