iSelect paid $8.5 million to settle ACCC charges. We pay nothing to providers.

How they compare

The $8.5 million problem

In 2020, the Federal Court ordered iSelect to pay $8.5 million after the ACCC found it had misled consumers about electricity comparisons. The finding was that iSelect compared only a subset of available plans from a limited group of providers, then presented results as if they were comprehensive. Consumers using the service could not tell they were not seeing the full market.

iSelect consented to the orders. The conduct ran from 2016 to 2018. The ACCC described it as a systemic problem, not an isolated error. For a service whose core value proposition is "we'll show you the best deal," that finding is significant.

The company has since changed ownership. It is now part of Innovation Holdings Australia (IHA), the same group that owns Compare the Market and Auto & General Insurance. That ownership structure means iSelect and Compare the Market sit under the same parent as an insurer they both list as a comparison option.

What CHOICE found about coverage

A CHOICE investigation into insurance comparison sites found that iSelect's car insurance comparison excludes GIO, AAMI, NRMA and RACV, which collectively hold a large share of the Australian car insurance market. Consumers using iSelect to find the best car insurance deal would not see quotes from those providers.

For home insurance, CHOICE found iSelect listing a single insurer. A single-provider home insurance result is not a comparison, regardless of how the interface is presented.

Exclusions like these are not always disclosed clearly. The providers missing from the results tend to be exactly the brands consumers would expect to see. That gap matters most when the excluded provider would have offered a materially better price or terms.

How Centza handles this differently

Centza earns nothing from financial providers. No commissions, no referral fees, no sponsored placements. The business model is consumer-facing, which means the analysis does not change based on which provider pays the most. A provider is not excluded because they declined to pay a referral fee, and no product is ranked higher because someone underwrites the traffic acquisition cost.

The platform covers insurance, mortgages, energy, superannuation and savings across nine tools. Analysis is AI-native and written in plain English, with output that meets ASIC's general advice standards. The goal is to show you what the numbers say, not to drive you toward whoever is paying the highest commission at the time.