BUYING financial products by telephone is well established in this country - thousands of motorists and homeowners now support the "direct" insurance plans offered by at least half a dozen companies, the latest being the EBS building society which just launched EBSDIRECT.

As with all the others, the society claims it is one of the cheapest home insurers on the market as well as offering generous discounts for security alarms, proper locks, etc. You don't need to be an EBS customer to use the new service. For more information, call 1850 654325.

While direct insurers will often quote you a lower premium - this is because they do not deal with conventional brokers who expect to be paid a commission - you cannot be sure you will get the best policy for your needs unless you call them all. Having to shop around is too troublesome for many people, however, and they sometimes end up buying a policy from the first direct insurer that answers the phone.

The ideal solution is to shop around with the direct insurers and then also deal with a conventional broker, at least to check out what the opposition is offering - i.e. the non-direct insurers. A broker will not only try to get the best quote, but such is the level of competition these days he/she may be able to convince the non-direct insurer to reduce the premium if it is close in price to one offered already by a direct insurer.

If he is doing his job correctly, the broker will also examine the extra benefits and features of a policy. Price should not be the only criteria for choosing a policy (something people often forget about when dealing with direct insurers). Finally, the broker will also provide after-sales service if you have any problems with your policy or need to make a claim.

A new national brokerage service has just been launched, called Quoteline which deals with 14 different insurance companies selling 29 different motor and home policies. It has been set up by two insurance brokers, O'Callaghan Insurance of Dundalk and J.C. Daly Insurances of Abbeyfeale. A special telesales service will allow customers to call from all over Ireland with proposal forms and business reply envelopes posted on the same day. Quoteline's number is 1850 565565.