The workflow
How it runs end to end
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Create a quote-specific email alias and virtual number
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Use them on every comparison form or quote request
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Compare and choose your provider as normal
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Once you've picked, pause or delete the contact details
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The losing bidders' follow-up campaigns hit a dead end
The asymmetry of a quote request
You get one quote you might use; the broker gets your details forever. Multiply by five quotes per renewal cycle and the cumulative cost in unwanted follow-up is the real reason most people stop shopping around — they’d rather overpay than have another six months of “are you still looking?” calls.
A throwaway alias and number reverse the asymmetry. You get the quotes; the brokers get a contact channel that closes the moment your decision is made.
How most households use it
The simplest pattern is a “quotes” alias that you keep — but treat as expendable. Every time you start a new comparison cycle (energy renewal, building work, insurance), you direct everything to it. The four providers you don’t pick keep emailing the alias, but the alias filters or eventually retires; meanwhile the one you did pick gets your real details once the deal is signed.
For larger one-off things — a kitchen, a roof, a renovation — it’s worth a fresh alias per project. When the work’s done, the alias goes with it.
Why it specifically helps with home quotes
Comparison sites and price-aggregator services aggressively share leads — often with multiple providers per query. A single quote request can quietly become eight separate brokers with your number. A virtual number and proxy email contains that fan-out: even if eight brokers end up with the alias, eight brokers can be silenced with a single click.