UK Car Insurance Premiums Reached 18-Month High in 1st Quarter: Survey

The price of a complete automotive insurance coverage coverage in Britain touched an 18-month excessive within the first quarter and can proceed to extend on the again of rising inflation and regulatory adjustments, a survey confirmed on Thursday.

UK motorists now should pay about 550 kilos ($718.08) for a complete automotive insurance coverage premium, in keeping with the newest index from worth comparability website Confused.com in affiliation with insurance coverage dealer Willis Towers Watson.

Automobile insurance coverage premiums had fallen for a 12 months until the autumn of 2021 as lockdowns stored motorists off the roads and competitors within the UK automotive insurance coverage trade intensified.

“As individuals return to extra regular patterns of labor and life, we’re seeing these reductions in premiums progressively unwind,” stated Tim Rourke, UK head of P&C Pricing, Product, Claims and Underwriting at WTW.

Rourke additionally expects premiums to proceed rising via 2022 as Britain battles excessive inflation and insurers face new guidelines by the Monetary Conduct Authority that guarantee customers renewing insurance policies should not charged greater than new prospects.

Britain’s annual inflation fee climbed to 7% in March, its highest since 1992.

“Costs might proceed to extend just because insurers are more likely to be dealing with extra claims than final 12 months, as individuals begin to drive extra continuously, and this simply means insurers should be as aggressive as attainable,” stated Louise O’Shea, CEO at Confused.com.

“And in flip customers might want to proceed to buy round, as the belief that renewal costs received’t improve clearly isn’t true.”

Eighteen-year-old drivers proceed to pay probably the most of any demographic, taking their common premiums to 1,419 kilos, the survey confirmed.

($1 = 0.7659 kilos)

(Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; enhancing by Devika Syamnath)