News from global advisory, broking and solutions company, Willis Towers Watson says insurance premiums have fallen 11% since 2017.
The most recent Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index shows that drivers in the UK are now paying, on average, £95 less for comprehensive car insurance than they were twelve months ago, with an average premium costing £752 a year. The Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index uses the data from all the enquiries submitted on their comparison website and the company say they hold the most comprehensive data in the UK, with their website producing over 24 million quotes every year.
Is it all good news?
The insurance premiums of young drivers dropped, with the average cost of insurance for a 17-year-old dropping by £403. One big reason is the increased use of ‘telematics’, which monitors the driving patterns of motorists, with safer driving habits reflecting a lower annual premium. Still, insurance costs remain high for young people, who pay an average of £1,889 each year.
Older drivers are benefitting too, with those aged 68 paying an average of £496—an 8.7% quarterly cut—and the average female aged between 61-65 pays half the national average insurance bill, at around £356 a year.
Northern Ireland drivers enjoyed the biggest drop in insurance premiums, seeing prices 4.3% lower (£894). It’s not good news for everyone, though, with motorists in the Scottish Highlands and Islands experiencing a rise in premiums in the past three months, by an average of 1%.
While motorists will welcome the reduction in the cost of premiums, prices aren’t anywhere near as low as they were in the second quarter of 2008, when the average car insurance premium cost, on average, £499. Confused.com reports that prices are up by £37 since 2016 and £74 since 2013.
Reducing premiums
UK motorists saw a steep rise in car insurance premiums, last year—due to a change former Lord Chancellor, Liz Truss made to the Ogden discount rate—with average premiums rising to £847 in the second quarter of 2017.
After a severe backlash from the insurance industry, who called the changes “reckless in the extreme”, saying they would have to make dramatic increases the amount customers would have to pay for car insurance—to make up for the shortfall they’d have to pay out in larger lump sums—the Ministry of Justice made a slight alteration to the discount rate.
After prices reached a high of £847 last summer, the cost of insurance premiums has reduced over each of the last four quarters including a 2% fall since April.
Steve Fletcher, Head of Data Services at Confused.com, said: “While prices are continuing to drop, they are doing so at a much slower rate than the last quarter. This suggests there appears to be a correcting of the steep increases we saw this time last year, where insurers increased their premiums following the change to the Ogden rate. What we are now seeing is the plateauing of increases over the past three years, and potentially the home-coming of a period of steadily decreasing premiums.”
Ways to slash your insurance costs
If you have a garage so full of junk, you can’t use it for its intended purpose, maybe you should declutter. You may find you don’t need half of what you’ve been storing—if you even remember what’s there. Parking in a garage instead of on the road will often bring down your insurance bill—but not always—so experiment with quotes to find what’s best for where you live.
Consider increasing your voluntary excess—but make sure you have the money set aside should you need to make a claim—and, if you can, pay your insurance premium on an annual basis instead of each month. This will shave a nice bit of money off your bill.
There are many other ways to reduce your insurance costs. Another way is to drive fewer miles. Insurers look at mileage because the further we drive, the higher the chance of being involved in an accident. We’re all guilty of driving when we could walk or cycle. Leave the car at home sometimes and you can help your wallet, your health, and the environment.
Comparison sites such as Confused.com are wonderful tools for finding a great deal on car insurance but don’t rely on them, alone. Many insurers aren’t on comparison sites, so explore those too before making a purchase. Search before your policy is due to expire to avoid an often costly auto-renewal.
PetrolPrices currently has a deal with Confused.com to help you find the cheapest car insurance, and if they can’t beat your renewal cost, they’ll pay the difference plus give you an extra £20! With Confused, you compare quotes from over 120 insurance providers to help find the cheapest, and best, cost for your insurance. If you want to save money on your car insurance, start comparing today!
What do you think of this news? Have you seen a reduction in your car insurance premiums? What strategies do you use for lowering the cost of motor insurance? Let us know in the comments.
No difference in my insurance 20 years ncb in fact I goes up
If insurance prices have fallen by 11% why did my policies ride by 20+% That cannot be all down to the increased premium tax. Feels like a rip off again by the insurances companies.
No difference in my insurance in fact it costs more 20 years ncb. We are just being ripped off
Nope, not seen any decrease in my insurance and I do well below average mileage!
My renewal quote from Saga was 25% up on last year and my wife’s from Tesco was up 20%. Needless we got alternative quotes but the were the same as last years. Tales of reductions more fake news unfortunately
I have seen no great changes up or down in recent years.
My main gripe with insurance companies is poor service (I think they need greater regulation- I had a motorbike policy cancelled because THEY did not declare terms and conditions BEFORE inception of contract). That makes the contract of insurance unlawful.
Anyway, I take it that telematics are responsible for the increasing number of road clogging dithering drivers. It used to simply be geriatric drivers who used to hold up emergency vehicles.
This is a joke. 32 years without a claim and it just goes up and up. They should not only reward with ncd, they should reward loyalty and take into account the £1000s they have already taken off safe drivers which goes straight into their profits.
Rewarding loyalty?! What century do you live in? I can’t think of a single service provider (insurance, bank, mobile operator, utilities supplier, etc.) that rewards loyalty. Vote with your feet. Shop around at every renewal, and be prepared to walk if you current provider won’t match the best deals out there.
Too right, you lose money by having loyalty to car insurance companies
I DO shop around, use comparison sites every year and then have my existing provider match the best. I NEVER accept the renewal premium.
It still keeps going up. This year the actual renewal quote was over £150 more than last year but in the end it only went up £15. But it still went up.
And so yes, they should reward loyalty. It costs a lot more to recruit a new customer than to keep an existing one. The paying customer should benefit from that as well as the insurance company.
Re-Insured in May (using a comparison site) and paid approx £95 MORE than previously, I am a 73 yr old low mileage user – less than 1500 annually
If anyone can advise me where I can get a reduction next May ………..
Shop around
I am your age and have been driving since I was 17 years old. My premiums have gone up year after year but in May my renewal was actually just under 10% less than last year-a result!!
My insurer (or his computer) insists on a “requote” if I reduce declared mileage (truthfully). This more than absorbs the saving LOL.
Insurance companies have the right to query the DVLA, which has a record of your mileage at each MOT.
Just re insured our cars for the next twelve months, £198 for my E class 220d, and £160 for the wife’s A180d. That’s a drop of almost £100 on last years premiums.
Your article is wrong, there HAS NOT BEEN ANY DECREASE in insurance premiums. mine has gone up again like it does every year – NEVER GOES DOWN, Where did you get this information ? they want shooting!!
Well mine didn’t, it rose by 50%. No claims in over 12yrs, 8K miles per annum.
Same thing happened to a friend in a lower insurance group area and with a less potent car.
I tried the Coop. Good quote until I added 1k miles at which point the premium jumped over £100.
There was nowhere online to declare that my car is a lease car when I phoned them to query this they declined cover because it was leased!
Like so many of these sites the initial price is nothing more than a ‘come on’. When you go into more detail prices skyrocket.
we are all being ripped off by the insurance companies they have hold of us all by the short and curlies no other option but to buy insurance the law says you must be insured
Mine actually did go down. I had an entry level 2014 VW Golf last year and it cost me over £450 to insure. I now have a 2018 VW Tiguan SE and it was £100 less to insure so there is some truth in this article.
had my renewal from tesco £319 last year £304 this year but £350 extra xs .
Mondeo 06 2.0l auto under 6k miles year disabled driver 13 yrs ncb got it down to £218 inc protected ncb and legal cover with gen accident.
Could have had it for £201 with quote me “un”happy but previously had problem with them. They tried to tell me they could only issue me 9yrs ncb when I had joined them with 10yrs ncb. As they only recognise 9yrs ncb.
Be careful if you insure with them.
Absolute rubbish my insurance increased this year by circa 20%, that was after shopping around. When I asked why the increase I was told, well you drive a Ford Fiesta and “Data” proves that drivers of this vehicle have more accidents. So insurance companies take no account of the drivers ability or driving record. This despite the fact I have been driving since 1958 , have never had an accident can drive PCV’s and have safe driving awards. The whole insurance business is a crooked as the day is long.
My renewal from Saga is 25% up on what
I paid last year.However looking at comparison sites I am receiving quotes almost £100 less than last year and £200 less than Saga want to charge me.
What reduction? My current provider has just upped my renewal premium from just over three hundred pounds to over eight hundred and eighty pounds,no claims were made and they could not tell me why the underwriters had done this?
They obviously have no need of my custom.
Back to the usual search engines and now looking at under three hundred pouds.
This article is utter fiction. Prices have NOT gone down for any significant portion of the market. Whilst I have no doubt that there is SOMEONE out there who has seen a renewal offer at a lower price than last year, I’d be surprised if there were even a thousand more drivers out there who could say the same.
The sad fact of the matter is that all insurance companies are greedy, so all will hike prices at renewal. As a consumer, your only recourse is to shop around.