Significant Drop In Cost Of Car Insurance

On a quarterly basis, Confused.com that is a price comparison website, in conjunction with Willis Towers Watson, produces an update about car insurance premiums here in the UK. You will be pleased to read that the latest car insurance price index has shown a significant drop in premiums in the space of 12 months.

The average amount paid by a motorist for fully comprehensive car insurance in the 2nd quarter of 2018 was £752 per annum. A year ago, that figure was £847 per annum. That is a drop of £95 with this equating to an 11% reduction.

Whilst that is good news it is worth noting that the average comprehensive car insurance premium paid in the first quarter of 2018 was £768. This means that there has only been a fall of £16 in the space of three months. However, any reduction is not to be sneezed at.

On a regional basis, it is pleasing to see that Scotland has seen premiums fall for the first time in a period of in excess of three years. Over the last 12 months, premiums north of the border have dropped by between £37 and £58. Interestingly, in Inner London premiums have fallen by an average of £179 in a 12 month period. Northern Ireland motorists are paying an average of £894 per annum with this being 16% less than a year ago. It would be lovely if motorists continued to see a fall.

As you may know, it is the young motorist who tends to end up paying most to insure their car. Sometimes, their premiums can exceed the monthly payment on their car loan. Well, it is good to see that a 17 year old is paying, on average, £403 per annum less than he or she was a year ago with the average premium now being £1,889 per annum. This is a big drop of 18%. An 18year old is paying an average of £2,052 per annum to insure their car. A 21 year old is paying an average of £1,561 per annum and a 34 year old an awful lot less at an average of £664 per annum.

Interestingly, men are paying an average of £92 per annum more for their fully comprehensive car insurance than women. However, the gap between what both genders are paying has fallen by £28 per annum in the space of 12 months.

Apparently, motorists who renewed their motor insurance with the same provider between April and June 2018 saw their premiums go up by an average of £49 per annum. This is concerning and perhaps reinforces the view that motorists should shop around for their car insurance when their policy is coming up for renewal. One of the ways of doing this is to use the services of one or more price comparison websites.