But they rose just 0.5% in the past three months signalling a possible slowdown
Motorists most commonly received a quote between £500 and £749, Consumer Intelligence data shows
The average quoted price of car insurance rose by 56.4% in the year to February but that is down on previous record rises and average quoted premiums only rose 0.5% in the past three months, the latest Consumer Intelligence Car Insurance Price Index shows.
Drivers can take some comfort from the latest increase being lower than the 67.2% recorded in the year to the end of November and the 61% in the year to August 2023. It is still the third highest annual increase since Consumer Intelligence first started tracking data in October 2012.
Hopes that price rises might be slowing are increasing – the three months to February saw increases of just 0.5% which is the lowest quarterly increase since November 2021 and significantly down on rises of 10.6%, 22% and 15.2% in the previous three quarters.
Data shows that in February, drivers most commonly received a quote between £500 and £749 with 21% of quotes falling in this price range. Around 65% of quotes were below £1,000.
“The New Year saw some major brands make competitive movements and reduce premiums. However, some of this was unwound in February indicating it may have been more of a tactical move than a long-term trend,” says Max Thompson, Insurance Insight Manager at Consumer Intelligence.
Telematics providers have become less competitive accounting for 15% of the top five quotes compared with 18% in the three months to the end of November. The proportion of top five quotes provided by telematics policies is now at a five-year low.
Among the under-25s the proportion of top five quotes from telematics providers has dropped to 36% which is the lowest since May 2016.
“Insurers are better balancing their strategies between telematics and essentials products. Quotability is lower for most telematics brands as age increases with the opposite being true for Essentials products,” adds Thompson.
Long-term view
Average overall quoted premiums have more than doubled by 125.5% since October 2013 when Consumer Intelligence first started collecting data.
They have increased the most for the over-50s with a rise of 173.0% and the least for the under-25s at 34.7% while drivers aged between 25 and 49 have seen average quoted premiums rise 145.8%.
Age differences in the past year
Younger drivers have experienced the biggest rises in quoted premiums of 66.9% compared with 49.0% for the over-50s and 55.6% for motorists aged between 25 and 49.
Telematics
The proportion of top five quotes provided by telematics polices for the under-25s dropped by 7% during the past three months to 36%. For those aged 25 to 49 telematics policies provided 13% of rank one to five quotes compared with 14% in the previous three months while for the over-50s the proportion dropped to 5% from 7%.
Regional differences
Average quoted premiums rose the most in London, Scotland and the West Midlands with increases of 64,8%%, 61.9% and 61.2% respectively in the year to end February.
All regions saw huge increases in quoted premiums for the past 12 months with Wales the lowest at 47.5%. However, over the past three months average quoted premiums have fallen in four regions with Yorkshire & The Humber seeing the biggest drop at 2.2%.
