Loyalty to their existing car insurance company potentially cost UK drivers £830 million in 2021.
Research by price comparison website MoneySuperMarket finds that 52 percent of drivers allowed their insurance policy to renew automatically last year.
This led to an average cost increase of £49 for each of the 17 million drivers that remained with the same insurer.
Drivers are on autopilot
MoneySuperMarket surveyed 2,000 drivers, with 52 percent of those asked stating they didn’t bother shopping around for a new insurance quote. This represents a 27 percent increase from the 41 percent who auto-renewed in 2020.
A quarter (25 percent) of those questioned said they did get other quotes, but opted to remain with their insurer for ease. This marked a 20 percent increase compared to the year before.
Some 14 percent believed changing insurer takes too much effort, with almost one in five (19 percent) arguing there is no real saving.
Worryingly, 48 percent said they did not recall seeing their insurer compare their new policy price to the previous one. This is despite a change in FCA rules to make this mandatory when renewing.
Shop around to save
The average price rise for car insurance premiums also jumped by 17 percent, from £42 in 2020 to £49 last year. One in 10 of those surveyed saw an increase in their annual policy of between £50 and £75. Some 12 percent of drivers saw between £76 and £100 added to their premium.
Drivers in London reported the largest increases, with an average of £79 added. Welsh motorists escaped with the smallest price rise, typically seeing £31 extra charged.
Sara Newell, car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, commented: “While we have seen the introduction of the FCA’s new rules on price walking – which are intended to level the playing field for consumers – it’s important that drivers don’t rely on such measures to reduce their premiums.
“We’ll monitor the impact of the FCA’s new measures over the coming months, but the fact remains that shopping around is always going to be the most effective way of keeping your costs down.”
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