Motor insurers' battles are the most public of all the insurance market Switch on the TV or glance at a billboard and witness the likes of Lucky the dog, Michael Winner and the Churchill dog extolling the virtues of their respective insurance brands.
Apart from the occasional aside to explain policy features, the adverts invariably focus on one thing: price. And over recent months a number of little price wars - or skirmishes - have been breaking out across the market.
Industry insiders have pointed to tussles between Norwich Union (NU) and Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance (RBSI), which underwrites Tesco, Virgin and now Lloyds TSB's motor books. And in recent weeks, RBSI (through Privilege) has decided to fight HBOS (esure) over the safe driver section of the market.
The net effect of these, and other skirmishes, over business has been to push average motor premiums down - the AA says by 2% over the last three months. And once again the motor market is in a precarious position: having just started to make money, it is again facing a return to unprofitability.
Unless premiums begin to rise, the long-term outlook is not good (page 8).
The question, as always, is whether insurers have the nerve to forgo business volume for profitability. Some have faith that the likes of NU and Royal & SunAlliance will have the strength to lead the market out of the danger zone (page 23). But history suggests otherwise.
Despite the market's problems, there are some insurers who are well ahead of the pack in terms of performance, Cox being one. The group boasts an impressive combined ratio of 86.8% for 2003 and is expected to achieve 88.7% in 2004.
Of course, the failed acquisition of Highway Insurance and the departure of Cox chief executive Neil Utley has been the main talking point in the market - much to the chagrin of new chief executive Andrew Fisher. He explains his frustration over the whole affair (page 15).
From teeth-grindingly annoying adverts, price wars and failed acquisitions, the motor market continues to enthral.
