Withdrawal is a possible option for the insurer group

Admiral finance director Kevin Chidwick has admitted that the motor insurer is reconsidering its future in Germany.

Germany is a notoriously hard motor market to crack because customers tend to stick with their insurers for long periods.

Chidwick said: “It is a very tough market. Of five we’ve looked at, it’s the one we’re having the hardest time with. So [withdrawal] is a plausible outcome.”

Admiral operates in five countries outside the UK: France, Germany, Spain, the USA and Italy.

Chidwick said the company was sticking to its plan to build long-term, profitable businesses in five countries, and that any decision for Germany would not affect those ambitions. “We have always felt that not all five of them will work. But it does not dent our confidence in what we’re trying to do.”