Motor brokers turn tide on customer losses to insurers

In 2024’s highly competitive motor insurance market, almost 266,000 customers switched from utilising a broker to purchasing insurance direct from an insurer – a figure that will have rung alarm bells up and down the country.

However, in 2025, with switching rates falling and performance in the motor market more heavily defined by customer retention, brokers saw a complete reversal in their fortunes, ending the year having won a net of 5,000 policies back from insurers.

Tony Pinch, head of sales for brokers and MGAs at LexisNexis Risk Solutions – the firm that provided the exclusive data behind the findings – told Insurance Times that the trends indicated a “period of structural change rather than short‑term volatility”.

The change in customer flux between brokers and insurers has been dramatic – reversing directionally to the tune of over a quarter of a million policyholders – the majority of which has been driven by a decrease in customers lost to non-panel insurers.

Indeed, brokers lost 1.2 million customers to non-panel insurers in 2024, while winning back a separate 957,000 customers from the same insurers, equating to an overall net loss of 243,000 policies.

In the same year, brokers lost 184,000 customers to panel insurers, while tempting 161,000 in the opposite direction, for a net loss of 23,000 policies. There was an additional neutral flux of 412,000 customers between brokers.

In 2025, these figures changed considerably. Brokers lost just 968,000 customers to non-panel insurers, while gaining 1 million from them – a positive flux of 32,000 policies.

Net losses to panel insurers did however rise slightly to 27,000 – from 199,000 outgoing and 172,000 incoming customers – while consumer interchange between brokers fell to 350,000.

Viewing the total customer wins and losses by quarter, it becomes apparent that an overall decrease in switching behaviour is permeating the market.

Indeed, both average quarterly wins and losses are down over the past two years, though wins have remained markedly more consistent over the timeframe, dropping by just 60,000 customers per quarter between Q1 2024 and Q4 2025, while quarterly customer losses fell by over 125,000 in the same timeframe.

As previously reported by Insurance Times, shopping and switching behaviour is at historic lows across the motor market, most noticeably in traditionally low-loyalty segments such as the under-25s.

“Underwriting discipline, broker relationships and product strategy are increasingly interconnected, especially in a market where capital is more selective and expectations on performance are higher,” Pinch explained.

“From a broker perspective, this is less about headline change and more about execution. Those able to adapt their operating models, data usage and insurer partnerships will be best placed to compete, while others may struggle as margins tighten.”

Retention rates

A reflection of the decreased customer flux can be seen in the retention rates and win-loss ratio across brokers over the past two years.

Both retention rate – which measures how many existing customers up for renewal in a specified period successfully renew – and win-loss ratio – which measures the ratio of customers won and lost from competitors – have grown steadily.

Retention rate for brokers, just shy of 50% in Q1 2024, now stands at nearer 55%, while win-loss ratio has grown from 0.9 in Q1 2024 to 1.04 in Q4 2025 – meaning brokers are welcoming more customers than they part with.

Overall, brokers saw a positive win-loss ratio in three out of four quarters in 2025.

Behind the trend remains the underlying lack of switching, which has resulted in a reassessment of growth strategies across the sector. Pinch suggested that the market was moving away from “broad-brush” growth and more towards “targeted, specialist propositions”.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions briefed Insurance Times that, in a market phase defined by customer retention, understanding how and why customers are moving is key to avoiding book shrinkage.

“Understanding customer flow – who you win from, who you lose to and which insurers are gaining traction through a broker’s panel – gives brokers a clearer view of their competitive landscape,” it concluded.