Shopping and switching rates continue to fall among home insurance customers

Home insurance policyholders have been growing increasingly loyal to their providers in recent years, with the number of consumers shopping for new policies falling by 8% since the beginning of 2024 and the number of people switching policies down by a dramatic 7%.

This is according to Insurance Times’ latest Consumer Shopping and Switching Index, a quarterly report based on exclusive data provided by market research firm Consumer Intelligence.

As previous data from Consumer Intelligence revealed, over the past two years falling premiums and the impact of general insurance pricing practices (GIPP) regulations have led to historically low shopping and switching behaviour among motor insurance policyholders.

And the data now shows that the same trend has been manifesting across the home insurance market – further reducing shopping and switching behaviour among a consumer base that is traditionally more loyal than in the motor segment.

Indeed, in the past 12 months alone the rate of consumers shopping for new home policies has fallen by 7 percentage points (pp).

Across the timeframe, reduced shopping behaviour is apparent across all age ranges, with drivers aged 18 to 34 seeing a 7pp fall, those aged 35 to 54 seeing a 12pp fall and those aged 55 and above seeing the smallest drop at 5pp.

Rates appear to be stabilising, however, with all age groups except 35 to 54 year olds (-1pp) seeing a flat or increased shopping rate compared to the prior three-month period.

Split by tenure, shopping rates tell a more varied story. Over the past year, policyholders who have been with their provider for one to two years decreased shopping rates by 12pp, those with a tenure of three to four years by 9pp and those with a tenure of above five years by just 1pp.

However, compared to the prior three-month period, those with a tenure longer than two years saw shopping rates climb by 3pp, while shorter-tenured customers conversely became even more loyal – their shopping rates falling by 9pp.

The changes seen in the past three months may indicate progression in the market cycle. Consumer Intelligence explained: “In the last three months, the proportion of respondents reporting higher renewal premiums has increased by two percentage points, contrasting with a negative three percentage point change in reporting of lower premiums. This could be an early sign of the market beginning to harden.”

Service, cover and pricing

Despite shopping and switching in lower numbers, consumers have been reporting increases in their renewals prices.

For those that had a home policy renewal between March 2025 and February 2026, 54% reported that their quoted price was higher than the year before, 26% reported it was unchanged and just 18% reported it as being lower.

Ian Hughes, chief executive at Consumer Intelligence, explained that there was “more to it than price”.

He continued: “Consumers don’t [just think about price], they look at value. The cheapest price on a price comparison website doesn’t just win all the business. If it’s all about price, why doesn’t it?

“The answer is because consumers do think about other things – they think about cover, they think about brand, they think about ‘I was insured by them last year and they’re rubbish’.”

In that vein, a recent Consumer Intelligence survey found that good cover levels (13%), excellent service (10%), competitive pricing (10%), and auto-renewed policies (6%) were among the top reasons cited for not looking for new home policies.

With shopping and switching rates appearing to be stabilising at historically low levels, a greater onus is being placed onto both customer loyalty and cross-selling.

Insurers that can diversify their income streams and stabilise their customer base may find the benefits compounding, as those that let customers leave struggle to win back new business in a lower flux market.

However, the data suggests that cross-selling is actually worsening, both for insurance and non-insurance related products offered by home insurers.

The number of customers holding motor insurance with their home insurance provider has fallen by 2.3pp in the last year, the number holding a current account by 2.6pp and the number holding a savings account by 0.9pp.

Ultimately, if shopping and switching rates remain at their record low levels, insurers will need to look to diversify their strategies outside of the traditionally reliable new business route.