Average comprehensive car policy rises by £74 in Q2

The average cost of a comprehensive car insurance policy shot up by 14.2% in the second quarter of 2010, according to new research by EMB and Confused.com.

The dramatic jump, which outstripped rises of 4.3% and 6.3% increases of the previous two quarters, equated to an additional £74 on the cost of the average policy.

The increase in the Confused.com/EMB Car Insurance Price Index helped to lift the annual rise for policies up to 31%, increasing the average comprehensive premium to £599.

Middle-aged policyholders, aged between 41 and 55, received the biggest quarterly increases for comprehensive policies, which the study put down to parents adding children to their policies.

Manchester and Merseyside, Inner London and Northern Ireland experienced the largest regional quarterly increases.

Confused.com product director Simon Lamble said: “Zurich publicly announced in January it was looking to raise prices by up to 20% and it appears the rest of the industry has followed suit.”