Motor premiums fall 6.2%

Average motor insurance premiums dropped 6.2% over the last year, according to the latest figures from comparison website Tiger.co.uk

Average premiums fell 6.2% between June 2011 and June 2012 and by 0.6% in June compared with those recorded in May 2012. June 2011 saw the highest ever prices recorded by Tiger Watch.

Meanwhile the price gap between men and women drivers has continued to narrow, according to the latest figures from comparison website Tiger.co.uk

The Tiger Watch data revealed that premiums for male motorists were 6.1% higher than that of the opposite sex this month.

That compares to a price differential of 12.4% in March 2012 and a 9.8% difference last month.

The adjustment to the male and female policy pricing differential comes ahead of the December 2012 EU Gender Directive that will ban the use of gender in its own right as an insurance factor.

The monthly price monitor analyses hundreds of car insurance quotes across a range of driver age and gender profiles.

The research also shows that male drivers are faring better than their female counterparts when it comes to monthly inflation. On average, men saw their policy prices drop by about 2.3% compared to May 2012 prices.

However, women motorists saw their policy prices rise by 1.2%, mainly as a result of price increases for younger women drivers, with the 20 year-old female driver profile recording an 11.4% month-on-month increase.

Tiger.co.uk’s commercial director Andrew Goulborn said: “Generally we’ve seen fairly flat pricing over the last 12 months. In fact, prices have dropped versus their June 2011 peak. However, there are winners and losers within the data.

“Monthly inflation is hitting female drivers – especially younger ones – harder than men. And we’re seeing the biggest price drops in the 45 and 55 year old groups that we look at, with rates falling by around five to six percent.”