Allianz pays out £51m for crashes during 3pm afternoon rush

Allianz has revealed that it paid out millions of pounds in claims for car accidents that occurred during the 3pm school pick-up in 2023.

The insurer’s figures showed that it received more than 10,300 claims for crashes during the weekday rush hour – the highest peak in the day.

This resulted in the firm paying out £51m for incidents that occurred around 3pm, an increase of £7m compared to 2022.

In comparison, claims for accidents that happened at 6.30pm cost £27m, with less than half the number of crashes being recorded at that time.

Caroline Johnson, claims director at Allianz’s personal lines business, said: “Our data has highlighted interesting patterns in the frequency and severity of claims and mid-late afternoons on the road seem to be a real hot spot for minor accidents.

“There can be a number of additional distractions at this time, from increased numbers of pedestrians and cyclists, to having excitable children in the car and even just that determination to get home quickly after work.”

Morning rush hour

Despite the afternoon rush hour being an accident hot spot, only half (5,482) as many accidents occurred during the morning at 8am.

Allianz said this was possibly down to increased levels of alertness first thing in the morning compared to later on in the day.

Johnson said: “At Allianz, we want people to be as safe as they possibly can on the roads and a heightened awareness of these trickier travel times and how to navigate them confidently is the way to go.

“It can be too easy to pull out quickly from a road when in a rush, or make a little error when reversing under pressure, so trying to make extra time on your journey may make the difference to ensuring accidents don’t happen.”