Dual pricing 'rip off' hits national headlines again

Dual pricing has hit the headlines again, with the Daily Mail highlighting the cost to motorists.

Almost 5 million motorists are overpaying £1.4bn each year on their car insurance premiums because they’re not shopping around, the newspaper calculated, based on a survey of 2,000 drivers by price comparison site GoCompare.com.

The newspaper accused insurance companies of “ripping off” loyal customers by discounting premiums for new customers, but inflating the prices paid by loyal policyholders.

The FCA said in its latest business plan that it planned to look at dual pricing, but previous reviews have yielded little action to stop the practice.

Insurers are now obliged to print last year’s premiums on renewal notices to highlight any premium increase, and it has had some impact on retention.

But the newspaper said the proportion of drivers automatically staying with their existing provider has fallen only fractionally from 17% to 16%.

With 31 milion cars registered in the UK, that means that nearly 5 million are paying over the odds, the Daily Mail calculated. And it said that, with the average driver saving £268.69 by shopping around, that equates to £1.4bn being overpaid each year.