The average price for a motor insurance policy reached £877

The average cost of motor insurance has increased by 17.4% over the past year.

This is according to the latest motor insurance price index, published by market research firm Consumer Intelligence yesterday (20 December 2022).

The research found that this rise saw the average price for a motor insurance policy reach £877.

Consumer Intelligence’s senior analyst Georgia Day said that this “surge” in prices had been expected following the ban on price walking that came into play at the start of the year.

Under these rules, which came fully into force in January 2022, insurers can no longer differentiate the price charged to homeowners and motorists based on whether they are new customers or renewing their policies.

Day added: “What is surprising, however, is the number of product launches we are seeing especially the growing number of essentials products.

“To highlight this, the number of total brands quoting across price comparison websites (PCW) market reached its highest point since our tracking began in 2014.”

Consumer Intelligence’s figures were calculated by comparing the prices offered to 3,600 customers across November by all major PCWs and key direct insurers.

Breakdown

Premium rises were more pronounced for the over-50s age group according to Consumer Intelligence’s price index, which found that prices had risen by 21% year-on-year for this group.

Despite this rise, this group continues to pay the lowest average premiums with the average price siting at £449.

This increase was more than double the rise seen by under-25s, who saw 9.1% premium increases as their average premiums reached £645.

Prices rose by the smallest amount for under-25s – just 0.1% across the past three months that has seen premiums increase across the market as a whole by 3.4%.

The under-25 age group continues to pay the highest premiums of any market segment with premiums costing an average of £1,813 per year.

Average premiums for each age group were calculated by collecting quotes directly from insurers via real profiles.