Quoted van insurance premiums go into reverse, but are still up 9.5% in a year

• Van drivers were most commonly quoted premiums of £500 to £749, with more competition on price comparison websites.

Quoted van insurance premiums are going into reverse but are still up 9.5% in the year to the end of September, the latest Consumer Intelligence Van Insurance Price Index¹ shows.

Prices fell 2.2% for drivers aged under 25 in the past 12 months, and by 0.8% in the past three months for the market as a whole. In July, prices dropped 3% after a price cut from one of the most competitive insurers, before creeping up again.

Data shows that in September 2024, the quoted premium for a new van insurance policy most commonly fell between £500 and £749, with 18% of quotes in that range, while 17% fell within the £750 to £999 price range.

“Consumers are being presented with more choices, with all price comparison websites offering quotes from more brands than they were 12 months ago. However, under-25s see fewer brands available than older drivers,” says Laura Vas, Senior Insight Analyst at Consumer Intelligence.

“During the last three months, quoted premiums fell by 0.8%, with a notable 3% price decrease in July driven by a price cut from one of the market’s most competitive brands, before prices rose again,” adds Vas.

Age differences in the past year
Under-25s saw quoted premiums fall by 2.2% in the year to the end of September, while quoted premiums for those aged 25 to 49 increased by 11.5%, and by 10.2% for the over-50s.

Around 37% of drivers aged under 25 were able to obtain a quote for less than £1,500 in September, an improvement from the 30% able to do so in September last year.

However, around 89% of those aged 25 to 49, and nearly 97% of those aged 50-plus, can secure a quote for less than £1,500 — down from 92% of those aged 25 to 49 able to do so last year. The figure for the over-50s is unchanged in the past year.

Long-term view
Since Consumer Intelligence started tracking quoted van insurance premiums in April 2014, average overall quoted premiums have increased by 207.9%.

Quoted premiums for the under-25s have nearly doubled, rising by 95.5% since the launch of the index, compared with increases of 233.1% for those aged 25 to 49 and 221.8% for the over-50s.

Type of cover
Owners using vans for social, domestic, and pleasure purposes saw increases in quoted premiums of 13.1%, while tradespeople experienced rises of 8.4%. Since Consumer Intelligence started collecting data, quoted premiums for social, domestic, and pleasure have increased by 269.7%, while for carriage of own goods used by tradespeople, premiums have risen by 183.5%.

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