Van Drivers See Insurance Price Cuts Of 5.1% In A Year

• Average premiums drop to £1,442 but price cuts are slowing
• Annual bills are still 34.9% higher than April 2014
  
  

Van drivers are benefiting from insurance price cuts with average annual premiums dropping 5.1% in a year to £1,442, new analysis¹ from insurance market experts Consumer Intelligence shows.

One of the main reasons for the premium price reductions has been insurers passing on the anticipated benefits of the Civil Liability Bill aimed at curbing fraudulent claims — but price cuts have slowed in the past three months as most providers have now applied discounts.

Average premiums are still 34.9% higher than in April 2014 when Consumer Intelligence started tracking prices due to a combination of Government tax increases, rising claims costs and changes to the Ogden rate governing payouts for major personal injury claims.

Drivers using their vans for business saw average premiums drop 4.8% to £1,418 in the year to September while customers insuring vans under social, domestic and pleasure polices saw prices drop 6% but pay higher premiums on average of £1,545.

The biggest price cuts are being experienced by younger drivers aged between 17 and 24 who can expect premium cuts of 12.6% but that is not much comfort as they will pay premiums of £4,585.

Premium reductions for older drivers are running at 3.5% with over-50s expecting to pay £577 a year while those aged 25 to 49 can expect annual premiums of £916.

John Blevins, Consumer Intelligence pricing expert said:

“The big question is whether price reductions will be sustained as the decreases have slowed in the past three months to just 0.2%.

“Much of the recent drop in premiums can be attributed to insurers passing on the benefits of the Civil Liability Bill as it goes through Parliament.

“However, in the absence of any other market factors pricing and premiums will be dictated by claims frequencies and costs.”

Drivers using their vans for business insure their vehicles under “carriage of own goods” policies and are generally rated by insurers as being more careful and less likely to claim due to the potential impact on their livelihoods.

But claims when they are made by business users tend to be higher which may explain why prices are falling more slowly than for ‘social, domestic and pleasure’ policies

Carriage of own goods cover can also include social, domestic and personal use. Drivers opting for social domestic and pleasure use generally have past-times or hobbies that suit having a van as either their sole vehicle or as a second vehicle.

Insight that will enable you to optimise your pricing strategy 

Download our Van Insurance Price Index to gain insight into market movements, benchmark the major van insurance brands and help you understand the data behind the results. 

Ends

Notes to Editors

¹The cheapest premiums were calculated by comparing the prices offered for 600 people by all the major Price Comparison Sites and key direct insurers. The top 5 prices for each person were compared to the previous month’s top 5, then these variations averaged to produce the index.

For further information, please contact:

Consumer Intelligence
Catherine Carey
PR & Communications Manager
07823 790453

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Kevan Reilly / Jonathan Flint
020 7638 9571

About Consumer Intelligence
Consumer Intelligence conducts consumer surveys and benchmarks price and service performance providing unique insights into competitor pricing and customer experiences, their attitudes, opinions and behaviours. For more information, visit the web site www.consumerintelligence.com

Post a comment...