We’ve seen unprecedented deflation in the home insurance market, with premiums falling 5.6% and competition for new business driven by house moves.
Falling rates have meant less intense competition from brands to aggressively grow market share. As our latest momentum figures show, a market share gain of +0.21% was enough to earn a place in the top 10, less than half the rate needed be a top 10 grower in the motor market.
Here are some of the highlights from using data from our Insurance Behaviour Tracker which tracks thousands of renewal journeys of real customers.
Top 10 brands for momentum (market share increases)
|
|
Brand |
Oct 20 – Mar 21 |
|
1 |
Halifax |
0.96% |
|
2 |
Admiral |
0.75% |
|
3 |
Sainsbury’s Bank |
0.72% |
|
4 |
Policy Expert |
0.56% |
|
5 |
Churchill |
0.40% |
|
6 |
Direct Line |
0.33% |
|
7 |
Nationwide |
0.27% |
|
8 |
British Gas |
0.27% |
|
9 |
AXA |
0.24% |
|
10 |
Post Office |
0.21% |
The smaller brands we saw pushing their way through in the last six months are clearly making a home for themselves in home. At the very top of the momentum chart is Halifax, recording a 0.96% increase in market share for the period.
Admiral’s home push continued with 0.75% growth followed by Sainsbury’s Bank with 0.72%.
The market share gain of almost 1% means Halifax is now the sixth biggest home insurance brand in the UK while Sainsbury’s just misses a top 10 place.
Top 10 brands for overall market share
|
|
Brand |
Oct 20 – Mar 21 |
|
1 |
Aviva |
7.1% |
|
2 |
Direct Line |
6.0% |
|
3 |
LV |
5.8% |
|
4 |
Admiral |
5.7% |
|
5 |
Churchill |
4.7% |
|
6 |
Halifax |
4.7% |
|
7 |
Saga |
4.2% |
|
8 |
AXA |
4.0% |
|
9 |
Nationwide |
3.2% |
|
10 |
Policy Expert |
3.1% |
Aviva remains the biggest brand even with QuoteMeHappy added on (position 21 and with a 1.3% market share) it can’t catch ‘real’ market leaders Direct Line Group.
Its flagship Direct Line brand is in second place on the charts. When Churchill and Privilege brands are included it stands head and shoulders above with a 12.4% market share.
British Gas and the Post Office become ones to watch
Trading on brand strength and loyalty, British Gas and the Post Office now come in momentum positions 8 and 10 with market share gains of 0.27% and 0.21% - also giving them both a market share boost. (British Gas now has a 0.9% market share, and Post Office a 1.0% market share).
When it comes to the measure of by how much a brand has grown its own book British Gas actually comes out on top, having grown its customer base by an impressive 41.5
Top 10 brands for growth
|
|
Brands |
Oct 20 – Mar 21 |
|
1 |
British Gas |
41.5% |
|
2 |
Sainsburys |
32.8% |
|
3 |
Post Office |
27.7% |
|
4 |
Halifax |
25.5% |
|
5 |
Policy Expert |
21.6% |
|
6 |
Admiral |
15.1% |
|
7 |
Privilege |
11.7% |
|
8 |
RIAS |
11.7% |
|
9 |
Hastings Direct |
10.7% |
|
10 |
Churchill |
9.2% |
Admiral, Churchill, Halifax and Policy Expert all have top ten hits
There are four brands that have appeared in each of our charts so far – combining formidable market share, forward momentum, AND strong growth.
Bigger brands by nature will find it harder to grow at quite the same pace but Policy Expert and Halifax have also grown their books by over a fifth in the six months to 31 March 2021.
Meanwhile Admiral is number 4 for market share and number 2 for market share growth, and Churchill fifth for market share and 10th for growth.
One Call slows rate of growth
Stand out stars from April to September’s figures were One Call, whose home efforts appear to have waned over the last six month period. They’ve gone from 57.5% growth of their book to 7.9%, a 1.1% market share, and retention down to 49.2% - well below market average.
Strong retention still reaps rewards
NFU Mutual hits the their usual top spot in the retention charts. Sainsbury’s Bank and Admiral appear here, too, with 70.1% and 68.6% retention respectively.
Banks, as always, perform strongly on retention with NatWest in at number 3, Barclays at number 7 and Lloyds Bank taking position 10.
Direct Line is the only big brand to make the cut in at number 9, with Aviva just missing out on a slot at number 11 with 67.4%.
Top 10 for retention (market average 63.2%)
|
|
Brand |
Oct 20 – Mar 21 |
|
1 |
NFU Mutual |
95.1% |
|
2 |
Nationwide |
85.9% |
|
3 |
NatWest |
77.2% |
|
4 |
Saga |
72.2% |
|
5 |
John Lewis |
71.6% |
|
6 |
Barclays |
71.1% |
|
7 |
Sainsburys |
70.1% |
|
8 |
Admiral |
68.6% |
|
9 |
Direct Line |
68.2% |
|
10 |
Lloyds Bank |
67.8% |
As house purchases slow down customer churn and the FCA’s pricing remedies come into force, making new business price-based acquisition not as simple as it used to be, we can expect to see more changes in months and years to come.
Understand consumer behaviour throughout the renewal process
Enhance decision making, performance monitoring and planning by understanding consumer behaviours, attitudes and intentions at insurance renewal.
Insurance Behaviour Tracker (IBT) is the most comprehensive insurance focused consumer survey in the market. It provides insight and understanding of consumer behaviour throughout the renewal process, giving you a view of market trends, and brand performance. This will enable you to make informed decisions to allow you to build robust marketing and business plans and track results.
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