There has been change at the top of the highly competitive motor market, with some brands keenly focusing on renewals and new business to increase market share.

Here are a few of our highlights:

Admiral tops the charts for momentum and market share

Analysing data from Consumer Intelligence’s Insurance Behaviour Tracker show Admiral topping the momentum charts and increasing its market share by 1.85 percentage points for customers who renewed between April and September 2020.

It’s the biggest gain in the latest six-month figures enough to give Admiral the edge and become the UK’s largest motor insurance brand. It leaves Admiral with a 9.5% market share overall, above nearest competitors LV (8.5%), Direct Line (8.3%) and Hastings (also 8.3%).

The 1.85 point gain also marks a rapid acceleration on the previous six months, when it was flat with -0.1 points momentum.

Credit must also be given to Hastings, growing its market share by 1.28 percentage points to 8.3% and AA, which now has a 4.3% market share.

 

Top 10 brands for momentum (market share increase)

 

Brand

Apr 20 – Sep 20

1

Admiral

1.85%

2

Hastings

1.28%

3

AA

1.16%

4

RAC

1.07%

5

LV

0.97%

6

Churchill

0.72%

7

Saga

0.67%

8

QuoteMeHappy

0.62%

9

1st Central

0.41%

10

Tesco

0.31%

 

Top 10 brands for overall market share

 

Brands

Apr 20 – Sep 20

1

Admiral

9.5%

2

LV

8.5%

3

Direct Line

8.3%

4

Hastings

8.3%

5

Aviva

6.8%

6

Churchill

5.7%

7

AA

4.3%

8

Saga

3.4%

9

AXA

3.1%

10

RAC

3.0%

 

Direct Line Group has the most motorists

While Admiral tops the brand charts, at group level it’s Direct Line that has the biggest market share, as combining Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege brands gives a 15% market share. That’s largely down to strong growth in Churchill, which grew its book by 14.6% in the last six months and is currently the sixth biggest brand.

Including elephant.co.uk, Bell and Diamond gives Admiral 11.5%.

For Aviva it was a mixed picture, with its QuoteMeHappy brand in the top 10 for market share growth, but the core Aviva brand losing momentum, giving it a combined group market share of 9.3%.

Attention to retention pays off for Admiral and Hastings (amongst others)

Retention is what has really swung it for Admiral, at a whopping 80.3% - nearly 20% above the market average of 61.9%, and way above its rates this time last year.

Without doubt Admiral’s decision to pay a flat £25 lockdown rebate to customers has earned it both significant trust and loyalty.

LV and Direct Line, which also offered money back to customers (although their offers required customers to ask) also made the top five for retention at 76.7% and 74.2% and were well above market average.

Meanwhile, Hastings sits just below Admiral with an impressive retention rate of 79.4%.

 

Top ten for retention

 

Brand

Apr 20 – Sep 20

1

Admiral

80.3%

2

Hastings

79.4%

3

Direct Line

76.7%

4

RAC

75.8%

5

LV

74.2%

6

One Call

69.1%

7

Saga

68.5%

8

Aviva

67.4%

9

Churchill

67.1%

10

QuoteMeHappy

64.3%

 

Notable retention outliers include 1st Central and Sainsbury's Bank. Their retention levels were below the market average, indicating keen new business pricing is behind their impressive growth figures.

Admiral, Hastings and RAC make all four top ten charts

The brands appearing in all four of our top ten charts are Admiral, Hastings, and RAC, with LV narrowly missing out at number 11 for book growth.

It is also worth noting that it is largely the biggest brands which have grown in relative and absolute terms, demonstrating effective strategies for both new business acquisition and retention.

As 2021 continues to unfold, however, it’s all to play for. As FCA regulations on pricing and fairness begin to bite, brands will be competing for customers very differently, and recalibrating their relationships with them.

 


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.

Learn more


 

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