Which brands are growing in the car insurance market?

Amongst the biggest upheaval in insurance pricing, opportunities emerge and strategies change.  

While we often talk about volatility and agility on a weekly or daily basis, all those small price tweaks and strategy adaptations can add up to a change in the big picture.  

 Using our Insurance Behaviour Tracker which tracks the renewal journeys of over 2,000 customers each month, we can now see who’s bagging a bigger share of the market in this transitionary period. 

Aviva tops the charts for market share momentum

The momentum data shows that Aviva has gone from strength to strength, increasing market share by 1.7 percentage points in the six months to March 2022. This represents a further gain on the 0.8% market share gain in the preceding six months to September 2021.  

Aviva’s new Price Comparison Website (PCW) distribution has been a key driver. For the six months to 31 March 2022, more than half their gains came from consumers who purchased via an aggregator, compared to 30% who bought direct online or over the phone. Six months early, as much as three quarters of its 0.8ppt market share gain came from PCW channels. Where Aviva does quote, its conversion rates have been amongst the highest this year.   

Aviva appears increasingly focused on its flagship brand. Quotemehappy, its online only product, which had until June 2020 been its lead PCW presence, has lost market share in the last year while General Accident has stayed still.  

Also making gains are Lloyds Bank and RAC, both BGL administered panels, gaining over 0.5% of the market. Bear in mind here that 0.5% is roughly 160,000 of the UK’s 32 million cars.  

Missing this time around is LV=. It dropped out of the top 10 after gaining 1.7% market share in the previous six months in the run up to the pricing reforms.  

Market share gains 

Min sample = 30 

Multi-tier strategy helps book growth 

Looking at growth in relative terms, 1st Central nearly doubled its customer base in the last six months. Aggregators were a big part of this strategy; some 72% of customers came through this channel, compared with a market-wide average of 43%.  

Its multi-tier offering, including 1st Central Value, helped attract price conscious customers. Indeed as many as 60% said the cheapest price was the main reason for buying from 1st Central, while 13% said there was something special about the policy.  

A willingness to haggle also helped its retention rate here. Whilst 1st Central shoppers are more likely to shop around at renewal than customers of other brands, they were also more likely to stay after being offered a better price or finding they couldn’t get a cheaper quote elsewhere.  

RIAS and Swinton, which has three levels of cover from Essentials to Premier, showed the biggest changes in a six month period, from shrinking customer counts in the six months from April to September to becoming top ten growers in the more recent half year period.  

Growth of own book 

Min sample = 30 

Retention rules for biggest brands 

While neither LV= nor Direct Line featured in the top 5 for momentum, they held onto the top spots for market share thanks to their enviable retention rates. 

Admiral continues to enjoy the halo effect of its stay at home refund and came a close third for retention, with its 73.9% retention rate well above market average of 61.6%.  

UK’s biggest motor brands 

Min sample = 30 

Min sample = 30  

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.