Premium hikes to ‘infuriate’ motorists

Premium hikes on car insurance will leave motorists ‘infuriated’, a price comparison site claimed this week.

Gocompare.com said insurers are raising premiums by record amounts due to soaring claims costs and increased insurance fraud.

Hayley Parsons, Gocompare.com chief executive, said: “These increases are likely to infuriate drivers when they are passed on via their renewal quote.”

She added: “Those drivers who simply accept their renewal quote this year are likely to feel the full force of an industry being hit from all sides by rising costs.”

Despite the gloomy analysis, recent independent research by Igo4 found that the average car insurance quote from the three biggest insurance firms increased by just 0.12% in the first three months of 2009.

Igo4 said price comparison sites are helping to keep premiums competitive.

“At the very least, using a comparison site allows drivers to compare their renewal quote against over 100 other insurers to see if they can possibly get a better deal,” Parsons concluded.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Premium hikes to ‘infuriate’ motorists