UK's most consistently competitive motor insurers revealed Online insurers continue to give traditional brands a run for their money
www.moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, today reveals the top ten most competitive motor insurers throughout 2006, with swiftcover.com emerging as the most consistently low-cost brand.
From an analysis of over three million premiums quoted through www.moneysupermarket.com's car insurance comparison service in 2006, swiftcover.com returned the cheapest average premium for all drivers at £276*.
Other names that made the top five were Post Office, Zurich, More Than and Liverpool Victoria. Big brands such as Barclays and the RAC also made the top ten, as well as supermarket bank, Sainsbury's.
www.moneysupermarket.com's top ten consistently competitive motor insurers* in 2006 were:
Richard Mason, managing director of insurance at price comparison website, www.moneysupermarket.com, said: "It is not surprising to see the younger, nimbler online insurers providing consistently competitive premiums given their lower overheads when compared with the traditional insurers. It is encouraging however, that some of the big names such as Barclays and RAC are still committed to offering consistent good value, but they are not quite able to pip swiftcover.com to the top spot."
The research also reveals that Debenhams, not a well-known player in the motor insurance market, offers the most expensive average quote for all drivers. The average premium quoted throughout 2006 was nearly £1,500 - over five times more expensive than swiftcover.com on average. And despite building up a name in the motor insurance industry for being the 'fourth emergency service', AA Insurance languishes at the bottom of the tables.
Richard Mason continued: "It is disappointing to see a big motor insurance brand, such as AA Insurance, at the bottom of the table. With well-known brands, such as RBS saying its customers will see double digit percentage hikes in their premiums this year, millions of motorists need to be careful when it comes to renewing their policies and they could receive hefty renewal quotes.
"With fair-weather insurers changing their pricing strategies overnight to meet their business targets, consistency is a useful gauge of which brands to consider. But there really is no substitute for spending just a few minutes comparing the market, when you want to know you are getting the best value deal for your circumstances.
"Insurers automatically include discounts on the first year of a policy to entice motorists in, hoping they will stay when this 'honeymoon' period comes to an end and premiums take a turn for the worse. However, there is nothing to stop drivers changing their insurer every year and therefore always taking advantage of these introductory bonuses."
moneysupermarket.com is a website where consumers can compare financial and insurance products and apply online. The website has 15 different insurance comparison services including motor insurance, home insurance, life insurance, private medical insurance, travel insurance, mortgage protection, income protection, pet insurance, dental insurance, and motor breakdown.
For further information, please contact: Jeena Nadarajan / James Terry / Katherine Hobby Lansons Communications 020 7294 3629 / 3647 or 020 7566 9704 jeenan@lansons.com / jamest@lansons.com / katherineh@lansons.com
Richard Mason managing director of insurance at moneysupermarket.com Tel: 01244 665 788 Richard.mason@moneysupermarket.com
Alexander Cowen-Wright head of PR & communications at moneysupermarket.com Tel: 01244 399599 Mob: 07802 455893 alexander.cowen-wright@moneysupermarket.com
Notes to editors: *Data based on moneysupermarket.com internal quote engine filtered by age of motorists from 30 to 50 (to avoid skewed average results by specialist age-based insurers).
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