Motor insurers paid out £3.2 billion in car insurance claims during the first quarter of the year,1 the highest quarterly payout since records began in 2013, according to the latest data from the ABI.
Repairs were a key component behind increased claims costs and reached £2.1 billion this quarter. More expensive repair costs have been driven by a number of factors including replacement parts, higher labour costs, inflation, and a shortage of skilled technicians.
The complexity of modern cars also plays a significant role in expensive repairs. For example, wing mirrors have evolved far beyond simple reflective surfaces, incorporating actuators, motors, lights, signals, and sensors to enhance functionality and safety. This trend of technological advancement can be seen in every part of a vehicle, from bumpers to windshields, making modern vehicles more sophisticated but also significantly more costly to repair.
The high cost of claims for theft also played a role in the record claims, as the average claim for theft of and from a vehicle stood at £11.3k.
Improving the UK’s roads and the Government delivering its Road Safety Strategy is crucial to protect drivers, as 632,000 claims were settled in the first three months of the year.
Motor premiums fall but work must continue
The average cost of motor cover in the first quarter of the year dropped to £589. This is down 5% from the previous quarter and 7% from the same quarter in 2024.
While the industry has taken steps to tackle the cost of insurance, and premiums have fallen from their peak, claims pressures still remain. Through the ABI’s 10-Point Roadmap, the industry is playing its part to tackle the costs behind insurance. 2 However, the Government and regulators must do more to support drivers. This includes addressing the skills and capacity challenge in the vehicle repair sector.
Mark Shepherd, Head of General Insurance Policy at the ABI, said:
While our latest figures show a drop in average motor insurance premiums, we know the price of cover remains a strain on household finances. Efforts to reduce costs, such as those within our 10 Point Roadmap, have led to some progress, but affordability remains a concern.
The record claims this quarter underline that work must continue to address claims costs, for the good of consumers. We need the Government to help us do this by addressing the skills and capacity challenge in the vehicle repair sector, improving the UK's roads and delivering its Road Safety Strategy. We also urge the Government to not raise Insurance Premium Tax at the Autumn Budget – a tax that penalises responsible drivers.
Mark Shepherd
ABI Head of General Insurance Policy
Footnotes
- Insurance claims for privately owned cars, based on data which the ABI started collecting in 2013
- At the beginning of this year, the ABI shared an update report on its 10-Point Roadmap which outlined the progress made in some key areas including: tackling vehicle theft, cracking down on insurance fraud and uninsured driving, helping consumers make informed decisions, and reducing the impact of the Person Injury Discount Rate (PIDR).
The ABI’s Motor Insurance Premium Tracker is the most comprehensive in the UK, analysing nearly 28 million policies sold a year. It’s also the only collection that is based on the price customers pay for their cover rather than what they are quoted. More on this in our blog.
Motor insurance provides financial protection in the event of an accident. The largest element of what the pool of motor insurance premiums pays for is compensation for injuries to other drivers, passengers or pedestrians. That’s because serious collisions can mean life-changing injuries, with compensation sometimes running into the tens of millions of pounds. The ABI’s campaign 'power of the premium’ demonstrates the core principles of insurance and helps consumers to understand what their premium pays for.