Drivers warned as they face huge rise in insurance costs over car crime rates in their area
MOTORISTS in the UK could face a huge hike in insurance costs over car crime rates in their area.
Experts have warned drivers that the staggering number of incidents could result in a big jump in premiums prices.
Even though it is entirely outside of car owners’ control, the growing crime is having a spillover effect on rates, the experts said.
As insurers offset an increase in the number of claims and payouts, everyone’s premiums are being “pushed up”.
Gus Park, managing director of AA Insurance Services, said: “Every day more than 500 vehicles are broken into, while 350 are stolen. Despite the year-on-year reduction for these offences, the figures are simply too high.
“Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that every stolen car increases the cost of claims and pushes premiums up for everyone.
“A simple way to help reduce the cost of insurance is to target vehicle crime and do everything possible to eliminate vehicle theft.”
The Office of National Statistics’ most recent data shows that the number of car thefts has remained high.
Between April 2023 and March 2024 alone, astounding 129,159 vehicles were stolen.
That being said, there has been a very minor decrease from the 130,119 stolen models in 2022–2023.
The most recent data has also revealed that vehicle interference—which includes removing components like catalytic converters—has increased by two per cent.
Over the previous 12 months, the number of tampering instances increased from 52,268 to 53,369.
However, data shows a staggering 13% decrease in the number of items taken straight out of cars.
Last year, a startling 218,431 persons claimed that something had been stolen from their car.
However, this number has now decreased to 193,023.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) cited theft as a “key factor to why car insurance premiums increased so much last year”.
How to get cheap car insurance
CAR insurance is an essential cost that you hope to never use but will need to cover the costs of theft or damage to your vehicle.
It’s a legal requirement to have car insurance, and going without it could land you with a £300 fine, six penalty points on your licence and even a criminal conviction.
But there are several ways to slash your premiums.
Pay upfront
Insurers give you the choice of paying for insurance monthly or upfront.
Paying monthly spreads the cost of your cover but the insurer adds interest charges which means the average motorist pays around ten per cent more overall.
If you pay for your car insurance annually you don’t pay any interest.
A typical motorist can save up to £225 a year by paying in one go, according to comparison site MoneySuperMarket.
Increase your excess
The excess is what you agree to pay each time you need to make a claim on your policy.
You can usually choose your own excess when setting up a policy and it can be as low as £100 and as high as £500 or more.
The higher your excess, the lower your premium and vice versa.
This means you could bring the cost of your insurance down by agreeing to pay more if you do need to make a claim.
But before you hike your excess, make sure you would be able to pay in the event that you do need to make a claim.
Tweak your job
Certain jobs are seen as more risky than others for insurance purposes.
Making small but accurate changes to your job title can save you money.
For example, swapping your role from “chef” to “caterer” can save you £20, comparison site GoCompare found.
And changing your role from “fast food delivery driver” to “delivery driver” could save you £40.
But lying about your job could invalidate your policy so make sure any changes are legitimate and accurate.
Shop around
Not all comparison sites have the same range of insurers so to get the best price it’s a good idea to check two or three from Go Compare, Comparethemarket, MoneySupermarket and Confused.com.
Insurer Direct Line is also not on comparison sites so check its prices directly.
You can also get a free cash bonus by going via a cashback site such as Topcashback or Quidco.
Save the date
Renewing your car insurance sooner rather than later could save you some cash.
New cover becomes more expensive the closer you get to the renewal date.
But you can buy your car insurance up to 29 days before the policy start date and ‘lock in’ the price you’re quoted on that day.
A typical driver can save up to £265 buying new cover at least 27 days before their current policy ends, according to Go Compare.
Go Compare said: “More car thefts lead to more payouts, and insurers want to make that money back. The easy way to do this is to hike car insurance premiums.
“Considering the average payout for car theft hit a record high of £12,600 last year, it’s no surprise that premiums have increased so sharply.”
The AA has cautioned motorists to take extra measures to avoid falling victim to car thieves.
The experts recommend choosing parking slots that are out of sight of the potential robbers and installing additional security devices.
Gus added: “While there is no one single thing to completely protect your vehicle, our advice to drivers is to install approved alarms, immobilisers, or steering locks and to never leave valuables on display in the car.”
However, there are still ways to cut down on your car insurance costs with helpful hacks.
A mum has revealed how a set of easy Martin Lewis tips helped her slash her son’s car insurance cost by £25,000.
Young Dylan Allman was quoted a mind-boggling £28,000 a year when trying to buy his first motor.
Another driver has shared how she saved £160 a year in just seconds using Martin Lewis’ handy car insurance tool.
Dismayed motorist Helen was facing skyrocketing premiums but managed to slash the increase by over two thirds.
For anyone looking to follow Helen’s example, Martin has previously revealed the best time to find the biggest deals on insurance.
Speaking on his ITV show, he said: “If you are near your renewal, getting quotes three weeks before may halve the costs.
“It bottoms out at exactly 23 days and the price starts to rise.
“So what everybody needs to do is get in your diary that 23 days before renewal – because that’s the actual sweet spot.”