Are House Insurance Premiums Rising Because of the Floods? Yep

Homeowners across the country have seen a 2.9% rise in the average cost for home insurance in the last six months alone, thanks to the increasing nature and ferocity of the 2019-2020 UK storm season, analysis from data analytics expert Consumer Intelligence shows.

Across the market, average overall premiums sit at £149. Average premiums for the over-50s rose 3.5% in the last 12 months and sit at £139, while average premiums for the under-50s rose at a slower pace of 3.1%.  A typical average premium for this group now stands at £158.

“Because of the increasingly turbulent weather, we’re seeing claims costs washing through into premiums,” says John Blevins, pricing expert at Consumer Intelligence. “This is further indicated by the fact that overall pricing increases seem to be at a market-wide level rather than affecting at any particular age group.”

Southern postcodes dominate the regions with the highest home insurance. Londoners continue to fork out the most with average annual premiums of £195. Following in second, residents of the South East now typically pay £153 for their combined buildings and contents policies. The North East (£129), meanwhile, maintains its rank as the cheapest UK region for home insurance.

“These rankings are unsurprising, given crime rates are much higher in city areas and London being the largest in the UK,” says Blevins.

Homes built almost a century ago and more are the only properties to see a reduction to their premiums in the last 12 months. Dwellings built between 1910 and 1925, either side of the First World War, and mainly Edwardian-era properties erected from 1895-1910 attracted premium falls of 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively.

Even Victorian-era properties built between 1850-1895 invited only moderate gains of 1.3% over the same period. Despite this, properties of this ilk remain the most expensive to insure at £174.

Properties completed towards the end of the interwar years saw the biggest increases to their premiums. Constructed between 1925 and 1940, they now cost 5.4% more to insure.

Meanwhile, newer homes – built this century from 2000 onwards – have the lowest premiums attached of any property age group, at £137, closely followed by those erected between 1940 and 1955 (£138).