It seems that Home insurance premiums are on the way down, or at least the rate of increase has slowed. The only question now is what effect the Reeves austerity Budget in October will have on the housing and rental market;
The average quoted price of home insurance rose by 27.5% in the 12 months leading up to the end of July, but prices are starting to fall, the latest Consumer Intelligence Home Insurance Price Index shows. The past three months saw a 1.1% decrease in quoted premiums for buildings and contents insurance with a month-month drop in prices in May, ending 19 consecutive months of increases.
Premiums have most commonly been quoted between £150 and £199, with 26% of quotes falling within that range, Consumer Intelligence’s data shows. Just 29% of customers were able to source quotes below £150 in July this year, compared with 48% in July last year. Customers who have made buildings claims have benefited the most from the slowdown – quoted premiums for them are 5.6% down in the past three months, whereas those with theft claims have seen premiums rise 2.3% over the same period.
Consumer Intelligence says part of the reasons for the fall in prices is a rise in insurers joining price comparison websites with Esure, Esure Flex, 1st Central and Allianz now among the most competitive.
“After 19 months of sustained inflation, May 2024 finally saw some respite with prices decreasing slightly against April. The second quarter of this year has seen more brands joining price comparison websites compared with the first quarter and this has helped with the slowing of inflation,” says Matthew McMaster, Senior Insight Analyst at Consumer Intelligence.
Long-term view
Overall, quoted premiums have now risen by 67% since Consumer Intelligence first started collecting data in February 2014.
Into the regions
All regions have seen increases in quoted premiums over the past 12 months ranging from 33.7% in London to 21.9% in the West Midlands. However in the past three months, nine of the 11 regions have seen quoted premiums fall, with the biggest decrease in the West Midlands at 3.2%. Scotland and Wales continued to see small increases of 0.8% and 0.2% respectively.
Age differences
Quoted premiums for over-50s households have risen faster, over the last 12 months, than for under-50s households at 31%, compared with 24.9%. Over the last three months, quoted premium increases rose marginally for over-50s at 0.3% and fell 2.1% for under-50s.
Property age
Properties of all ages saw increases in quoted premiums in the past year, ranging from 30.3% for homes built between 1910 and 1925, which was the highest increase, to 25.6% for homes built between 1940 and 1955, the lowest increase. Quoted premiums fell across the board for properties of all ages in the past three months ranging from 2.4% for houses built between 1925 and 1940 to 0.2% for houses built after 2000.
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