The stay-at-home situation in the UK has had an effect on insurance claims and costs for homeowners, and here Consumer Intelligence shares its analysis.
According to the insight business, break-ins and water damage claims went down in the past year while accidental damage claims rose due to more people being home for longer periods. As for home insurance prices, Consumer Intelligence noted that average premiums fell 1.2% to £145.
Broken down, here are the average premiums per region:
|
Region |
Average premiums |
Change in year to January |
|
London |
£215 |
0.9% |
|
West Midlands |
£132 |
0.1% |
|
Scotland |
£142 |
-1.4% |
|
East Midlands |
£135 |
-1.6% |
|
Wales |
£141 |
-1.7% |
|
South East |
£147 |
-2.1% |
|
Yorkshire and The Humber |
£135 |
-2.4% |
|
North West |
£142 |
-2.5% |
|
South West |
£130 |
-3.0% |
|
North East |
£129 |
-4.2% |
|
Eastern |
£140 |
-4.6% |
The average cost for an annual buildings and contents policy was based on the cheapest premiums offered by all major price comparison websites and key direct insurers to 2,100 people.
“No doubt, the current pandemic and resulting lockdown is responsible for these shifts given there is a reduction in overall claims being made,” said Consumer Intelligence product head John Blevins, whose camp also examined price differences based on the age of the policyholder and the property.
Blevins added: “With any insurance, claims frequency and severity will dictate pricing movements, and as the world shifts to slowly reducing COVID-19 restrictions we will expect to see small shifts in pricing as a result.”
