Home insurance prices in the UK continue to rise, albeit more slowly now, while the motor insurance market is seeing a downward trend, according to the May 2024 premium index by Pearson Ham Group.
The pricing consultancy reported that year-on-year price comparisons for home insurance decreased from a peak of 42% in February to 37% last month. Notably, Northern Ireland posted the highest year-on-year price growth at 55%, while London saw a significant year-on-year increase of 44%.
“The continued increases to home insurance premiums in May will add further spending pressure for consumers, but this has been primarily driven by the extreme weather events we witnessed last winter combined with ongoing claims inflation,” said Pearson Ham Group director Stephen Kennedy (pictured), who leads the company’s insurance insights team.
“We anticipated at the beginning of the year that achieving consistency in home insurance pricing would be challenging for insurers. As we approach the half-year mark, it has proven considerably more difficult than expected.”
Conversely, the 12-month price change for motor insurance significantly reduced from a high of 47% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 19% in the latest Pearson Ham Group index.
Frances Luery, product manager at Pearson Ham Group, commented: “The period of inflation that drove up motor insurance prices was incredibly challenging for many people. We hope that insurers will continue to outline their expectations for future claims costs and how they are working to support policyholders.”
Pearson Ham Group’s methodology involves a mystery shopping exercise by volunteer consumers using their real-life personal details to represent a range of risk information. Each month, quotes are gathered using price comparison websites and consistent consumer profiles, with the most competitive quotes used to track quarterly pricing trends.
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