Hundreds of pounds are wasted every year by motorists who don’t shop around for better deals on their car insurance according to research presented by MoneySupermarket.com. On average, policy holders lose £220 per year by simply renewing their premiums, which adds up to a huge national £1.9 billion.
23 per cent of drivers were found to automatically renew their policies, which is costing them money. Many drivers seem to think that shopping around for the best deal once is enough, but insurers an hike up prices on renewal, and only advertise their best deals to new customers to attract in new business.
There is no major reason as to why people don’t shop around, but a lot of the time it is down to not realising that it was possible to save money this way, or simply because drivers couldn’t be bothered to check.
One in five people questioned admitted to having only looked for a better deal once, presuming that their policies would stay relatively good when they renew.
The research also looked into how long people stayed loyal to a certain insurance company. On average, people were loyal for 2 and a half years, although women tended to swap after two years, but men only generally swapped after three years. Age had an effect on the statistics as well, as those over 55 were the most loyal, sticking to their insurance premiums for 3.2 years on average.
If you are one of those people who automatically renew, make sure you shop around the next time your insurance premium is up and see if you can save yourself hundreds of pounds.