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Press Release

UK car insurance premiums continue to slide with 13% annual fall

January 7, 2026

The cost of car insurance has fallen by £111 over the past year, with motorists now on average paying £726.
Insurance Consulting and Technology
N/A

LONDON, January 7, 2026 — Comprehensive car insurance premiums have fallen by 13% (£111) during the last 12 months[1] with UK motorists now paying £726 on average, according to the latest Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index in association with WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.

Car insurance premiums for younger drivers have seen the greatest changes to their average premiums, with premiums for under 25s dropping by 16% on average year-on-year. Drivers aged 17 experienced the greatest price fall compared to other age groups, benefiting from a significant 25% annual price decrease, reducing their average premiums by £636 from £2,568 to £1,932. Drivers aged 18 saw the next biggest reduction in annual prices of 18%, taking their average premiums to £2,262.

While all age groups saw double digit falls, drivers aged 48 saw the most marginal decrease to their car insurance prices with a fall of 10% (£73) and an average annual premium of £653.

Average car insurance premiums have fallen by £269 (27%) since prices peaked at £995 in December 2023, with prices having decreased for eight consecutive quarters, according to the longest established and most comprehensive car insurance price index in the UK. However, the latest price fall of 1% (£9) during September to November 2025 was the smallest quarterly drop since the current downward trend began in early 2024, indicating a continued deceleration in the pace of price reductions.

Comprehensive car insurance - Annual price trends

Comprehensive car insurance - Annual price trends

Source: WTW / Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index. *Average values rounded to the nearest whole number.

  2024 - November 2025 - November
Average Premium* £837 £726
% Change Annually* -15% -15%
£ Change Annually* -£146 -£111

Tim Rourke, UK Head of P&C Pricing, Product, Claims and Underwriting, said: “Motorists have benefitted from lower insurance premiums driven by a continued decline in personal injury claims through 2025. Most likely due to the whiplash reforms, bodily injury claims have now fallen from 16% of insurers’ spend in 2021 to 9% in 2025[2].

Most likely due to the whiplash reforms, bodily injury claims have now fallen from 16% of insurers’ spend in 2021 to 9% in 2025”

Tim Rourke | UK Head of P&C Pricing, Product, Claims and Underwriting

“While UK motor insurers can expect to break even in 2025, rising claims inflation and higher repair costs linked to increasingly complex vehicle technology may lead to losses in 2026, putting pressure on insurers to reverse the recent downward trend in prices.”

Northern Ireland was the only region to experience an annual rise in prices, where premiums increased by 1% from £894 to £907. This reflects a significant increase in its ranking compared to previous years, largely due to smaller price drops compared to other regions. Northern Ireland is now listed as the third most expensive region in the UK for car insurance, only narrowly behind Outer London in second place.

Drivers in Manchester / Merseyside saw the largest percentage decrease in the cost of comprehensive car insurance, with an annual dip of 18% (£178), reducing their premiums from £1,014 to £836. Drivers in the North West benefited from the next biggest percentage drop at just under 16% (£123), with their premiums decreasing from £790 to £667 during the same period.

Of the regions to experience a reduction, the smallest was seen in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, where drivers saw a more modest annual fall of 8% (£51), with average premiums now at £574 compared to £625 in November 2024. South West England remains the cheapest region for car insurance, where average premiums now cost £500, with Central and North Wales following close behind at £509.

Most expensive regions in the UK

Most expensive regions in the UK

Source: WTW / Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index. *Average values rounded to nearest whole number.

  2024 - November 2025 - November
Inner London £1,305 £1,119
Outer London £1,081 £917
Northern Ireland £894 £907
West Midlands £1,015 £875
Manchester / Merseyside £1,014 £836

More locally focused data shows motorists in the Manchester / Merseyside postcode areas of Liverpool and Bolton benefited from the biggest annual falls in car insurance premiums, where prices dropped by 20% and 18% respectively. Drivers in Liverpool saw premiums decrease from £998 to £799, while average prices in Bolton fell from £1,049 to £858. West Central London, still the most expensive postcode in the country, saw an annual fall of 12% (£193), with average premiums now at £1,444 compared to £1,637 in November 2024.

Llandrindod Wells in Wales continues to be the cheapest town in the UK with prices on average now costing £476, where prices fell by 7% compared to 12 months ago. Drivers in the South West towns of Torquay (£482), Truro (£484), Exeter (£486) and Dorchester (£487) also continue to enjoy average premiums less than £500.

Steve Dukes, CEO at Confused.com, comments: “This recent drop in car insurance prices signals more than 12 months of decreases. While this creates opportunities for customers to save, motorists can see cost increases on the way in the form of vehicle excise duty, fuel prices and more. Customers continue to wrestle with broader financial pressures and so continue to look for ways to refresh their financial commitments, review the cover they have and save where they can.”

About the index

The index is compiled using anonymous data from all enquiries submitted on Confused.com. The prices used for analysis are based on an average of the best five quotes received.

The Confused.com car insurance price index has been running for more than 10 years. In this time, the price comparison market has grown significantly (80% market share), and the make-up of the UK driving population has changed along with it. We’ve been monitoring trends within the car insurance industry and have updated our method utilising machine learning techniques to one that reflects today’s UK motor market. This has resulted in an adjustment to the car insurance prices reported in our index.

About Confused.com

Launched in 2002, Confused.com was the UK's first price comparison site for car insurance and is one of the UK’s biggest and most popular price comparison services, generating over one million quotes per month. It has expanded its range of comparison products over the last couple of years to include small van insurance, motorcycle insurance, car buying, and car finance, as well as a number of tools designed to save drivers money on motoring.

Confused.com is not a supplier, insurance company or broker. It provides an objective and unbiased comparison service. By using cutting-edge technology, it has developed a series of intelligent web-based solutions that evaluate a number of risk factors to help customers with their decision-making, subsequently finding them great deals on a wide-range of insurance products, financial services, utilities and more. Confused.com’s service is based on the most up-to-date information provided by UK suppliers and industry regulators.

About Insurance Consulting and Technology

WTW’s Insurance Consulting and Technology business has over 1,200 colleagues operating in 35 markets worldwide. It is a leading provider of advice, solutions and software – primarily to the insurance industry. Its consulting services help clients manage risk and capital, improve business performance and create competitive advantage – by focusing on financial and regulatory reporting, enterprise risk and capital management, M&A and corporate restructuring, products, pricing, business management and strategy.

About WTW

At WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen their strategy, enhance organizational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximize performance.

Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you.

Footnotes

  1. The percentage figures for claims spend relate to settlements between £150 and £100,000. Source: Claim Metrics, WTW’s claims benchmarking service. Return to article
  2. This latest quarterly data release by the WTW/Confused Car Insurance price Index covers the three-month period September to November 2025. Return to article
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