16 December 2020
HelloSafe, the comparison website platform, has calculated that UK motor insurers could make an estimated saving of £4,392,985,600 in 2020, due to Covid-related restriction measures.
Two national lockdowns in England, multiple regional lockdowns, tier-level restrictions systems and a whole range of other restrictions measures have considerably affected the people’s daily routine. As we had observed on a first study published in June focused on the first national lockdown period (stating a £1.3bn saving), daily commutes have significantly decreased across the country.
HelloSafe state a 41.2% drop in car accidents has taken place across the UK in 2020 and as a result motor insurance companies could save up to £4.4 billion in 2020 thanks to the change in driving habits caused by the lockdown measures. When looking at the regions chart above, we can observe that:
- Greater London accounts for the highest savings, with an 58.9% overall drop in the number of car-related claims. That corresponds to a £693.3 million reduction in the sums to be paid out by insurers to their policyholders.
- Just like during the first national spring lockdown (March – May 2020), we observe that the less densely populated areas are those where car claims decrease the less: Scotland (-36.7 %), North East England (- 41%) and Wales (- 45.3%).
A lookout on the 20 biggest cities of the UK
The decrease in car-related claims has been bigger in the greatest UK urban areas. It is therefore no surprise to see that London ranks first in the cities were car insurance savings have been the most important:
| Cities* | Region / Country | Decrease rate | Savings on payouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | London | 58,9 % | £696 ,279 ,569 |
| Birmingham | West Midlands | 57,4% | £89, 121, 993 |
| Liverpool | North West | 55,6% | £43, 343, 007 |
| Manchester | North West | 56,1% | £41, 856 ,199 |
| Bristol | South West | 54,2% | £41 ,716 ,685 |
| Sheffield | Yorkshire Humber | 51,2% | £37 ,511, 409 |
| Glasgow | Scotland | 43,7% | £35, 994, 401 |
| Leeds | Yorkshire Humber | 48,9% | £33 ,127 ,253 |
| Leicester | East Midlands | 45,1% | £28 ,585 ,045 |
| Edinburgh | Scotland | 42,5% | £27 ,914, 313 |
| Coventry | West Midlands | 55,1% | £27 ,371 ,140 |
| Bradford | Yorkshire Humber | 50,5% | £24 ,537 ,348 |
| Cardiff | Wales | 47,9% | £22, 597, 953 |
| Nottingham | East Midlands | 53,3% | £22 ,367 ,068 |
| Belfast | Northern Ireland | 48,5% | £21 ,469 ,808 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | West Midlands | 55,1% | £20, 544, 001 |
| Southampton | South East | 55,7% | £20 ,181, 524 |
| Derby | East Midlands | 52,3% | £18, 576 ,722 |
| Kingston upon Hull | Yorkshire Humber | 46,7% | £18, 142 ,358 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | North East | 44,0% | £16 ,689 ,068 |
*Those numbers do not take into account the urban or metropolitan area, but only the city itself
Antoine Fruchard, insurance expert and CEO at Hello-Safe.co.uk said:
“After the first national lockdown was eased, we thought that life would go back to normal. However, with that second pandemic wave that is shaking the UK, road traffic has gone down again, and again the insurance companies save money on claims. With fast-deteriorating economic conditions, Brits are likely to question their 2021 premiums. A discount may be expected by them, to compensation a 2020 year during which it has often been impossible to get out with the car. Car insurance companies will probably have to make an effort, which could take the shape of a one-shot refund or of a premium discount. In this very uncertain future, the insurance industry will be watched.”
Hellosafe also suggests that in the United States, car accidents have fallen by 53.2% with insurers saving an estimated $15bn.