Thomas Mitchell

The average cost of comprehensive car insurance in the UK is now £726 according to Confused.com, the well-known price comparison website. Post pandemic, we saw prices surge by 82 per cent and soon there was pressure on the UK government to step in and ensure UK drivers were getting a fair deal.

In 2024, the government announced a task force to tackle spiralling car insurance costs, something which was part of Labour’s election manifesto. The task force brought together industry groups such as the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Citizens Advice, Which? and Compare the Market, as well as insurance regulators to tackle the cost of car insurance today.

Initially, motorcycle insurance was a notable absentee from the task force’s remit. As reported by the Motorcycle Action Group, motorcyclists are disproportionately represented as victims in ‘Theft of Motor Vehicle’ offences. Despite making up only three per cent of registered vehicles, motorcycles make up approximately 25 per cent of all vehicles stolen.

Insurance costs are driven by theft and personal injury claims, with motorcyclists also disproportionately represented in fatal and serious injury statistics. Lack of action in addressing both motorcycle thefts and motorcycle road safety issues naturally leads to higher premiums. However, the taskforce later confirmed that motorcycle insurance was within their remit and would be considered.

The task force took over a year to publish their findings. The result was a toothless and non-descript complete lack of intervention on pricing. Despite promising that motorcycle insurance would be investigated, the task force report was silent on that issue. In short, the big insurers were able to successfully lobby the government to do nothing. To keep the status quo and punish the motorist and motorcyclist.

The insurance industry claimed that rising repair costs and the general cost of claims are increasing and, in turn, that drives premium pricing up but that is only half the story. The UK car insurance market generates roughly £16 billion in premiums. Household names like Aviva, Admiral and Direct Line all reported profits into hundreds of millions in the first half of 2025. Insurance companies are not struggling. However, UK households are. Across the UK, households are continuing to face a downturn in living standards with almost half of all UK adults having less than £25 spare cash at the end of the week. Put simply, those with the widest shoulders are not taking on the burden of the cost of insurance.

As a personal injury solicitor, I see first-hand how insurance costs can spiral. I represent individuals who have suffered catastrophic loss. My job is to try and put them back into the position they would have been “but for” the accident. To do that can sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of pounds but that is the only measurable way we redress harm done to those innocent victims of insured drivers’ negligence. However, I don’t accept that this is what is driving insurance costs. As reported by The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, historically the number of road injuries and the number of personal injury claims have followed each other very closely but that is no longer the case. Following the pandemic lockdowns, road traffic injuries have increased but claims have not. In fact, they have fallen significantly. RTA personal injury claims are at the lowest level on record, with an 58 per cent fall in claims when compared to 2018 levels.

If claim numbers are falling, why are premiums increasing? Insurers must answer that basic question. 

Thomas Mitchell is a partner at RTA LAW LLP