As if damage caused by storms wasn’t bad enough: now they are also ensuring that after a cheaper year in 2021, car insurance prices will rise again.
For the first time in over a year, average insurance premiums are above the previous year’s level. It is becoming more expensive mainly due to increasing partially comprehensive tariffs. These are currently 8.5 percent more expensive than twelve months ago, as can be seen from the car insurance index of the comparison portal Verivox.
In the partially comprehensive segment, the signs have been pointing to a price swing for some time. The average premiums here have been above the previous year’s level since last autumn. At the end of 2021 they were already a whopping 8.1 percent more expensive, currently it is even 8.5 percent. Information and exact figures can be found in the motor vehicle insurance index, which Verivox compiled in cooperation with the statistics expert Professor Dr. Wolfgang Bischof from the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. Since motor insurance prices are subject to seasonal fluctuations, the comparison with the same month in the previous year is particularly meaningful for depicting general price trends.
Wolfgang Schütz, Managing Director of Verivox Versicherungsvergleich GmbH, explains the reasons for the price increase: “In 2021, the insurers had to pay for a particularly large number of storm damages in the partially comprehensive insurance. This led to price increases in this segment. Not all providers have priced in these additional costs. This is why this expensive trend in partially comprehensive insurance could continue in the coming months.”
Last autumn, favorable tariffs in the other lines of insurance were able to skilfully compensate for the increase in partially comprehensive tariffs. Higher liability prices (3.6 percent) are now also contributing to the general increase in motor vehicle insurance prices. Drivers can currently save with fully comprehensive insurance, because they currently pay a good five percent less than a year ago.
If you calculate all insurance classes, prices have exceeded the previous year’s level since December 2021. This was previously the case in November 2020. The average price increase is currently around one percent per year.
Unlike in the partially comprehensive segment, there has been no real upward price trend for the other low-cost tariffs. While the low tariffs in the middle segment are almost one percent above the level of the previous year, they have fallen in the other segments. On average, insured persons pay around four percent less than in the previous year for the cheapest tariffs. The result is a gaping 26 percent gap between the low-cost and mid-range plans.
“Even price-conscious drivers do not have to do without comprehensive insurance cover,” says Wolfgang Schütz. “The market comparison shows that many tariffs from the cheapest price segment also include important services such as protection against damage caused by gross negligence or a Mallorca policy.”
The motor vehicle insurance index is the result of a cooperation between Verivox and the statistics expert Professor Dr. Wolfgang Bischof from the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. “For the motor vehicle insurance index, we use a statistical method that reflects the real price development of the insurance tariffs,” says Wolfgang Bischof. “Simple average calculations based on the insurance premiums taken out would lead to incorrect results, because changes in the customer groups are not taken into account.” The motor vehicle insurance index shows the price development in new business.
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