MOTORISTS are seeing the cost of taking out car insurance increase for the first time in more than two years as efforts to clamp down on fraudulent claims have not delivered the savings that insurers had anticipated, according to a report.
A typical quote for someone who shops around for an annual comprehensive policy edged up by £6 or 1.2 percent over the three months to September 30, to £531 on average, according to an index run by AA Insurance, compiling the average of the five cheapest quotes.
This marks the first quarterly increase in the cost since spring 2012, although the average premium for someone who shops around is still 14.4 percent or £89 cheaper than a year ago.
Janet Connor, managing director of AA Insurance, said some opportunities to stem the tide of fraud have been "missed", and car insurance premiums are therefore likely to creep up in the coming months.
Looking at the motor insurance market as a whole, quotes for annual cover generally have increased sharply by 4.2 percent to reach £891 on average.
Ms Connor said that insurers had reduced their prices in anticipation that a Government clampdown on fraudulent personal injury claims would have an impact on the costs that they were having to bear. Whiplash claims are estimated to add around £90 to the typical cost of a car insurance policy.
She added: "But the truth is, falling premiums had more to do with competitive tension than any benefit afforded by reforms.
"Premiums are, on average, now similar to their 2010 level and are no longer economically sustainable."
Scotland remains the cheapest place to insure a car, with the typical cost sitting at £380.
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