ABI: home insurance prices remain stable

The Tracker shows, for the first time, what customers are actually paying for their household buildings, contents and combined insurance, and how this changes each quarter. It is based on data from ABI members and covers 90% of the home insurance market.

The Tracker is the latest move by insurers to provide greater transparency so that consumers have sufficient and clear information about one of the most important purchases they will make.

The report shows that during Q3, the average annual premium paid for a combined buildings and contents policy was £294, or £5.65 a week. This was 1% lower than the average premium paid in quarter 3, 2013. The average cost of a household insurance claim over the past year was £1,500, 12% higher than the previous year.

The average buildings insurance premium paid was £231, or £4.44 a week. This was up 2% on quarter 3, 2013. Over the last year1. The value of the average subsidence claim over the past year was £5400, 12% higher than the previous year.

For contents insurance, the average premium was £127, or £2.44 a week. This was down 1% on the same quarter last year. Over the last year. the  average theft claim cost £1,700 and the average fire claim was £11,000. The average claim for accidental damage was £550, up nearly a quarter over the previous year.

Aidan Kerr, ABI’s Head of Property Insurance, said:

“Home insurance is a shock absorber, protecting millions of families against the unexpected and unwelcome. Despite volatile events, such as bad weather, the cost of cover for millions of customers has remained reassuringly stable. The £294 paid for buildings and contents cover is less than the price of a typical satellite TV package, or what the average household spends a year on takeaway meals, and enables families to get on with enjoying life, rather than being at the mercy of it.

“And for those households at risk of flooding, the industry is working flat out on a scheme - Flood Re - to ensure that flood insurance remains widely affordable to households at high risk of flooding.”