Millions of motorists are missing out on savings by letting their car insurance automatically renew, new research suggests.
Although automatic renewals are a convenient way to ensure a vehicle stays insured, new research suggests car owners could be missing out on significant savings by staying with the same provider without shopping around first.
A study from Gocompare.com suggests 8.2 million UK motorists are over-paying by almost £2 billion every year because they let their insurer automatically renew their policies. This means each driver is missing out on potential savings of up to £222.66.
According to the results of the survey, drivers are staying with the current insurer for an average of three years, with 37 per cent staying loyal for longer. Only 46 per cent of the respondents said they had checked their renewal premium to see how it compared to the previous year and less than a third (31 per cent) scrutinized it for any changes in the cover being provided.
The main reason cited for staying put – mentioned by 36 per cent of participants – was that their insurer offered the cheapest price last time, so they assumed the cover was still good value. A further 26 per cent said they didn’t shop around as their current provider has always looked after them.
Over 20 per cent said shopping around was too much hassle, 18 per cent claimed they didn't was to change their direct debit and eight per cent admitted to be confused over their car insurance.
Lee Griffin, from Gocompare.com Car Insurance, commented: “With rates reducing in recent years there can be good reasons to switch. Three years is a long time in car insurance and the chances that an insurer was the cheapest at the top of the market and still good value now are pretty slim.
“So if you have been with the same insurer for a number of years, it is well worth using a comparison site to check your renewal price against the best in the market today.
Next Monday marks the beginning of September, which is traditionally one of the busiest months for car insurance renewals as new registration plates are released during this period, so if yours is due in the coming weeks you may want to compare prices before allowing it to renew automatically.
Posted by Perry Murray