moneysupermarket.com comments on motor insurance price hike

Richard Mason, director of insurance at price comparison website moneysupermarket.com comments on the Royal Bank of Scotland motor insurance price hike:

“Millions of motor insurance customers won’t immediately cotton on to the direct impact of this news, unless they are familiar with their policy small print. Direct Line, Privilege, Churchill, LloydsTSB, Prudential, Tesco, Egg, Virgin Money and Nationwide are just some of the big brands backed by RBS, and motorists must not make the mistake of jumping from one RBS-backed brand to another in an attempt to avoid premium increases.

“The price hikes announced so far by two of the UK’s biggest insurers, RBS and Norwich Union, will impact on an estimated four out of 10 motorists, and we expect other major insurers such as Royal Sun Alliance to announce premium increases in the New Year.

“Motorists now have more reason than ever to shop around for the best value policy based on their unique circumstances. It is important to remember that if your circumstances have not changed, you should be able to renew your policy for the same price, if not cheaper. My advice to motorists is to consider newer, smaller insurers such as esure.com and swiftcover.com. They tend to have lower operating costs than traditional insurance companies, which have to staff call centres and pay high rent on city centre offices.”