Scots get a canny deal when insuring motors

Cars in London and North West England are the most expensive to insure in the UK, according to research from moneysupermarket.com, with Dundee, Aberdeen and Exeter the cheapest.

East London is the most expensive area in the UK to get a Ford Focus insured, with annual premiums around £315, compared with L116 in Dundee.

Top 10 most expensive areas in UK for car insurance based on the below scenario

Average Lowest Quote – Postcode - Region

£315.01 E London East
£311.47 BL Bolton
£300.28 L Liverpool
£289.73 SE London SE
£273.74 M Manchester
£260.65 OL Oldham
£255.80 WN Wigan
£243.69 BD Bradford
£237.07 B Birmingham
£233.34 LS Leeds

Quotes based on 25 to 45-year-old, with a no claim bonus of 5+ years, no convictions, and a voluntary excess of £100 to £250. Car is a 2001 Ford Focus Zetec parked on the driveway: 5 to 25 different quotes in each postal region from 01.01.07 and 01.07.07.


Richard Mason, director of insurance at price comparison website moneysupermarket.com, said: “It is not surprising premiums are high in the inner city area of East London, where crime can be prevalent. Car insurers look at the rate of car crime, the type of car you drive, your age and whether your area has drivers classed as ‘high-risk’ or particularly prone to accidents.

"There are no hard and fast rules though, so even if you live in an area where the incidence of car crime is low, you could suffer high premiums because of the number of reckless drivers in your town.

“The gap between the most expensive and cheapest insurance areas is likely to widen as providers continue to load premiums in big city areas, and urban areas considered to be ‘at risk’.

"It is astonishing that it costs an extra L199 to 'park on a driveway' in East London compared with Dundee. I would call on insurers to assess premiums on a case by case basis, rather than blacklisting places such as London, Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester as ‘high-risk’."

The research shows that the North West's pain is the South West's gain as Exeter, Truro, Taunton and Bristol all feature among the 10 cheapest areas for car insurance.

The 10 cheapest areas in UK for car insurance based on the below scenario

Average lowest quote – Postcode - Post area

£116.26 DD Dundee
£126.85 AB Aberdeen
£130.39 EX Exeter
£136.84 IP Ipswich
£136.90 IV Inverness
£138.64 LA Lancaster
£138.78 LN Lincoln
£144.29 TR Truro
£149.95 TA Taunton
£151.10 BS Bristol

Quotes based on 25 to 45-year-old, with a no claim bonus of 5+ years, no convictions, and a voluntary excess of £100 to £250. Car is a 2001 Ford Focus Zetec parked on the driveway: 5 to 25 different quotes in each postal region from 01.01.07 and 01.07.07.

Richard Mason added: “Insurers weight these factors differently, so anyone who finds their insurance premiums too high would do well to shop around every year instead of renewing with the same insurer. This should save them a great deal of money.”