Brits driven off the road by the rising cost of motoring

Over 1 million motorists have given up driving over the past 12 months because of the rising cost of motoring, according to research from Sainsbury's Car Insurance. In total, 76% of motorists have changed their driving habits over this period to save money.

Motorists have made a number of changes to their driving habits in a bid to cut the cost of driving over the past 12 months. Some changes include stopping filling up their tanks fully, which 26% admit to doing, and instead they are purchasing specific values of fuel for example £20 or £50 a visit. Some 45% of motorists (16.5 million people) are now driving less and 7% have started to car share. A further 10% (3.53 million people) have downgraded their car for one that's cheaper to run.       

To help ease the monthly cost of fuel, new Sainsbury's Car Insurance customers, with a Nectar card, taking out a policy between 5th July and 30th September will receive fuel discount vouchers for one year. Each voucher offers a discount of 5p on every litre of fuel at Sainsbury's 262 forecourts across the country. This is in addition to the already competitive fuel prices and Nectar benefit offered by Sainsbury's.

Further Nectar points can also be earned as Sainsbury's Car Insurance customers receive double Nectar points on all their purchases in store or at the forecourt for two years. For those regularly spending £100 a week the additional saving could be as much as £52 a year, which is equivalent to 6.4% of the average car insurance premium.

This offer coincides with new research from Sainsbury's Car Insurance that reveals that 38% of motorists have started using specific petrol forecourts more often, returning because they have competitive prices or because they can collect reward points there.   

Ben Tyte, Head of Motor Insurance, Sainsbury's Finance said: "We estimate the average motorist has an annual fuel bill of over £1,700, a 22.9% year-on-year increase, which underlines just how hard the rising cost of motoring is affecting people.  The average annual cost of running a car is now just over £3,000 a year, 21% higher than a year ago.

"Our car insurance offering provides our customers with competitive premiums and a preferential discount of up to 15% and double Nectar points for two years, so together with this new petrol offer, we're helping our customers significantly reduce the cost of running their car."

The average car owner is now spending around £1,720.69 per year to fuel their vehicle which is a 22.9% year on year increase and one that is evidently having a serious impact on motorists.

As well as offering competitive premiums, Sainsbury's Car Insurance offers two options of cover, a standard policy and a Premier product. Both products offer some of the widest range of cover and benefits available in the marketplace.

For example, both new policies enable all named drivers to earn their own no-claims discounts, which only 15.9% of policies available in the market allow.  Similarly, they both offer a courtesy car as standard. Research from Defaqto shows that only 53.3% of policies across the market offer this (subject to availability).

Sainsbury's Premier Cover Car Insurance also offers a range of enhanced benefits including a guaranteed like for like courtesy car which means a family's large seven-seater will be matched with another so that they can carry on as normal for the duration of repairs - only 1.9% of policies offer this. It is also among the 15.9% of policies that guarantee a courtesy car for 21 days or more following a total loss of your vehicle.

For further information on Sainsbury's Car Insurance, visit sainsburysfinance.co.uk.