Friday, July 27, 2012

AA: Home insurance premiums remain flat in Q2 but set to rise - Insurance Age

The average cost of an annual home insurance policy, both buildings and contents, fell slightly over the second quarter of 2012, according to figures released by the AA.

It said that despite the reduction, with the average cost of a building policy falling by 0.8% and the average cost of a contents policy falling by 0.1%, home insurance prices were flat.

The AA attributed the lack of movement to both the competitive nature of the market, the mild winter and fine weather at the beginning of the year.

However, Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, added: "Since then we experienced the wettest June on record and the bad weather has continued into July, resulting in flood insurance claims approaching £200 million, according to some estimates.

"While on their own these claims are unlikely to result in the kind of premium increases we saw after the 2007 floods, when the average quote for a buildings policy increased by 21.9%, insurers are likely to respond by resuming the upward premium trend sooner rather than later."

Mr Douglas said that what marked recent flooding incidents was that in many cases they occurred in areas with little or no history of flooding, instead arising out of extreme rainfall which led to flash floods from surface water, as opposed to flooded river systems.

He also pointed out that insurers have seen a rise in other weather damage, caused by high winds and even tornadoes.

He commented: "The kind of weather that has been battering Britain recently reflects an increasingly unpredictable pattern that insurers need to take account of when setting their premiums.

"They need to have adequate reserves in order to meet future claims."

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