We have previously made reference to the fact that with a lot of people doing fewer miles in their cars during the pandemic there has been a drop in the number of claims due to road traffic accidents. However, recent research by Admiral Car Insurance indicates that there has been an increase seen in the number of accidental damage car insurance claims since there has been an easing in lockdown measures.
Admiral compared two periods – 29th April 2020 to 12 May 2020 with 13th May 2020 to 26th May 2020. It discovered that motorists in England had submitted 39% more accidental damage claims in the later period than in the former period. We are sure that motorists will agree this is a significant increase in such claims.
One of the main reasons for the rise in such claims is likely to be due to there being more motor vehicles on our roads as more people are going back to work and travelling to visit family.
On a regional basis, South Central England saw the biggest increase at 48%, London saw a rise of 42%, North East England saw a rise of 42%, East of England witnessed a rise of 39%, South East England saw an increase of 39%, South West England saw an increase of 38%, the Midlands saw a rise of 36% and North West England saw a rise of 31%.
Interestingly, Scotland only saw a rise of 12% and Wales an increase of just 3%. This may be due to those countries requesting that more people remain in their properties.
Another reason why motorists may have been submitting more claims for accidental damage could be that during the height of the pandemic there were fewer cars on the roads and some drivers became less wary when driving but were caught unawares as the roads got busier.
Let us hope that insurance companies do not feel it necessary to start charging more for providing motor insurance.
