London 'most costly' for car cover

MOTORISTS living in London faces paying almost four times the amount that a driver in the Isle of Man would spend on their car insurance, a study has revealed.

AA Insurance, which compiles an index of the typical cost of car insurance for someone who shops around, named London as the most expensive place in Britain to insure a car, followed by the postcode area of IG, which includes Ilford, Chigwell, Woodford Green, Buckhurst Hill, Loughton and Barking, with Greater Manchester in third place.

The IM (Isle of Man) postcode was found to be the cheapest place to insure a car, with the average quote for someone there who shops around standing at £231.

The next least expensive place was the postcode of KW, at the extreme north-east of Scotland, which includes Orkney, where a policy costs around £252.

At the other end of the scale, the average cost of annual cover in London stands at £922 - almost four times the cost of insuring a car in the Isle of Man.

According to separate figures released today by the British British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba), the cost of home and motor insurance has fallen in real terms by 6.8% in the last year.

But Janet Connor, managing director of AA Insurance, said she does not expect the current trend for falling car insurance premiums to continue.

She said: "There are already signs that some insurers are looking to put their prices up and I believe that this time next year, the AA's index will be reflecting a rising trend.

"But I don't expect to see the sharp premium inflation we saw between 2009 and 2011, when over a 12-month period premiums rose by more than 40%."

Here are the cheapest places to insure a car in Britain according to AA's figures, with the average annual cost of a premium for someone who shops around and the percentage increase or decrease in the cost seen since the previous quarter:

1. IM (Isle of Man) £231.49, minus 3.3%

2. KW (Kirkwall), £252.13, minus 1.9%

3. TR (Truro) £279.72, minus 1.8%

4. AB (Aberdeen) £285.82, minus 0.5%

5. DT (Dorchester) £286.26, minus 1.9%

6. PH (Perth) £286.26, minus 2.4%

7. EX (Exeter) £289.22, minus 1.3%

8. TA (Taunton) £291.88, minus 3.1%

9. LD (Llandudno) £292.74, minus 3.3%

10. ZE (Lerwick) £296.39, minus 4.8%

11. IV (Inverness) £297.53, minus 3.9%

12. PL (Plymouth) £299.65, minus 2.2%

13. TQ (Torquary) £300.19, minus 0.7%

14. GL (Gloucester) £301.79, minus 3.1%

15. TD (Galashiels) £302.72, minus 2.4%

And here are the most expensive places to insure a car in Britain according to AA's figures, with the average annual cost of a premium for someone who shops around and the percentage increase or decrease in the cost seen since the previous quarter:

1. London £922.44, minus 5.0%

2. IG (Ilford) £912.07, 4.5%

3. M (Manchester) £820.63, minus 4.1%

4. UB (Southall) £807.11, 3.6%

5. OL (Oldham) £794.78, minus 7.2%

6. HA (Harrow) £764.89, 0.1%

7. BL (Bolton) £736.53, minus 4.4%

8. L (Liverpool) £720.00, minus 2.4%

9. BD (Bradford) £661.79, 0.2%

10. CR (Croydon) £660.97, 1.3%

11. EN (Enfield) £623.10, 2.1%

12. BB (Blackburn) £618.89, minus 3.8%

13. RM (Romford) £608.50, 2.9%

14. SR (Sunderland) £604.99, minus 7.7%

15. TW (Twickenham) £597.05, minus 1.0%

By Press Association reporters