Insurance 'should reflect cut in car crime'
POLICE today called for sky-high car insurance premiums in Greater Manchester to be slashed following a huge fall in vehicle crime here.
A new survey by the AA - yet to be published but seen by the Manchester Evening News - reveals that premiums have rocketed by nearly ten per cent in the area and remain among the highest in the country despite an 11.9 per cent fall in vehicle crime.
Motorists suspect the benefit of a massive fall in car crime is not being passed on to the consumer.
The AA's Ford Focus survey - based on an "average" couple driving a mid-range car - showed that Wythenshawe, Prestwich, and Middleton have lost their titles as the most expensive places in the country for fully comprehensive insurance.
Last year's survey showed it cost £567-a-year in those areas. The new survey will show that premiums have fallen in these areas, with car insurance costing £530 in Wythenshawe, £528 in Prestwich and £529 in Middleton.
However, the average for the Greater Manchester postal district has risen 9.3 per cent from £502 last year to this year's £549, well above the national average of £369.
The L6 postal district in Liverpool is now the most expensive area in the country to insure a car, at £639.
Reward
Insurance companies should now reduce their premiums in Greater Manchester to reflect a huge fall in car crime, according to police chiefs.
"All major car insurance companies should take cognisance of the hard work which has taken place here to reduce car crime and they should reward policy-holders as such," said Supt Peter Aaronson, of the Trafford police division.
On May 7, the MEN revealed that Home Office officials were studying a remarkable fall in crime in the Trafford division, which easily beat the performance of the ten other Greater Manchester police divisions and where there were 12.1 per cent fewer offences reported.
A major factor was the reduction in Trafford's vehicle crime, which fell 31 per cent in the year to March, with 5,800 thefts of and from vehicles, 1,796 fewer than the year before. But the AA survey will reveal the average premium in Trafford rose from £551 to £575.
Across Greater Manchester, car crime fell by 11.9 per cent.
It has led to the suspicion that, although quick to increase premiums when car crime rises, insurance companies are much slower to pass the benefit of reduced car crime and fewer claims to the consumer.
An AA spokesman agreed premiums in the region would come down, but said: "The change isn't overnight. If there's a sustained period of reduced car crime and a reduction in claims, I think we would expect to see some sort of reduction in your car insurance, or alternatively a slow-down in the rate of increase. That may be a more realistic expectation."
Malcolm Tarling, spokesman for the Association of British Insurers, said the reduction in car crime, although welcome, was only one element of the risk which was taken into account and he added that growing compensation claims, such as for whiplash injuries, was increasingly significant.
He said: "Companies set premium rates to reflect claims experience in particular areas. Theft claims form only about 12 per cent of the total number of claims insurers deal with. We also have a significant rise in the cost of third-party compensation claims.
"One cost area for insurers in Greater Manchester has fallen but another has risen throughout the region and in the country. You can't assume that because the crime rate has gone down that car insurance premiums will go down accordingly.
"Having said that, it's a very competitive market and if you shop around you can save as much as 30 per cent."
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