Scots face highest car insurance rises in UK
Premiums set to hit £1k a year
SCOTTISH drivers are facing the steepest car insurance rises in Britain and the era of the £1,000 bill is fast approaching.
Motorists north of the Border are being hit with premiums that have soared by as much as a fifth in the past year, compared with a UK average rise of only 8 per cent.
Latest figures show the typical driver in Shetland has seen their bill rocket from £609 to £728 in a year. In the Borders, it has soared from £531 to £623.
City dwellers are also suffering, with Glaswegians paying an average of £759, the highest in Scotland.
Ian Taylor, director of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘When we are witnessing shocking increases on the
‘Industry passes on the cost’
scale of what is being seen in Scotland, somebody should be asking why. Sadly, it’s a fact that motorists are being treated as a cash cow.
‘The Government has put up taxes on insurance premiums, apart from what we pay on fuel and vehicle excise duty. The industry appears happy to pass on the cost of scams to the customer.
‘We’ll soon reach a point where people will begin downgrading their insurance policies to the bare minimum third party cover, which will leave them exposed.’
The survey, by Confused. com, found the average cost of a UK car insurance policy in the final three months of last year was £827, up £60 (8 per cent) on 2016.
While premiums north of the Border are comparatively cheaper than in England, they are rising faster than anywhere else in Britain.
Drivers in Dumfries paying an average of £500 last year now face a £610 charge – a 22 per cent rise. Shetlanders’ bills are climbing by £10 a month which, on current trends, means they could be paying £1,000 by 2020.
Kirkcaldy in Fife enjoys the lowest premium in Scotland at £601, but that has risen 16 per cent from £519.
Glasgow’s figure is up 9 per cent, from £696 to £759; Aberdeen’s 13 per cent from £588 to £663; Dundee’s 8 per cent from £576 to £622; and Edinburgh’s 11 per cent from £558 to £617.
The lowest increase was in Paisley, Renfrewshire, where premiums rose 5 per cent, from £617 to £646.
Confused.com motoring editor Amanda Stretton said: ‘Drivers in Scotland are continuing to see the cost of their car insurance shoot up, and while their premiums are lower than the UK average, they are still a burden.’
Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said: ‘Drivers are being hit by a perfect storm. Insurance premium tax has doubled in the last two years and repair bills are up a third over the past four years.
‘But it’s difficult to say why Scotland has been hit worse than anyone else this year.’
Scott Whyte, managing director of Scottish law firm Watermans Accident Claims and Care, said: ‘Two things are certain with car insurance premiums – the figures have no basis in reality and they increase year after year.
‘Premium costs rose 14 per cent in 2016 and the ABI peddled every excuse under the sun to justify the increases, each of which can be easily dismantled.’
He added: ‘We’ve had the argument cars cost more to fix, but labour rates have not increased for years.
‘While a small number of compensation claims are fraudulent and quickly weeded out, the overwhelming majority are people in need of genuine support.
‘Between 2011 and 2016 the total level of personal injury claims costs has fallen by half a billion pounds.’
‘No basis in reality’