Aussies are switching car insurers in droves – these are the companies they’re choosing

Roy Morgan says 2.6 million people have switched car insurers over the last 12 months, while another 2.1 million took out a policy for the first time.

2.6 million car insurance policies were switched to another provider – Roy Morgan

New data from Roy Morgan shows the last 12 months have been a tumultuous time for the car insurance industry – with a marked increase in the number of people looking to switch providers.

According to data gathered by the consumer research company, in the 12 months to October 2023 an estimated 2.6 million car insurance policies were switched to another provider amid rising cost of living pressures.

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“These figures show the number of policies at risk of being switched increased in the last year coinciding with the highest level of inflation in over 30 years and the most rapid increase in interest rates this century … This appears to be leading people to monitor their ongoing costs closely,” Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, said in a statement.

The data – derived from interviews with over 60,000 Australians annually – found people looked for a better deal on roughly 11.3 million vehicle policies, but the vast majority chose to renew with their existing provider.

Of the remaining vehicle insurance polices purchased or renewed in the year to October 2023, 20.3 million policies were renewed without any shopping around, and another 2.1 million car insurance policies were purchased by first-time insurance customers.

Amid all this shopping around for the best deal, some insurers proved more popular than others.

For first-time car insurance shoppers, Roy Morgan data showed AAMI, Allianz and NRMA had the highest share of fresh policies.

In the 12 months to October 2023, AAMI had an estimated 12.1 per cent of new vehicle insurance polices, while Allianz claimed 9.7 per cent of new policies, NRMA had 8.8 per cent, Budget Direct had 8.3 per cent, Suncorp Insurance had 5.9 per cent and RACQ had 5.8 per cent.

However, that picture is slightly different to the total car insurance market, where Roy Morgan found the most popular insurer over the last 12 months was NRMA with 16.8 per cent of all policies.

This was followed by AAMI with 11.8 per cent of policies, Allianz with seven per cent of all policies, Budget Direct with 6.7 per cent of policies and RACQ with 5.8 per cent of policies.

“Numbers do vary between new entrants and the total market – it appears that among new entrants some of the more established organisations have lower share than among the total market,” a spokesperson for Roy Morgan told Drive.

“High inflation and interest rates may be a factor behind drivers’ choices – we note that some companies that have higher share among new entrants (e.g. Budget Direct) are quite price focused.”

The most popular car insurers for first-time policy buyers

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Base: Australians aged 18+; Vehicle Insurance (incl CTP) customers, Nov22-Oct23, n=53,865 , Nov22-Oct23, n=53,211; Excluding ‘can’t say’ responses.

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