Car insurance no longer getting cheaper, says Admiral

Admiral has said car insurance premiums have stopped falling after three years of declines, but that there are no signs of them rising.

The UK's second-largest car insurer, which insures 4m drivers through its Admiral, Diamond and Bell brands and owns the confused.com price comparison website, posted a 5pc decline in revenue to £1.04bn in the first half of the year, with average premiums falling 11pc.

However, the group eked out a 1pc rise in profit before tax to £181.4m, due to a decline in claims.

Car insurance premiums have been falling substantially over the last three years, attributed to a crackdown on fraud and greater competition.

For Admiral, this meant that despite signing up around 140,000 customers in the UK in the last year, income from premiums had fallen by 9pc.

Henry Engelhardt, Admiral's chief executive, said: "In the UK there are some signs that premiums are no longer falling but we have yet to see firm evidence of an inflection point and a return to premium growth."

The group also announced a new chief financial officer. Geraint Jones, the current deputy CFO, will replace Kevin Chidwick, who will become chief executive of Admiral's US business Elephant.

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