Car insurance in London 'costs twice as much as rest of Britain'

Londoners pay more than double for car insurance compared with the rest of the UK, it was claimed today.

The average cost to insure a car in the capital is £1,460. In the rest of the country it is £714, according to figures released by comparethemarket.com.

They show it costs £800 more in London on average to insure compared with in the South-West, which is the cheapest place to find insurance.

Londoners also own some of the most expensive cars in the country, with the average vehicle valued at £10,232.

The comparison website compared the cost to buy and insure 10 of the most popular cars on London’s roads.

The Nissan Qashqai is the most popular car in the capital and costs an average of £10,416 to buy. Premiums would cost about £822, making it one of the cheapest models to insure.

The Volkswagen Golf is also a favourite but costs more than £11,066 to buy and a further £1,593 to insure.

The most expensive of the top 10 most common cars on London roads is the Mercedes Benz E Class, which costs £19,099 to buy and has an average premium of £1,444.

The highest average premium on the list is £1,745 for a BMW 3 Series, the figures show.

Head of motor insurance Dan Bass said: “The cost of motor insurance is a postcode lottery as providers view different areas as having different levels of risk.

"Motorists in cities such as London can now expect to pay over double for insurance compared with some other parts of the country, as claims are more likely to be made in urban areas where there is a greater risk of a collision, or of car crimes such as vehicle theft.

“It is hardly practical to change where you live just to bring down your insurance.

"However, there are other steps drivers could take to reduce their premiums, such as taking out a telematics policy, parking their car off the main street or purchasing an alarm tracking device… and by shopping around for the most competitive provider at the point of renewal.”