Cheap Car Insurance Quotes in the East of England

East of England Car Insurance Costs

In a comprehensive review by NimbleFins car insurance experts, it was discovered that certain car insurance providers in the East of England can charge 2X as much as cheaper quotes. This finding is supported by the comprehensive survey by NimbleFins' comparison engine partner, which demonstrated that comparing car insurance quotes can save you up to £515.

In the East of England, the average cost of cheap comprehensive car insurance for our sample driver was 7% cheaper than the national average, which is now £559. This would put typical East of England car insurance at around £520 per year today—although this can vary highly by area.

Let's take a look at some risk factors that contribute to car insurance rates, across regions and within the East of England. For this analysis, we'll look at:

First, how does the East of England compare to other regions? It ranks as 7th worst in our study of car insurance claims risks. The stand out risk feature is related to car accidents. The East has got the second-highest rate of collisions per mile, only behind London. In the East of England, there are 407.9 collisions per billion miles driven (FYI London clocks in at 1,404).

The stats for the 9 regions in England are below. In the final column, we include an average of the how far each risk factor is from the average across geographies. This is just a rough way to get an idea of how risky one area is compared to another overall—and provides a tool for ranking the regions. As you can see, East of England overall is 1% more risky than average, in terms of rate of collisions, vehicle thefts and drivers with points on their licence.

Is this a perfect metric? No. Does it give us a picture of relative driving risks? It should.

Car insurance rates should be close to average in the East—as evidenced by the data above. This could be a combination of less odds of a claim and also lower payouts per claim (for example, due to lower average car values). We've just looked at a few factors here.

Cheap Car Insurance Quotes by Local Area

Now, let's compare these same three car insurance risk factors across local areas in the East of England. Which areas are the riskiest, and are therefore more likely to have higher car insurance rates? As above, we compare rates of collision, vehicle crime and drivers with points.

The "riskiest" area overall is Luton. While the collision rate is 737 collisions per billion miles, which is the worst in the East. In terms of vehicle offences per person and the rate with driving licence points, Luton isn't the worst—that honour belongs to Thurrock, actually. Higher average car insurance rates would be expected in these areas.

Next "riskiest" from a car insurance risk perspective overall would be Southend-on-Sea.

Thurrock has the highest average number of points per licence at 0.071.

The "least risky" local area overall is Central Bedfordshire, which has the lowest rate of vehicle offences (e.g. car thefts), and the second lowest rates of collisions per mile and average rate of driving licence points. Expect lower car insurance rates here.

What is considered "Vehicle Crime"? Vehicle crime essentially includes theft from a vehicle and theft of a vehicle. In general, theft from a vehicle is 5X more common than theft of a vehicle.

How to find cheap car insurance in East of England. Our market tests found a significant difference in car insurance costs from company to company, with some brands quoting prices more than double that of others. It's not always the case, but it's sensible to make sure you check rates with at least some of the largest UK car insurance companies, including popular brands like Admiral and Hastings, Churchill and more. Car insurance comparison engines are an efficient way to check a wide swath of the market to ensure you're finding a good deal for your risk profile, because different companies prices risks differently.

Comprehensive cover is often the best value. You would think that Comprehensive cover is the most expensive type of car insurance, since it is the "best" cover. However, we found that in the East of England Third Party Only cover can cost 2X as much as Comprehensive cover. Your prices will certainly vary, but don't assume TPO will be cheaper!

East of England, England Car Insurance Brokers

Independent car insurance brokers can be useful resources for East of England drivers who want to discuss their insurance options, need specialist cover or who simply aren't comfortable buying a policy online or even perhaps over the phone.

However, you might pay more to a broker—they may work only with a selection of insurance companies and may not be able to find the cheapest plan for you, plus they often charge an arrangement fee and/or higher admin and cancellation fees.

If you decide to use a broker, be sure to enquire about the setup/arrangement fees, admin fees, renewal fees and cancellation fees before buying a policy.

FAQs

Methodology

To determine how car insurance rates can vary for cities like Bedford, Luton, Basildon, Peterborough and Cambridge in the East of England, we gathered data on collision rate from the Department for Transport, points on licences from the DVLA and rates of vehicle crime from police forces (via the Home Office).

We separately looked for cheap car insurance quotes for the East. It is notable that some brands only offer cover in certain neighbourhoods, perhaps in areas from which they expect lower claims.

To find rates for your car insurance, click below:

Note regarding savings figures: *For information on the latest saving figures, pay-less-than figures, and pay-from figures used for promotional purposes, please click here.