Sainsbury’s Bank has launched a new Car Insurance Index, researched by Consumer Intelligence, to track market premiums on a quarterly basis, following the launch of a new national TV and marketing campaign.

Sainsbury’s hopes that its index will help ‘highlight the huge differences in premiums charged by insurers, and encourage motorists to shop around more when purchasing cover’.

Joanne Mallon, car insurance manager, Sainsbury’s Bank said: “The car insurance industry is very competitive, which is good news for motorists as they can save a lot of money by shopping around. Despite this, our research shows that one in five motorists obtain only one quote when they buy car insurance.”

Findings from the Index (November 2004/April 2005) include:

  • Market average car insurance premium was £458.92
  • The difference in average premiums between the 25% most expensive car insurers and the 25% most competitive was £108.55
  • Motorists switching to the most competitive 25% insurers could collectively save up to £1.17bn in premiums per year
  • Women pay around £92 less on average for car insurance than men