Motor insurers shell out £3.2B as the average claim climbs to £4,900

Motor insurers handed over £3.2 billion to support drivers, passengers and other road users in the third quarter, according to the Association of British Insurers. That matches the record set in the previous quarter and comes in 8% higher than the same stretch a year earlier. The average claim landed at £4,900, a 1% annual rise.

Windscreen work is getting pricier too. The average claim for repairing or replacing one came to £298, up 9% year on year. Meanwhile the typical motor insurance premium stood at £562 — £11, or 2%, above the same period in 2025, an increase the ABI says runs below inflation. CPI inflation was 3.5% in the 12 months to September.

Chris Bose, the ABI's director of general insurance and international policy, said the payout figure shows the industry's role when things go wrong. “With more than £3 billion paid out last quarter, matching the previous quarter's record, insurers continue to play a vital role in helping drivers, passengers and road users recover when things go wrong,” he said.

The ABI's premium tracker crunches data from more than 28 million policies sold each year, giving the numbers a wide base. Its breakdown splits the cost of crashes from the cost of glass, and the two are moving at very different speeds — claims roughly flat, windscreen bills racing ahead.