Five-year-old cars top insurance claims

Category: Car insurance
Date: 2/22/2010

Drivers with a five-year-old car are the most likely to have to make a claim on their car insurance, new research has revealed.

Almost one in ten of all motor claims (9.61%) are from drivers with five-year-old cars with four-year-old cars narrowly behind (9.56%), according to Virgin Money.

Cars aged between three to six-years-old account for almost four in ten of all car insurance claims, despite making up only a quarter (24%) of cars on the road.

Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows 7.425 million of the 31.167 million cars on UK roads are aged between three and six years old, but make up 37% of all car insurance claims.

"Drivers tend to change their car every three to five years and on this evidence they have some justification," said Grant Bather, spokesman at the financial services provider.

"This is not to say that cars five years old are the most dangerous, but that they are more likely to be involved in an incident that leads to a claim being made. This may be a traffic accident, breakdown or theft.

"Looking at these statistics, people looking at buying a second hand car should also make sure that they have taken the necessary action to ensure that the car meets all of the road standards."

Drivers with new cars less than a year old were the least likely to have to make a claim, accounting for just over 2% of all car insurance claims.

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