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Thank you for visiting General Accident. We're excited about taking a different approach to insurance.

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  • 24/7 telephone support for new claims
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  • 24/7 telephone support for new claims

Your Car Insurance Price Explained

There are a lot of different factors that can affect your price. Some are specific to you and others are to do with the world around you and what’s happening in the insurance market. We use our expertise to analyse these factors, and how we calculate the cost of insurance to make sure we offer you our most accurate price. Our view of how to price each policy may differ to other insurers.

Your car insurance renewal

Before your current policy comes to an end, we’ll send you a renewal invitation. It will show two prices – last year’s price and a price for continuing cover for another year.

Your price might be quite different this year because of changes in regulation which affect all insurance providers. As you’re already a customer with us, your price to renew your cover will be the same or lower than the equivalent price for a new customer.

Why isn’t last year’s price what I paid?

It’s almost certainly because you made a change to your policy during the last 12 months which affected the price of your cover.

Your renewal invite will show how much your current cover would have cost over the whole of the last year if that change had been in place from day one. This gives a better like-for-like comparison between last year’s premium and your new premium.

I haven’t made any changes, why has my premium changed?

Prices don’t always change because of something you have done. For example, the total cost of all claims made during the year, more expensive repair costs or severe weather could have made your price go up. There are also external factors that might mean your insurance costs more or less including inflation and recent change to regulations.

The new regulations means we’ve had to change the way we calculate our prices. As a result, we expect prices for new customers to increase across the industry, and renewal prices to come down overall. This doesn’t necessarily mean your renewal price will be lower than last year’s price, as other factors could also impact your price, such as those mentioned on this page.

Does this price include my no claim discount?

It does, and the more years you have the more discount it gives you. However, the first few years make the biggest difference to your price — after more than five years the impact levels off.

You have the option to protect your no claim discount and reduce the possible impact of a future claim on your next renewal price, and there would be an additional cost for this.

Find out more about the FCA Pricing Practice by visiting our Frequently asked questions page

How you affect your price

Explore the features in details below

Where you live
How old you are
How far you drive
The car you drive
Who will drive your car
Your previous claims
Your driving convictions

Where you live

We’ll take the neighbourhood you live into account when we’re working out our premium. We assess each postcode and address individually, looking at claims, traffic, theft and malicious damage together with the frequency of accidents in your area. More accidents tend to result in more claims, so it could cost more to insure vehicles in those areas.

How old you are

Your age can have an impact on your price. We constantly review claims stats and apply age-related risk factors accordingly

How far you drive

If you’re on the road more, you’re more likely to make a claim, as you’ll be driving more miles. Also, the nature of your journeys could affect your price. For example, if you use your car to commute to work when traffic is busy, insuring your car may cost more than if you only used your car socially.

The car you drive

The kind of car you drive could lead to a different price. We look at all cars individually, using our industry experience and looking at the make, model, the age of the car, fuel type, transmission and engine size to determine the price you pay.

Who will drive your car

When reviewing your price we consider the drivers age, convictions and claims experience. Statistics show that younger drivers are a higher risk and it is therefore more likely to cost more.

Your previous claims

Before we generate your premium, we look at your claims history, including accidents and/or claims in the last four years. For an additional cost, you can protect your No claim discount (NCD) and reduce the impact that a future claim could have on your next renewal price.

Your driving convictions

We consider your driving convictions to help determine your price. Our experience shows that people with driving convictions are more likely to claim, and this is why your price is likely to increase.

How the world around you affects the price

Explore the features in details below

Severe weather
Parts and repair costs have gone up
Change in the nature of claims in the market
Changes in the law
Total number of claims
Rising taxes and other costs

Severe weather

We all know how extreme weather can affect the UK. Prolonged periods of cold weather or rain can increase the amount and severity of claims that we receive. Ice and wet weather can lead to more accidents as people don’t always change their driving behaviour for the conditions. Like other insurers, we regularly review the likely level of future claims costs resulting from severe weather.

Parts and repair costs have gone up

It’s getting more expensive to buy car parts and pay for repairs, which increases the cost of providing insurance and the price you pay.

Change in the nature of claims in the market

If the variety of claims we receive changes, our customers’ prices will also change. For example, the number of personal injury claims, such as whiplash, have risen over the last decade, driving up the cost of car insurance for everyone. We estimate how much we’re likely to pay in claims in the future, before incorporating this cost into customers’ prices. Third party claims also have an effect.

Changes in the law

All insurers have to meet government and industry regulators’ rules. When new laws or regulations are introduced this can sometimes affect the price we charge. For example, in 2021 new whiplash reforms were implemented by the government, removing compensation for minor whiplash, and also commission for lawyers for minor-injury claims, in 2021 we passed on 100% of these savings, from these reforms to our customers. Future legislation could have similarly wide-ranging impacts.

Total number of claims

More claims overall in the market can lead to an increase in our costs, and therefore lead to higher prices in general.

Rising taxes and other costs

In 2017, the Government raised Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) from 10% to 12%, forcing up prices across the market. Your price will also include costs for covering the service available to you, such as our UK based claims team, and online customer support, as well as investment in future products and services.

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