Insurance: Car and home insurance costs highest in Islington
Islington: Most expensive place to buy insurance
Monday, 31 Mar 2008 17:59
Islington is the most expensive place in the UK buy home and car insurance.
Average annual premium in the London borough for car insurance and home insurance is £745.
The research by actuarial consultancy EMB revealed South Cambridgeshire is the most inexpensive place to live, with annual home and motor insurance premiums at £373, just beating Winchester and Edinburgh, which were named as the second-best places to live by Channel 4's Location, Location, Location.
Karl Murphy, partner at EMB, said: "Insurance premiums are typically higher in cities than rural areas because of the combination of high crime and unemployment rates.
"About half of a contents premium will be based on the likelihood of theft. Quite simply, Islington has a high density of young, unemployed males and it is this section of the population that is most likely to commit crimes against property and motors.
"Islington is also an area which is prone to subsidence, another big factor in the pricing of household insurance policies prices."
Mr Murphy added the biggest change to insurance costs was that those living in flood risk areas are seeing rising premiums.
"While the more salubrious locations in the south tend to offer lower premiums, we are seeing a gradual rise in prices due to the increasing risk of flooding and subsidence," he said.
"Those towns close to the coast or a river are experiencing rocketing insurance costs. Premiums for these locations will look very different in five years time."