The cost of insuring a car dropped for the first time in four years last year, but the motoring public is still being ripped-off according to experts.

The figures from the Association of British Insurers show that the price paid for insurance was down by one per cent, averaging out at £477, the first drop since 2014. But with premiums a lot higher than they were seven years ago, insurance expert Tim Kelly, former director of the Institute of Automotive Engineering Assessors says the public are being duped if they are led to believe the costs are cheaper.

"Dependent on which figures you want to use from the ABI, a one per cent decrease for 2018 is hardly turning the corner, when premiums are still eight per cent higher than in 2012,” he said.

"The criminal reform bill changed and came into play in March of last year, denying legitimate claimants access to justice while creating massive savings to insurers, boosting their profits. Yet premiums have actually increased, not decreased.

"Insurers have till 2026 to quantify the savings as result of the reforms, the Ogden rate was reduced to a more insurer friendly rate which did provide immediate benefits to insurers and allowed higher releases of reserves to shareholders. These very releases could have been passed onto customers in premium savings but were not," added Kelly.

Despite this, the ABI is still hailing the news as a victory for car insurance buyers.

"This annual fall is good news for millions of UK drivers after a few years of rising premiums, that reflected, in part, rising vehicle repair costs, a weaker pound, and uncertainty around the reform of personal injury compensation," said Mark Shepherd, Assistant Director, Head of General Insurance Policy, ABI.

"Implementing the provisions of the Civil Liability Act will be crucial to delivering a fairer compensation system for claimants and continued competitive premiums for motorists."

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