NFU Mutual leads motor insurance market

At Fairer Finance, we contact 10,000 insurance customers every six months and ask them a number of questions, including how satisfied they are with their provider. 

We measure happiness by a calculation based on the answers given to the question: “Thinking about the overall service you receive from your insurer, how satisfied are you?”

Car insurance has seen a steady decrease in happiness over the last two years, but in our most recent wave (Autumn 2025), happiness has shown some signs of recovery. 

Happiness dropped from 62.3% in Autumn 2023 to a low of 58.5% in Spring 2025, before a slight increase in our most recent survey, with the happiness rebounding to 59%.

This is likely to be a reflection of a market that has seen considerable inflation post-Covid, and now that prices have continued to fall, we are seeing customer happiness increase as prices return to more affordable levels.

Our most recent survey shows price remains critical for customers when choosing a provider, with 29% choosing their insurance because it was cheapest on a comparison site, and 31% because it was the cheapest product on the market.

Outside of price, loyalty plays a significant role, with 29% saying they chose their insurance product because they were an existing customer, and 13% because they used the provider for other products. 

The reputation of the brand plays a significant role, but other factors related to branding or marketing have a more limited role in how customers choose their insurer for most of the market.

This demonstrates that price remains the primary driver of insurance despite the reductions in car insurance customers shopping around. 

We measure happiness by a calculation based on the answers given to the question: “Thinking about the overall service you receive from your insurer, how satisfied are you?”

In spite of loyalty being on the uptick in the market, these answers are similar to those given in Autumn 2023, when 29% chose their car insurance due to it being cheapest on a comparison site, and 32% due to it being the cheapest product on the market, near identical figures to our most recent wave.

However, there is a significant difference in responses between the customers who have and haven’t claimed in the last three years.

Customers who have made a claim are less price-conscious, with only 22% choosing their insurance because it was the cheapest product on the market, compared to 37% among those who had not claimed recently. 

Reputation and loyalty factors become a much stronger driver of choice for those who have claimed, with recommendations from friends and ratings services increasing to 11% and 15% respectively, compared to 5% and 4%.

This suggests that customers who have made a claim understand the importance of a good quality insurer and are therefore less likely to just choose the cheapest offer, regardless of the company’s reputation and claims record. 

This should inform insurers that good claims processes and fair handling of customers can truly drive loyalty and attract new customers.

Claims satisfaction

The differing patterns in what drives customer decisions might shed light on why claims satisfaction has improved. 

Motor insurance switching has reached record lows of 33%, down from a high approaching 50% in 2024. 

This reduction in customers shopping around for insurance has possibly spurred insurers to improve their claims process.

The last two years have seen a sustained increase in claims satisfaction, rising from 54% in Spring 2024 to 59% in Autumn 2025. NFU Mutual is the highest performing insurer in our sample, with a score of 78%.

Among the largest insurers, the top performer is LV, with Saga close behind. 

The worst performer is Hastings Direct. Many of the big insurers have seen significant positive jumps in claims satisfaction, suggesting an improvement in their claims processes.

Trust in car insurers

Our Autumn 2025 customer experience ratings revealed that trust in car insurers improved slightly after a period of decline. 

Price will be a factor in this; however, the brands with the highest trust scores are often specialist brands, not necessarily the cheapest, that cater to a certain market and therefore can have a more bespoke understanding of their customers. 

NFU Mutual tops our trust ranking, followed by BMW Insurance, showcasing this principle.

Among the 10 largest insurers, it is Saga that is most trusted by its customers, with Hastings Direct being the least trusted, albeit it has seen a modest increase this wave. 

This mirrors claims satisfaction, albeit their trust levels are similar between customers who have claimed and those who have not. Direct Line has seen the largest increase, meaning it no longer occupies the bottom spot among the largest 10 insurers.

Windscreen excesses

One notable shift in the car insurance market is the increase of windscreen excesses across the market. 

The median windscreen excess has risen considerably in the last two years and has continued to rise in the second half of 2025. 

Brands like Esure and Policy Expert have increased their excesses in the Autumn, but it is an ongoing trend.

In 2023, the median windscreen repair would cost a customer £17.50, and a replacement would cost £87.50, but this has steadily risen. 

Median excess for windscreen claims now stands at £25 for repair and £110 for replacement. Nearly all insurers have put up their windscreen excess over this period at least once, with Ageas being the only sizeable exception.

An increase in glass and labour prices will be driving this inflation, but repairing a chip without bearing any cost out of pocket has become increasingly rare for customers, where it was previously common.

Insurers are generally good at informing their customers of windscreen excesses. Only three providers in our Customer Experience Ratings do not show them on their quote journey, but insurers can improve by ensuring these are visible without requiring an additional click -  which typically most currently do.

Bank of Scotland (below) is an example for the market to follow on how excesses should be displayed. The excess is explained, all information is visible and segregated nicely without the need to click to see “additional excesses”.

Transparency

The car insurers with the best purchase journey, according to our Autumn 2025 analysis, were Axa and Swiftcover. 

These brands make it much easier for customers to understand what their coverage entails and the limits of it. 

Critically, Axa provides far more explanation about aspects of their cover than most insurers, as shown below – giving explanations and limits and mapping out where their standard cover is insufficient vs their Plus tier in an easy-to-read table.

Axa is the gold standard for a quote journey, and they would only need to make some minor adjustments to have an almost perfect journey. Other insurers should be seeking to replicate the transparency of their purchase journey.

Brand stacking

Brand stacking has been a long-running trend in car insurance but has accelerated following the passing of general insurance pricing practices (GIPP) reforms. 

More and more insurers have adopted the practice – most recently Bank of Scotland has relaunched with two tiers, RAC has added a third tier to its cover options, and Aviva Zero has launched an essentials product. Very few insurers now offer just one tier.

Insurers are generally good at demonstrating what their essentials cover lacks, possibly because transparency aids upselling.

Iwan Doherty is senior researcher at consumer group Fairer Finance