Insurer Won't Put Breaks on Car Insurance

By Lucy Farndon

MOTOR premiums will continue to 'creep' up after a 5pc rise in the first half, says insurer Admiral.

Boss Henry Engelhardt says this is a necessary step because claims are rising by 3pc-7pc and insurers cannot afford to keep swallowing the cost.

Many consumers are savvy enough to make the most of price comparison sites, including Admiral's own brand Confused.com, to get the best deal.

Confused's 65pc share of the car insurance price comparison market is slipping with the arrival of competitors such as Comparethemarket.com, but Engelhardt plans to ramp up advertising to try to fend off rivals.

Some think he should have sold the site when he had the chance. He thinks other sites 'will eventually burn themselves out'.

First half pretax profits rose 26pc to a record 86.3m. Staff will share a 3m share bonus worth an average of 1500 each.

Despite expansion into Spain and Germany, Admiral still hiked the interim dividend by 70pc to 20.6p.

Admiral shares rose 33p to 893p, but don't look too pricey, particularly with a dividend yield of 4.6pc.

Read more on Admiral at thisismoney.co.uk/adm

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