The average motor insurance quote is now more expensive than at any time in the last two years, according to information services company Experian. Prices are now so high on the direct market that UK consumers have a better chance of finding cheap car insurance through an intermediary.
£560 is the new average quote for comprehensive motor insurance, up 7.9 percent since May 2006. However on the intermediary market - which used to be thought of as the more expensive option for consumers - prices have fallen over the past year to £529.
It's a situation Experian puts down to an increasingly hi-tech insurance marketplace. The demand for online car insurance is now higher than ever, with many thousands of customers turning to switching services and internet-based insurance brokers in hope of a cheap car insurance quote.
"Competition is aggressive and with technological advances and changing consumer needs the industry in unlikely to settle back into a straightforward situation," said an Experian spokesman.

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