Car insurance prices to plummet under new motoring plans - 'Labour is the only party truly on the side of drivers'

Keir Starmer's party says it will address the high costs associated with car insurance by calling in regulators to crack down on the causes of soaring costs.

For the average driver, motor insurance costs are around £900, with younger road users expected to fork out more than £3,000 to insure themselves when on the roads, and has long been a point of contention for drivers.

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On average, costs have spiralled by more than £200 per person in just two years, driven by pothole damage, soaring inflation rates and the rising rate of car thefts, prompting Labour to address the issue.

Estimates suggest that one million people were forced to cancel their car insurance in 2022 as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Labour is now vowing to call in the Competitions and Markets Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to investigate the postcode pricing practices and whether they target ethnic minorities and those on lower incomes.

This will act as one of the three main pledges in Labour's Plan for Drivers, rivalling the Conservative's own manifesto which aims to crack down on anti-motorist schemes including 20mph speed limits, London's Ulez expansion and overzealous councils fining motorists.

Commenting on the Labour announcement, Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh highlighted the importance of vehicles for millions of drivers up and down the country, but said they had been failed by the Conservative Government.

She added: "The Conservatives have left Britain’s roads plagued with potholes and have sat back as car insurance costs have spiralled out of control.

“Labour is the only party truly on the side of drivers. Our plan will fix up to a million more potholes every year, saving drivers hundreds of pounds in lower repair costs, and will crack down on soaring car insurance costs."

Haigh pledged that Labour would make roads safer and remove barriers that "bog down our planning system", speeding up improvements for vital infrastructure and cutting costs for taxpayers.

Labour has also taken aim at pothole-ridden streets across the UK, with the political party claiming there are 100 times more potholes on roads than there are craters on the surface of the moon.

In order to fund the promise to fix up to one million more potholes every year, Labour will defer the planned A27 bypass, which had an estimated cost of at least £320million.

This would be in addition to the £8.3billion of funding over the next 11 years which has already been added to the Potholes Fund by the previous Conservative Government.

In its cost analysis of the pledge, Labour claims that investment in local road maintenance would deliver around £6.50 in benefits for every pound spent compared to less than £2 from the A27 bypass.

The third major aim of the Plan for Drivers is to break down planning barriers by "putting an end to the culture of waste and inefficiency that blights the planning system and costs the taxpayer".

Reacting to Labour's Plan for Drivers, Mariusz Zabrocki, General Manager UK at FREENOW UK, said: “In a recent survey, 95 per cent said road conditions have deteriorated, and therefore on behalf of our taxi drivers, we welcome Labour’s new policy to improve road conditions which will ultimately translate into lower vehicle repair costs and improved safety for all road users.

“This is particularly important for ensuring drivers can keep more of the money they earn.”

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Similarly, Tony Campbell, CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Association, said: “MCIA welcomes Labour's focus on improving Britain's roads for the safety of all users, especially motorcyclists, who face greater risks from potholes.

"We support reducing insurance costs and removing planning barriers for road upgrades, benefiting the powered light vehicle sector."

Labour are expected to roll out the rest of their manifesto in the coming days ahead of the General Election on July 4.