New research from Compare the Market is warning motorists that they could be slugged with higher car insurance premiums based on the colour of their car.
The car insurance comparison service found that darker-coloured cars tend to attract higher insurance premiums than their lighter counterparts.
Premiums increased by as much as 8.72 per cent for the same make and model of a vehicle, when only the colour of the car changed from white to black.
Compare the Market economic director David Koch said that people should be aware that ‘colour premiums’ might be added to policies by some insurers.
“While it can be surprising to see such large discrepancies between some insurance policies based purely on colour, the fact is that some colours may make a vehicle more susceptible to theft or being in an accident and, in turn, increase the risk of you needing to claim with your car insurer,” he said.
“For example, darker-coloured cars may be harder to see at night or during storms, which could result in more crashes and potentially drive-up prices. In other instances, novelty colours, such as gold or even purple, may be more challenging to repair if the bodywork is damaged.
“These findings are just a great insight into how differently insurers can calculate risk based on historical data, and it’s something to keep in mind when you’re looking at your car insurance renewal.”
However, it should be noted that not all insurers have a premium pricing policy based on colour. On average, the research found that the prices of policies with a ‘colour premium’ were still cheaper than the average price of those policies without ‘colour premiums’.
Yellow and turquoise were 2.96 per cent dearer, beige by 6.46 per cent, blue, red, maroon and orange by 7.23 per cent, and silver, grey, green, gold, brown and purple by 7.89 per cent.
Mr Koch said people shouldn’t take the findings at face value and should do their own research to find a deal that might better suit their needs.
“At the end of the day, car colour may be an important factor that people consider when they’re looking at their car insurance premiums, however in some cases, going with a brand that does have such ‘colour premiums’ may still come out cheaper than the policy they may be on,” he said.
“As the team at Compare the Market found in its analysis, most of the insurers who had one single-priced policy, no matter the car’s colour, were often still more expensive than some of the more expensive black car policies.
“So, there are still plenty of savings to be had, no matter which insurer you choose or the colour of your car.”
