High vehicle repair bills driving up motor claims costs
RAC Warranty has said that high vehicle repair bills and an older car parc are driving up motor claims costs.
It reported its highest claim last year was £22,954 for a replacement engine and gearbox on a 2020 Audi.
Meanwhile, its 10 most common claim items were front suspension and hubs, cooling systems, body exteriors, fuel systems, brakes, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and body interiors and exhaust system.
RAC Warranty also saw rapid increases in volumes of paid claims for electrified vehicles, with hybrid claims up from 1.5% to 3.1% and electric car claims increasing from 0.7% to 1.4%.
Reduced supply
Lee Coomber, RAC client director at Assurant, which partners with the RAC in the aftersales sector, said: “Cars in the UK have been getting older since the pandemic thanks to reduced supply and the increased cost of living.
“Failure of larger items such as engines and gearboxes obviously become more likely as cars age while at the same time, the price of everything from labour rates to parts has been increasing.
“But the biggest long-term trend is that the increasingly complex electrical systems seen on most cars are leading to a greater propensity for problems to emerge. The number of EVs and hybrids within our customer base remains relatively low compared to petrol and diesel but is rapidly growing and will obviously further increase in 2026.”
