London Drivers Face £772 Car Insurance Quotes, £301 More Than South West, Quotezone Shows

• The average car insurance premium fell 5.1 percent, or £31.66, to £587 in the third quarter of 2026, Quotezone’s price index shows.
• London drivers average £772 and South West drivers £471, a gap of £301 before either owner turns a key.
• Drivers aged 17 to 24 average £1,150 a year, while drivers aged 65 and over average £427.

Where £301 Separates Two Drivers Before They Turn a Key

A driver in London was quoted £771.94 on average for a year of cover in the third quarter of 2026. A driver in the South West of England was quoted £470.56. The difference is £301.38, just over half the size of the national average of £587.35.

The national figure moved the right way. The average premium dropped from £619.01 in the second quarter to £587.35 in the third, a fall of £31.66 or 5.1 percent. Quotezone compiles the index from a random sample of more than 100,000 UK policies quoted between March 2025 and September 2026, so the figures are average quotes.

Age adds a second gap that dwarfs the first. Drivers aged 17 to 24 were quoted £1,150.34 on average, £722.89 more than drivers aged 65 and over at £427.45. That 17 to 24 figure rose compared with the second quarter, the one band where the quarterly news went against the grain.

A Quarter That Took £31.66 Off the Average Bill

The third quarter reversed the second. Quotezone’s series shows the average at £579.52 in the first quarter of 2026, £619.01 in the second and £587.35 in the third. Over a longer stretch the trend is a long slide with one blip: the average stood at £885.21 in the last quarter of 2023, so the current figure is 33.6 percent lower, a drop of £297.86 a year in the typical bill. Quotezone says prices rose 42 percent in 2023.

On a year ago the change is small. The third quarter of 2025 averaged £591.57, so the current figure is £4.22 or 0.7 percent lower. Spread over twelve months, the year on year move is about 35p a month.

The month a policy renews shifts the quote too. Quotezone’s monthly series puts November 2025 at £633.92, the dearest of the last twelve months, and September 2026 at £586.82. Drivers renewing in January 2026 were quoted £25 less on average than those renewing in March 2026, £570.15 against £595.43. The renewal date is a real part of what the average hides.

Region by Region, From £772 to £471

Three regions sit well above the national average of £587.35. London leads at £771.94, which is £184.59 above it. Northern Ireland follows at £668.80, £81.45 above, and the West Midlands at £649.69, £62.34 above. Yorkshire comes closest to the middle at £570.99.

At the cheap end the order runs Scotland £507.95, the North East £486.36, Wales £482.13 and the South West £470.56. A South West driver sits £116.79 below the national average. The rest of the table fills the middle: the North West £562.77, the East Midlands £540.58, the South East £528.38 and the East of England £522.11.

Most regions fell over the quarter. The North West posted the steepest drop at around 8 percent. The South West moved least, at around 2 percent. Northern Ireland was the only region to rise, by around 1 percent, and its September 2026 average of £683.96 was the highest monthly figure in its last twelve. London went the other way over the longer run: its monthly average came down from £855.89 in November 2025 to £761.35 in September 2026, £94.54 or 11.0 percent less, and it still tops the table.

Quotezone attributes the London premium to higher claim frequencies, theft rates and traffic density in urban areas. A driver cannot change the postcode, so the levers below matter more.

The Age Gap Is Bigger Than the Postcode Gap

Five bands make up the index. Drivers aged 17 to 24 pay £1,150.34. Those aged 25 to 34 pay £812.55, which is £225.20 above the national average. Drivers aged 35 to 44 pay £625.77, drivers aged 45 to 64 pay £470.31 and drivers aged 65 and over pay £427.45, the lowest of any band and £159.90 under the national average. The 17 to 24 band sits £562.99 above the national average.

Location compounds age. In London the 17 to 24 band pays £1,391.66 against £574.46 for drivers aged 65 and over, a difference of £817.20. For 17 year olds alone the London average is £2,997.04 and the South West average £1,873.41, a gap of £1,123.63. Young drivers pay the most in every region, and in Scotland they pay £618 more than drivers aged 65 and over.

There is some good news inside the figure. Quotezone’s series for 17 to 24 year olds peaked at £2,509.46 in February 2024 and fell to £1,098.00 in September 2025, the lowest month in the table, which starts in September 2015. The Q3 2026 average of £1,150.34 sits just above that floor. In six of the twelve regions the 17 to 24 average is under £1,000: the East Midlands, the East of England, the North East, the South East, the South West and Wales. London, Northern Ireland, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, the North West and Scotland stay above it.

Why Two Indices Show Different Levels

Readers who have seen a higher figure elsewhere have not misread anything. Confused.com puts its third quarter average at £713, down £22 on a year earlier. Quotezone puts it at £587. The two indices measure different quote samples: Confused.com builds its figure from quotes for new policies on its own site, and Quotezone draws a random sample of policies quoted through its comparison system. Neither number is the bill any single driver pays, and the two are not meant to be added or averaged. Use each one for the direction it shows. Both point down on the quarter and both show the 2023 peak well behind.

What a Driver Can Change

The postcode stays put. Four other things move.

First, the date. Confused.com customer data for June to August 2026 shows that drivers who quoted 28 days before renewal were quoted 53 percent less on average than for the renewal day. A separate comparison of renewing on the day cover ends shows the same timing pattern in another dataset.

Second, the comparison. Confused.com research of 2,000 drivers carried out by One Poll between 2 and 7 September 2026 found that drivers who received a higher renewal price and shopped around saved £80 on average against the renewal quote. The renewal quote is the price to beat.

Third, for drivers aged 17 to 24, telematics. Quotezone says black box and telematics policies often bring new driver prices down by pricing cover on actual driving behaviour instead of age alone. With £1,150 as the average in that band, a policy that rewards careful driving is the one lever aimed at the biggest gap in the table. Spreading the premium monthly adds cost for this age group, covered in spreading insurance payments monthly, so paying annually where possible protects the saving.

Fourth, a named driver. Matt Crole-Rees, motoring expert at Confused.com, says adding a named driver to a policy offers better protection and can save money for drivers who share the driving.

Northern Ireland was the only region where Quotezone’s average rose this quarter. The Confused.com index puts the Northern Ireland average at £1,059, and Northern Ireland’s £209 jump in that index is covered separately. Quotezone’s next index is due in January 2027 and will cover the fourth quarter of 2026. Until then, the numbers to hold are £587 for the national average, £771.94 against £470.56 for the two ends of the map, and £1,150.34 for the youngest band. A quote well above the figure for the same region and age band is the signal to start comparing.

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