Car insurance and repair prices have increased significantly…

It’s not just an impression: it to live is becoming more expensive. This is mainly due to the rapid succession crises since 2020 and covid: the energy crisis, the raw materials crisis, the chip crisis and so on. These crises were accompanied by high inflation (general price increases), the likes of which had not been seen since the 1970s. In Belgium, wages were indeed indexed, but less than the inflation itself (11% indexation at a inflation of approximately 20%).

To get an idea of ​​the price increase – you could say price explosion – the insurance comparator HelloSafe.be the increase in the price of car insurance analyzed. This research shows that the average price of car insurance has increased over five years up 11.7% is. The average annual premium was 454 euros five years ago and now 507 euros. HelloSafe.be mainly points to a strong increase from 2022, with increases of 24.5 euros (2022) and 19.5 euros (2023). Previously, the increase averaged only 3 euros per year.

Reasons for price explosion

HelloSafe.be not only provides the bare figures, but also identifies the reasons for this price explosion. “It is due to economic inflation, increased repair costs due to the technological advancement of cars and a possible increase in the frequency and severity of damage claims,” the study said. That’s right: it number reported damage claims has increased dramatically (+24.4%) between 2020 and 2022, almost the same level as before Covid.

The problem is that the repair costs have also risen sharply in the same period: 17.3% more than in 2018. HelloSafe.be attributes this increase to two factors: the increase in hourly rates among repairers (+21.3%, as they themselves are also confronted with higher fixed costs) and the increase in prices for spare partswhich is estimated at an average of 15.6%.

Of course, there is little chance that these prices will drop again. High labor costs make that impossible. We can hope that parts prices will drop, but here too the decline are rather symbolic.

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