Editor's comment: The motor market is shot

Andrew Tjaardstra editor PB

A senior industry figure told me this month that it is the "worst time" in the history of the motor market for insurers. A pile of news has confirmed this, including RBS's loss of over £200m in its first-half results, Equity's reserving issues and NIG pulling out of the personal market and calling the business "unviable". The list goes on.

It is clear that the recession has taken its toll: there has been a surge of bodily injury claims and increases in fees paid to lawyers, yet these numbers show a greater malaise in this market. Despite the difficulties, we are still bombarded day after day with television adverts promoting the cheapest premiums. The adverts are prohibitively expensive to produce and air and for what? To give people premiums that the industry cannot afford?

This makes little sense and I am surprised that more

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