For more thoughts from us on the Budget our Director, Rebecca Deegan, will be speaking at the 'CHASM Seminar, Autumn Budget 2025: What does it mean for financial security' tomorrow.

Sign up: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/chasm...

It is essential that this issue is addressed by the Motor Insurance Taskforce as a car enables people to access employment, education, take care of loved ones and get to the supermarket.

The Chancellor’s measures on fuel will save the average driver about £50 a year. This is eight times less than the £400 poverty premium on car insurance.

Scrapping the two-child benefit cap will be transformational, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty. Reducing the number of people living in poverty is a systemic way to tackle the poverty premium.

We also welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to invest an additional £1.5m in the Warm Homes Plan (WHP). Energy efficiency is key to reducing bills longer term. However, with the scrapping of ECO, it is essential that the WHP is clear on how energy efficiency will be delivered.

However, given the average fuel poverty gap is £407, these measures will still not be enough for some families. That’s why we have been calling for long-term targeted bill support that is based on income.

We welcome Government action to bring down energy bills by around £150 per year, particularly the move to pay for 75% of the costs of the Renewables Obligation from general taxation rather than from energy bills. This is a fairer way to pay for these policy costs.

This week we’ve responded to the Warm Home Discount (WHD) consultation, urging Government to build on WHD and create a proper social tariff, with tiered support and extra help for those paying by Standard Credit, so everyone is on a level playing field.

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£150 is not enough to address energy affordability. Energy prices still well above pre-crisis levels, on average household bills are over £700 (73%) higher than in winter 2021.

The Government plans to continue to address affordability through the Warm Home Discount (WHD), an additional £150 payment to people on low incomes. But for those paying the Standard Credit premium, the benefit of WHD is effectively cancelled out by extra charges.

This snapshot also reveals that most would prefer targeted discounts and flexible payment options over road safety measures to reduce the cost of insurance.

Read the full snapshot here fairbydesign.com/wp-content/u...

Insurers use risk factors outside of a driver’s control to price their premium. Respondents told us the most unjust factors are being penalised for living in an area with more uninsured drivers or fraudulent claims and for being on a low income.

Paying more to pay monthly matters. Most respondents think it’s unfair that paying monthly costs more.

When asked:
📊 53% of car owners agreed
📊 79% of non-car owners agreed

Amongst our key findings👇

🔺 Half of non-car owners said the cost of insurance stopped them from owning a car, even when they needed one.

🔺 A quarter of car owners cut back on other essentials to pay for car insurance.

To understand how people on low incomes feel about car insurance, we ran a study using a market research platform. We gathered insights from 89 respondents, 70 car owners and 19 non-car owners, creating a snapshot of attitudes.

Full snapshot here 📖 fairbydesign.com/wp-content/u...

To support people in the short term, the letter also calls on the Government to work at pace to implement a better targeted support scheme to adequately help those most in need.

Improving energy efficiency is one of the most sustainable long-term ways to bring down bills and ensure a fairer energy future for everyone, especially those on low incomes.