Less than 1 in 5 drivers have returned to pre-pandemic driving habits, according to new research

New research¹, commissioned by GoCompare Car Insurance, has revealed that less than one in five (18%) of drivers have returned to pre-pandemic driving habits, with 21% saying they now walk more rather than using their car, and will continue to use their cars less in the future.  

A further 7% of people who took part in the survey said that they’ve already dropped the number of cars in their household since the pandemic began.

GoCompare quote data also shows that the proportion of drivers choosing a lower annual mileage when shopping around for their car insurance has increased significantly. The comparison site compared data from January 2018 with August 2021, which shows that the proportion of people selecting between 1,000-5000 miles has gone up by 14%, and those choosing a higher mileage (between 11,000-15,000) has dropped by 20% since January 2018.

Ryan Fulthorpe, car insurance expert at GoCompare said: “In the past 18 months, with varying travel restrictions in place, our lives have centred largely around our homes and the immediate area.  And as a result, a significant proportion of motorists are now using their car less, with just 18% of drivers say that they have returned to pre-pandemic driving habits.

“Our quote data shows a similar picture, with a larger share of those looking for car insurance now selecting a smaller annual mileage. It’s clear that the restrictions in place throughout most of 2020 and into 2021 have led some people to change their driving habits and even reduce the number of cars in the household.              

“It still remains to be seen whether, as far as our relationship with our cars are concerned, this will continue in the longer-term. It’s been widely reported that many businesses are shifting towards a hybrid working model so it may be that the decreased number of miles we are spending on our commutes could be here to stay.”  

GoCompare car insurance has developed a mileage calculator for anyone who wants to accurately estimate the miles they do each year, meaning that anyone searching for a quote will have the right level of cover in place but also won’t end up overspending on their insurance.

Ryan continued: “It’s important to declare an accurate mileage on your car insurance policy as over-estimating your mileage could mean that you end up paying more than you need to. But if you under-estimate, you may find that if you need to make a claim, you might not have the right cover in place. So it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about the number of miles you do each day, week and month so that you have the right level of cover.

For more information on calculating mileage, please go to: https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/mileage-calculator/. 

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Lynsey Walden or Kath Chadwick at Gocompare on lynsey.walden@gocompare.com or kathryn.chadwick@gocompare.com.

Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare

Notes to editors

¹On October 11th 2021, an online survey of 2,060 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

About GoCompare

GoCompare is a comparison website that enables people to compare the costs and features of a wide variety of insurance policies, financial products and energy tariffs.

It does not charge people to use its services and does not accept advertising or sponsored listings, so all product comparisons are unbiased. GoCompare makes its money through fees paid by the providers of products that appear on its various comparison services when a customer buys through the site.

When it launched in 2006, it was the first comparison site to focus on displaying policy details rather than just listing prices, with the aim of helping people to make better-informed decisions when buying their insurance. It is this approach to comparing products that secured the company an invitation to join the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) in 2008, and it is still the only comparison site to be a member of this organisation.

GoCompare has remained dedicated to helping people choose the most appropriate products rather than just the cheapest and works with Defaqto, the independent financial researcher, to integrate additional policy information into a number of its insurance comparison services. This allows people to compare up to an extra 30 features of cover.

GoCompare is part of Future Plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

More information can be found here www.gocompare.com or here https://www.futureplc.com/brands/.