A GlobalData survey found that insurance affordability remains a significant obstacle to electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the UK, reinforcing concerns that insurance costs could slow the transition to cleaner transport despite growing consumer interest in EVs.
GlobalData’s 2025 UK Insurance Consumer Survey found that 42.1% of UK consumers expect to switch to a fully electric vehicle within the next five years—up from 36.8% in 2024. However, despite rising consumer intent, a notable proportion of respondents to GlobalData’s 2024 Emerging Trends Insurance Consumer Survey identified higher insurance premiums as the key factor deterring them from making the switch. This highlights that insurance affordability remains an important barrier to wider EV adoption.
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Brumble’s analysis of Association of British Insurers and Department for Transport data notes that EVs continue to cost significantly more to insure than equivalent petrol and diesel models. This finding underlines the challenges facing insurers. Higher repair costs, expensive battery components, and limited specialist repair capacity continue to place upward pressure on claims costs and premiums, even as insurers invest in improving EV pricing models and repair networks. Unless these structural cost pressures begin to ease, insurance pricing could become an increasingly important constraint on the pace of EV adoption.
For insurers, the findings highlight the need to balance accurate risk pricing with supporting the transition to electric mobility. As EV ownership continues to grow, insurers that invest in specialist repair partnerships, improved claims processes, and more sophisticated underwriting models will be better placed to narrow the insurance cost gap between EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles. Doing so could improve affordability for consumers while strengthening insurers’ competitiveness in a rapidly expanding segment of the motor insurance market.
