UK Motor Pricing Tracker: UK Motor: Pricing decelerating with ONS data showing price declines in August

The ONS data for August suggests that motor insurance prices increased 4.3% YoY but decreased 1.3% MoM, vs July when prices increased 2.5% MoM. Defaqto (Pearson Ham) data shows that prices increased 1.6% YoY and 0.2% MoM in August for the cheapest five providers. So far, pricing has increased a further 0.1% MoM in September. We note that, according to Defaqto data, prices have increased 4.9% YTD (through September). Lastly, ABI data shows that pricing in 2Q'26 was up 1% QoQ. Commentary from companies suggests that pricing has already troughed and is now starting to increase, with further increases expected going forward. Larger companies in the sector remain focused on margins and expect to increase prices, which should bode well for the market in general. Today's data, showing decelerating trends, will be in focus and may be viewed mildly negatively, in our view. Within our UK Motor tracker, claims inflation is up 2.2% YoY based on our claims inflation index, driven by wage inflation