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Sabre: Insurance group back on track after difficult 2023

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Turnover at Uswitch has risen thanks to an increase in the number of people changing their insurance provider.
Turnover at Uswitch has risen thanks to an increase in the number of people changing their insurance provider.

Personal line insurer Sabre Group benefited from a substantial uptick in fortunes at the start of this year thanks to a blistering performance from its motor vehicle insurance division.

The firm reported a 61 per cent jump in gross written premiums in automotive insurance, up from £47.9m in the four months to 30 April 2023 to £77.1m in the same period this year.

The insurance group attributed the improved performance to its ability to pass higher premiums onto policyholders. It said the premium growth should cover an anticipated 10 per cent inflation in claims costs.

The division’s stellar performance helped take the firm’s total written premiums up to £85.7m from £58.9m in 2023. This is despite seeing a downturn in its motorcycle product, which dropped from £6.3m last year to £3.5m in 2024.

Geoff Carter, chief executive of Sabre, said: “I am very pleased that the strong trading we experienced throughout the latter half of 2023 has continued into 2024. We have delivered high levels of premium growth whilst also increasing prices to cover fully forward-looking claims inflation of circa 10%, illustrating both our commitment to, and the success of, our long-standing “profitability as a target, volume as an output” strategy.”

The results, which were issued ahead of the insurer’s annual general meeting later today, reflect a wider upturn in the performance of the insurance industry generally.

The sector was squeezed by major inflation to the cost of a claim – both due to more expensive parts and spiralling labour costs, which happened too quickly for insurers to raise policies accordingly.

This led to a situation in 2023 when insurers paid out £1.14 in claims and operating costs for every £1 they received in premiums, according to EY.

Insurers have since adjusted to the new landscape by bumping up premiums, which in categories like motor went up by as much as 40 per cent in one year.

Sabre reiterated its full year guidance, predicting a “strong increase in profit in 2024”, thanks to loss ratios improving due to more profitable business being written to the end of last year.