The research arms of the world's motor insurers have told carmakers that the quickest route to cheaper cover runs through the design studio, not the claims department.
Nineteen (19) insurer-funded research institutes from 15 countries used the annual conference of RCAR, the Research Council for Automobile Repairs, held this year in Mexico City, to urge manufacturers to build repairability into new models from the outset and to fit low-speed automatic emergency braking far more widely. Thatcham Research, RCAR's UK member, published the call on September 29.
The case they make is simple. Few drivers will ever be involved in a high-speed crash, but plenty will reverse into a bollard, clip a kerb-side car or nudge someone at a junction. How much those everyday knocks cost to put right is largely settled when the vehicle is designed, not when it arrives at the bodyshop.
The UK numbers explain why insurers are pushing. The ABI's first-quarter figures showed £1.9 billion of the £2.9 billion paid out went on vehicle repairs, up 3% on the previous quarter, while the average accidental damage claim jumped 8% to £3,699. The trade body put the rise down to pricier parts and more complex vehicles.
The pressure has not let up. Second-quarter data published in July put total motor payouts at a record £3.2 billion, with the average claim up 4% to £4,900 and average windscreen repair costs up 7% to £283. Premiums barely moved over the same period, with the average paid rising £6 to £566. The ABI's Chris Bose said at the time that the Motor Insurance Taskforce offered the government a real chance to work with insurers and carmakers on affordability.
That squeeze between claims and pricing is one brokers will recognise from renewal conversations. EY expects the UK motor market to post a net combined ratio of 111% in 2026, as Insurance Business reported in its look at how regulators and costs are closing in on motor claims handling.
Delegates singled out three areas where claims costs could come down: vehicle design, driver assistance systems and repair methods.
On driver assistance, RCAR research suggests broad fitment of Parking AEB, which brakes automatically during close-range manoeuvres, could cut collision damage claims worldwide by up to 15%. Thatcham said studies in Germany and the US had already recorded significant falls in parking-related crashes and claims.
The US evidence has been building for years. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of General Motors vehicles found that cars fitted with a rearview camera, parking sensors and rear automatic braking were involved in 78% fewer backing crashes than those with none of the systems.
On repairs, the conference warned that growing vehicle complexity makes sound, economical repairs harder to deliver, and called for transparent repair information, standardised procedures and properly skilled technicians. Thatcham warned in February that the average cost of repairing a car after a collision rose by 50% between 2019 and 2024.
A survey commissioned by Thatcham and carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found insurers ranked rising repair costs (67.5%) and increasing vehicle complexity (60.2%) as the two biggest obstacles to affordable motor cover.
The same research offered some encouragement. It found 51% of manufacturers now rank repairability above traditional selling points such as performance, comfort and styling. Thatcham said new models it assessed this year also sustained less damage in RCAR's standard low-speed impact than comparable vehicles tested a year earlier, although it noted the gap between the best and worst performers remained far too wide.
"The encouraging news is that manufacturers are listening," said Jonathan Hewett, chief executive of Thatcham Research.
Hewett added that a car which is quicker and cheaper to repair is also cheaper to insure and to own, giving an edge to any manufacturer that gets it right.
For brokers, the practical effect is that model choice is becoming a bigger lever on premium than it once was. Thatcham's Vehicle Risk Rating already scores cars separately on damageability and repairability, and as Insurance Business has reported, insurers have struggled to price some newer entrants where repair data and parts are thin.
Parking AEB matters most in commercial motor, where depot and yard scrapes make up a steady share of fleet losses and where claims performance increasingly decides placement.
Design changes only reach the road as new cars are sold and older ones leave the parc, so any relief on repair bills will come slowly. The claims data, meanwhile, arrives every quarter, and so far it keeps pointing the same way.
