A client's car might look the same as it did five years ago, but what's built into it usually isn't. Vehicles have accumulated cameras, sensors and software at speed over the past decade, changing not only what they can do but what happens when they need to be repaired.
For Tom Clarke (pictured), motor strategy director at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which supplies insurance providers across the UK with risk intelligence, that growing complexity creates more room for specialist broker knowledge.
"We've got far more sensors, far more technology capability in a vehicle, and that's changing so rapidly," Clarke said.
The Association of British Insurers' latest Motor Insurance Premium Tracker shows UK motor insurers paid out a record £3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, with average claim payouts rising 4% quarter on quarter to £4,900. Windscreen repair costs alone rose 7% to an average of £283, a jump the ABI has linked directly to the sensors and cameras now built into modern glass.
A cracked windscreen can now involve recalibrating the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) behind features such as lane-keeping and automatic braking. Depending on the vehicle, cameras, radar and other sensors can sit in the windscreen, side panels, headlights or elsewhere, with LiDAR adding another technology to the mix.
"So what can appear to be a routine kind of repair becomes significantly more complex," Clarke said.
There is no standard layout across manufacturers either. The same apparent damage can therefore require a very different repair depending on what technology is fitted and where.
"It's not even like all of those sensors are in the same place," Clarke said. "Maybe in one car they're in the panel that sits in the windscreen. In other cars, there may be also cameras in the side panel, in the headlights. So you can't even take a "one rule fits all" approach.
That variability matters in a UK motor market where much business is bought through price comparison websites with little or no broker contact. The vehicles being insured are becoming harder to understand from their make and model alone, giving something beyond price on which to compete.
"Brokers are still here regardless of what anyone said in the past. There's still a need for personal lines motor brokers, because there is complexity, because there's a level of service or proposition they can offer, that an insurer can’t necessarily provide," Clarke said.
As new technologies change the risk and repair profile, familiarity with the differences between vehicles can become part of the proposition rather than something discovered after a loss.
The same complexity follows the vehicle into a claim. Confusion between the electric, hybrid or petrol variant of the same model, or incomplete information such as missing third-party contact details, can affect where a claim is routed from the outset.
"The decisions made in the first few minutes of the claim shape the triage, the supplier selection, the customer experience, the indemnity spend – all of it," Clarke said.
Yet claims handling has not necessarily become as data-driven as underwriting. Handlers can still move between multiple systems to piece together the information needed to manage a loss, adding operational pressure as the vehicles become more complicated.
"Whilst pricing and underwriting have become increasingly data-driven, claims handling often still relies on fragmented, reactive processes," Clarke said.
The wider push to modernise UK motor claims handling has put that gap under increasing commercial and regulatory scrutiny, while previous analysis of how vehicle technology is reshaping motor risk has highlighted the difficulty of establishing exactly what a sophisticated vehicle contains.
Underwriting is further ahead. Years of telematics investment have enabled insurers to move towards more personalised pricing, using individual driver data rather than relying solely on broader customer profiles. And yet claims handling is still catching up.
That unevenness leaves a distinction between what can be established when a policy is placed and what is discovered once something has gone wrong. A make, model and registration can conceal substantial differences in powertrain, sensors, cameras and other technology, all of which can change the eventual repair.
Knowing more about the vehicle gives brokers more to talk about than premium alone. A familiar-looking car can carry a very different repair profile underneath it, making the pre-loss conversation increasingly important to understanding the risk being placed.
