Ferry Passenger, car and Coach Volumes Slump In 2020, 28.2 million fewer trips by ferry were made on UK ferries, covering trips between the UK and Continent, UK-Ireland and domestic locations (including the London River Service). Numbers were down across the broad for all routes and all destinations. Along with the decline in passenger trips, the number of cars transported fell by 4.8 million and...
Read More
UK Overseas Freight Down 18% in February 2021 In February 2021, the volume of accompanied and unaccompanied freight units travelling between the UK and Europe (including the Republic of Ireland) declined by 18% compared with the same month of 2020. While the decline was less than the 34% decline seen in January 2021, the decline in February means that in the first two month of...
Read More
19 million BTE LEI policyholders In 2021, around four-in-ten consumers owned a before the event (BTE) legal expense insurance (LEI) policy, compared with only around one-quarter in 2019. The rise in ownership has been driven by older consumers aged 55+. This means in 2021, just over 19 million adults had a LEI policy, with almost 28 million policies outstanding. Almost four-in-ten LEI policyholders own more...
Read More
UK legal services market revenue on hold in 2020 but most legal professionals are optimistic about the next 12 months The UK legal services market (including private practice firms, barristers, patent agents, and other legal services providers) was valued at almost £37bn in 2020, unchanged from 2019. In the first three-quarters of 2020 revenue decreased by 1.5% compared to the previous year mainly due to...
Read More
Motor Insurance Market Declines by 8% because of COVID-19 In 2019, IRN Research estimate the motor insurance market generated gross written premiums (GWP) of just over £14 billion, a rise of around 2% over 2018. Given the impact of COVID-19 on the market, IRN expect GWP to decline by 8% in 2020. Key factors behind this decline were premium rebates given to customers by some...
Read More
25% of consumers take estate planning actions Only 25% of consumers have undertaken any of the actions normally associated with estate planning, like making gifts to loved one, gifting a home to children etc. This is less than the 35% which have made a will: for almost half of consumers estate planning is associated only with making a will. Consumers who have taken any estate...
Read More
CLEAR CONSUMER INTEREST IN VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS, DIGITAL PROBATE APPLICATIONS, AND ONLINE COURT PROCEEDINGS Will writing is still an activity which most individuals fail to prioritise. It becomes of greater importance as consumers get older, and/or build up assets and this is reflected in our latest survey: as in previous years it is the older age groups – 55 and over – where will ownership is...
Read More
Home Insurance Market 2019/20 have been turbulent years for home insurance in terms of claims, significant mergers and divestments and changed underwriting capacity. IRN Research estimates that home insurance gross written premiums (GWP) will reach around £7 billion in 2020, a rise of 2% compared with 2019. Predicting future premiums growth is very difficult at the moment given the uncertainties about when the effects of...
Read More
Funeral Planning At the end of 2020, IRN Research expect there to be almost 1.6 million funeral plans in force (i.e. not drawn down). While the number has continued to rise in recent years, there has been a notable slowdown in growth in recent years. In 2020, IRN Research estimate that almost 160,000 new funeral plans will be sold. The number of new sales has...
Read More
The UK Wills, Probate & Trusts Market Report 2020 is the 7th edition of an annual research report from IRN Research. Here are some selected findings: Market value growth in the wills, trusts and probate market is estimated to increase by 3.2% in 2020 compared to 2019. The pandemic, along with price pressures, have weakened wills sales but the probate market remains relatively strong. IRN Research’s consumer...
Read More
