Policy growth helps boost Q1 at Hastings

Growth in live customer policies helped drive a 26% rise in first quarter gross written premiums at insurance outfit Hastings to £214m.

Net revenue grew by 24% to £164.5m for the period due to the earn through of higher average premiums and growing retail income driven by increases in policy numbers, Hastings said.

It added that through strong customer retention rates and increasing penetration of price comparison websites (PCW), the group had grown live customer policies by 14%, marking the sixth consecutive quarter since listing that Hastings has achieved year on year double digit growth.

With insurance premiums rising after the government cut the the personal injury claim discount rate, known as the Ogden rate, in February Hastings said its “agile pricing and digitally focused business model” positioned it to benefit from higher PCW usage.