London drivers are spending thousands of pounds every year on their car despite rarely hitting the road with cars sitting idle 99.5% of the time, new data from the UK’s leading temporary car insurance provider, Cuvva has revealed.
A survey conducted by Cuvva found Londoners took the least number of trips in their car per month compared to the rest of Britain. Nearly a third (31%) of London car owners admitted they use their car up to 10 times per month. The rest of the time the car is parked outside their home.
According to data from the Department for Transport, the average UK car journey takes 21 minutes. This means nearly a third of London drivers spend between 0 and 215 minutes on the road each month, regardless of the eye-watering costs that come with owning a car these days.
Costs of UK car ownership
According to Transport for London (TFL), the average car owner spends £3,186 in Inner London and £3,502 in Outer London each year on their car’s running costs, which includes things like insurance, fuel, MOT, tax and maintenance.
This means a car owner in London who drives up to 10 times per month could pay between £26.46 and £29.19 depending on their location, for an average 21-minute journey.
An hour journey could set infrequent drivers back up to £75.60 or even £83.40 if you’re based in Outer London.
Average car trips in the UK
The short-term insurer provider’s survey also highlights the percentage of drivers who drove up to 10 times per month by region. Londoners drive less frequently than those from any other region, and far less than the national average – 21%, according to Cuvva.
Percentage of drivers per region who drive only 0-10 times per month:
- London – 31%
- East of England – 28%
- South West – 24%
- South East – 21%
- Wales – 21%
- East Midlands – 20%
- Yorkshire and the Humber – 19%
- North West – 17%
- West Midlands – 17%
- North East – 16%
- Scotland – 16%
Cost of living and car ownership
Unsurprisingly, the survey also revealed London car owners are most worried about the costs of owning a car, amid the cost of living crisis in Britain.
According to the survey, as much as 64% of respondents based in London said they were ‘very worried’ or ‘moderately worried’ about the cost of running and insuring their car compared to a national average of 57%.
Percentage of drivers by region who said they were worried about the cost that comes with owning a car:
- London – 64%
- Wales – 63%
- Scotland – 60%
- South West – 58%
- North West – 57%
- East Midlands – 56%
- East of England – 56%
- West Midlands – 56%
- North East – 52%
- South East – 51%
- Yorkshire and the Humber – 51%
A recent study found that 15% of motorists are considering giving up driving altogether in the next 12 months due to the rising costs of owning a car.
Speaking on the decline in car usage, Darryl Bowman from Cuvva said,“People are using their cars way less but the cost of owning and maintaining a car continues to soar.
“If you only need a car a few times a month, borrowing one from friends and family when you need to get around is a good alternative. You can insure yourself to drive anyone’s car with flexible, short-term insurance – meaning you no longer need to own a car to drive one, slashing your household bills and saving thousands of pounds annually.”
TFL’s latest London Travel Demand Survey highlights car ownership in London is also on the decline. The number of households that don’t have a car has risen from 41% in 2005/06 to 46% in 2022/23, which according to TFL is the lowest level of car ownership since the survey commenced. The number of households that own multiple cars has also declined to around 13%.
