More consumers are considering switching household insurance policies as cost-of living pressures put pressure on budgets, Roy Morgan survey data shows. 

In the year to June, more than 8.2 million household policies were at risk of being switched to another provider, which compares to 7.2 million two years ago and just under 3.7 million in the pre-pandemic year to March 2020. 

Of the 8.2 million “at risk” policies, the vast majority, at around 6.4 million, were eventually renewed with the same company, leaving more than 1.8 million household policies that were eventually switched. 

“As these figures show the number of policies at risk of being switched jumped significantly during the pandemic and has continued to rise since as Australians grapple with a rising cost of living caused by high inflation and increasing interest rates,” Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said. 

Data from the firm also shows that 1.57 million mortgage holders are “at risk” of mortgage stress and almost 1 million are “extremely at risk”. Official interest rates have risen four percentage points since May last year to 4.1%, their highest level in more than a decade. 

In the year to June, 66.1% of policies were renewed without approaching another company, down from 66.5% in the previous year and compared to 67.2% in the year to June 2021. 

The four brands that have the highest proportion of automatic renewals for household policies are RAC, RACV, CGU and APIA, with automatic renewal rates of more than 70% of their policyholders. 

Brands with automatic renewal rates under 60% include Woolworths, Budget Direct, Youi and AAMI. 

“The big increase in Australians considering switching their household insurance providers during the pandemic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels but has continued to rise as the economic uncertainty has increased and the competitive forces in the industry have intensified,” Ms Levine says.