The higher tax on insurance, which more than doubled to 21% earlier this year, is being passed on to customers by the insurance companies, says comparison website Independer.

On average, this is adding 10.3% to the cost of policies, although car insurance has gone up 12.6%. According to Independer, this is probably because a price war had pushed down car insurance prices and the insurance companies are now taking the opportunity to readjust prices.