Despite the continuing economic hiatus in the UK, drivers of highly desirable supercars such as the Mercedes SLS AMG, Ferrari 458 Italia and McLaren MP12-4C are becoming younger, significantly increasing the need for more bespoke, experienced underwriting by insurers.
Ashley Cole, head of Aurum, the high net worth and specialist motor product from Aqueduct Underwriting (Aqua), has noted a gradual, but significant demographic shift to SuperYounger drivers in recent years.
Cole, who has underwritten prestige motor insurance for over 14 years, believes the growth in the number of SuperYounger drivers has been driven by three key trends. The first is the rapid depreciation of the value of some supercars cars caused by the economic downturn, and the second is the resilience of the most affluent to these market fluctuations as well as an influx of money from abroad.
Cole said: “10 years ago a typical supercar owner was over 40 years of age, a professional or independently wealthy and used their valuable pride and joy during dry weekends. Fast forward to 2013 and we are increasingly seeing requests from petrol-head entrepreneurs who are much younger, who may have moved to the UK from overseas and use a second-hand and vastly depreciated Aston Martin as daily transport.
This SuperYounger demographic shift doesn’t necessarily lead to problems with obtaining insurance, but it does make our focus on bespoke underwriting and working with specialist brokers who know their clients crucial factors for finding the right cover.
“The wider demographic ownership of supercars is part of a wider trend we have noticed across Aqua’s HNW underwriting business, where clients are generally purchasing more passion assets, such as yachts, jets, priceless art, numerous homes and luxury cars.”
