Brits are losing out on a whopping £1.5 billion every year it has been revealed by failing to shop around for car and home insurance. It seems most of us are happy to accept the hike in insurance premiums every year, as opposed to taking time out to look for a cheaper deal. However taking the seemingly easy route of accepting the hike in premiums is costing UK policyholders dear as Virgin Money estimates they are losing £1.5 billion annually. According to Virgin Money’s study, we’re willing to accept a rise in insurance premiums of 8.13% annually before we look around for a better deal. UK policyholders will accept an increase on all forms of insurance cover from home insurance, home contents, and car insurance. 45% of people admitted that they never shopped around for any type of insurance, instead choosing to accept to the first quote they receive. The 55% of people who did look around other insurers before accepting a deal were found to spend on average 5 and a half hours researching other insurance providers and collecting quotes before signing up to a policy. However with the growing popularity of price comparison websites, insurance experts say customers should utilise these services to shop around for quotes as this allows people to compare a wide range of quotes in one go.