UK motor insurance premiums up in second quarter - study

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Comprehensive car insurance premiums in Britain rose in the second quarter, with motorists paying 21 pounds ($33) more than a year earlier, a study on showed on Monday.

After three years of falling prices, premiums have risen by an average 3.6 percent over the last 12 months, data from price comparison website Confused.com and consultants Towers Watson showed.

That meant the average quoted premium for an annual comprehensive car insurance policy was 600 pounds in the second quarter, compared with 579 pounds a year earlier.

Third party, fire and theft (TPFT) policies saw a 2.4 percent quarterly price rise to take the average quoted premium up 23 pounds to 987 pounds, it said.

Karl Murphy, UK property and casualty insurance leader at Towers Watson, said the biggest issue for motor insurers when pricing policies was the level of claims and how regulation and a generally improving national economy may affect this.

($1 = 0.6452 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by David Holmes)