It's not often that motorists see the cost of driving fall, but new figures reveal that the average price of insuring a car in the UK has fallen substantially over the last 12 months.

The average comprehensive motor insurance policy cost £531 at the beginning of 2014, a fall of 5.6% on the final quarter of 2013, which is an impressive 16.6% down on the same quarter last year.

The average cost of third party, fire and theft cover has dropped 18.5% to £725.

Insurance experts point out that third party, fire and theft costs more than comprehensive cover because younger drivers aged 17-22 tend to apply for this policy type – and are more likely to be involved in a car accident.

However, while younger motorists pay the most, they still enjoyed a 20% drop in insurance cover over the last 12 months.

The over 70s only saw a 7% decrease, while the those paying the least for insurance, the 60-69 age group, saw their average cost drop to £299.81 per year.

Regionally, the largest price drop was experienced by the north-west of England who paid 21% less, while East Anglian drivers experienced the smallest drop – of 13%.

Why is cover cheaper?

Advances in detecting fraudulent claims, backed up by legislative changes curbing whiplash injury fraud, are thought to be behind the decreases.

However, some experts believe that continuing fraud issues could see premiums rise again.

In the meantime, drivers will be counting their blessing that car insurance has dropped, as well as knowing that they can save even more by buying breakdown cover from startrescue.co.uk; where the latest technology – including a cutting edge breakdown cover mobile app for requesting assistance – is used to get you back on the road as fast as possible.