DRIVERS in Scotland are experiencing the sharpest annual insurance price hikes across the UK, new figures show.

The highest increase is hitting motorists in the Scottish Borders who will see a 17 per cent increase, equivalent to £92.

Meanwhile, drivers living in the Highlands and North East Scotland are facing 10 per cent and 13 per cent rises respectively.

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Overall, car insurance prices across the UK are set to be the highest on record, reaching an average of £900 by the end of 2018.

British drivers are now paying £827 on average for their car insurance, according to Confused.com’s latest car insurance price index.

Confused.com’s index reveals average prices have increased by £60 or eight per cent since 2016 when premiums were £767.

Louise O’Shea, chief executive officer at Confused.com, said: “It looks like the average cost of car insurance is going to be over £900 in 2018 which is the highest ever.

“The good news is that insurers now have to show us what we paid for car insurance last year.

“Therefore, it’s never been easier for drivers to check what they paid then and compare it to what they are asking you to pay now.”

A number of factors have been blamed for the increase including an increase in the number of fraudulent claims.

Overall fraudulent car insurance claims add an extra £50 to every car insurance premium – up from £13 in 2013, according to the Association of British Investors.

The figures also show some drivers are facing more expensive car insurance costs than others – particularly male motorists.

The current quarter marks the five-year anniversary of the EU gender directive, which prohibits insurers from assessing a driver’s risk based on their gender.

Despite this, male drivers are edging closer to the £900 mark and are paying £878 on average for their car insurance – £114 more than female motorists who are paying £764 on average.

This is just £7 short of the greatest pre-EU gender directive gap of £121 in 2011.

The report states: “While insurers are unable to assess a driver based on their sex, there are other risk factors which cause men to have higher premiums.

“For example, men tend to drive more expensive cars with larger engines, on average, so they make higher-value claims.

“They also tend to have significantly more motoring convictions than women.”

Since the directive came into effect five years ago, the gap between what men and women pay has closed for some age brackets.

For example, pre-legislation 17-20 year old male drivers were paying as much as £1,787 more than female drivers of the same age, but since then the gap has closed by 40 per cent to £711.

However, on the other end of the scale, 41-45 year old male drivers were actually paying £7 less than women pre-directive, but now the tables have turned and the gap has widened, with men in this age bracket paying £97 more than their female counterparts.

Thre is also a marked difference between what certain age groups are paying for car insurance, with some drivers being stung with sharp increases.

Motorists aged between 18 and 23 have all seen their premiums go up by over £100 since last year, with 20 year olds paying £173 more than people of the same age last year.

However, teenagers are still bearing the brunt of sky-high car insurance costs as they pay over £2,000 on average, with 18 year olds now paying the most of any age at £2,220.

Some drivers aged over 60 are also facing large increases when they come to renew.

Motorists aged 65 and 67 have seen the cost of their premiums rise by 13 per cent year-on-year - a monetary increase of £60 and £59 respectively.

And 65 year olds have also experienced the biggest quarterly rise of four per cent - equivalent to £21.

Despite this, drivers aged over 60 are all paying under £600 on average, with 66 year olds paying the least for car insurance at just £460 a year. But premiums are significantly more expensive compared to 10 years ago, when most drivers in their sixties were paying less than £300 annually.

Drivers are also paying significantly more for fuel than they were a year ago.

According to Confused.com’s fuel price index, which collates prices from 83 per cent of the UK’s fuel stations, drivers are now paying 121.4p for petrol and 124.2p for diesel, on average.

This means that the average driver of a medium-sized car is now paying £69.18 for a full tank of petrol and £70.77 to fill up with diesel.

With further taxes being imposed on diesel drivers this year, plus climbing interest rates predicted for 2018.