Car insurance groups

How do car insurance groups work?

Car insurance groups are used as a baseline by insurers to help determine your car insurance price. The insurance group of a particular car shows how much a risk that kind of car might be. This could be down to:

• Its engine size
• The estimated cost of repairs
• The value of the car
• What standard safety and security features the car has

Generally, the lower the car group, the lower the cost of your insurance.

Other factors that also impact your insurance costs include:

• Your age
• No-claims bonus
• Annual mileage
• How you use your car

How are car insurance groups decided?

The Group Rating Panel decides which group a car goes in. The panel is made up of members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), Lloyds Market Association (LMA) and supported by the motor insurance repair research centre, Thatcham.

The Group Rating Panel considers the following when giving a car model an insurance group:

• New car value acts as a guide to how much your car might cost to replace or repair. The more it costs, the higher the group
• Repair costs including labour costs are calculated to see how much it costs to get your car fixed and back to normal
• Safety features like autonomous emergency braking (AEB) lower the risk of an accident. The lower this risk, the lower the group
• Car bumper compatibly is assessed against the rating panel’s criteria. If the structure meets what they look for, the car goes into a lower group
• Performance ,looking at 0-60 mph acceleration time and top speed. Typically, the more powerful the car, the higher the group
• Average repair time - longer repair times mean increased labour costs, which means more expensive insurance policies
• Security features such as alarms and immobilisers show your car is less likely to be broken into, so should fall into a lower group

What are the cheapest cars to insure?

The cheapest car insurance groups are 1-10. So, if you’re looking for cheaper insurance costs, it might be better to look for a car from these groups. Some examples of cars in these lower groups include:

**Information taken from Parkers.co.uk.

What insurance group are electric cars in?

Electric cars are sorted in the same way as petrol and diesel cars. Every electric car will be in an insurance group from 1-50.

Popular electric cars are still viewed as being specialist by insurers. They’re typically placed in the highest insurance groups as they’re expensive to repair after a crash. And as they aren’t that common, replacement parts can be difficult to find.

For example, a Nissan Leaf sits in insurance groups 21-25, and a Kia Niro SUV is in groups 20-24. The Telsa Model 3, however, is in insurance groups 48-50.

How can I get cheaper car insurance?

There are a number of ways for you to get cheaper car insurance. To start with, buy a car in one of the lower insurance groups. Other things you can do are:

• Add car security features
• Increase your voluntary excess
• Pay annually if you can
• Get a telematics box or black box policy
• Be accurate with your annual mileage
• Build up a no claims bonus (NCB)
• Pick the correct job title
• Think about how you use your car, and update your class of use