Mini car insurance

How much does a Mini cost to insure?

The cost of car insurance for a Mini can vary quite a bit, depending on both the model and your individual circumstances.

Insurers rank vehicles from insurance groups 1 to 50, with 1 being the cheapest to insure and 50 being the most expensive. Mini models range from insurance groups 11 to 33, so there’s quite a bit of variation in terms of power and value.

The more powerful and expensive Minis in group 33 are the pricier models to insure. But your individual circumstances can make a big difference to the quotes you get:

Younger, inexperienced drivers generally pay more for their car insurance than older, more seasoned motorists.
Your driving history and where you live will also normally affect the cost of car insurance.

A typical annual insurance cost for the popular Mini Cooper S model is £658 per year, while the average cost of insuring a Mini One is £728*. A Clubman Cooper can on average cost just £437* to insure.

But if high performance and turbo-charged engines are what you’re looking for, insuring a sporty model such as the John Cooper Works could on average cost you £804*. Find out more about performance car insurance.

*These insurance prices are an annual average of all customer quotes between 01/09/22 – 31/10/22. This includes different locations, driving background and other factors. Your own quote could be cheaper or more expensive depending on your personal circumstances.

All information on this page was last reviewed on 11/11/2022.

Mini Cooper

2001 – present

The iconic Mini we all know and love is available as a three or five door hatchback. You'll come across it as a Mini Hatch, a Mini Cooper or a Mini One.

Although it might be the entry level Mini, there's still a lot to love about models at the cheaper end of the price spectrum. The design is still pretty sleek and you don't have to upgrade to sportier models for that famous 'go kart' handling and low centre of gravity.

The size of Mini hatchbacks have grown over the years too and the interior styling improved too, making it feel more like a 'baby BMW'.

Mini faces a lot of competition in this market from the likes of the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta, Audi A1 and SEAT Ibiza.

An entry level Mini 3 door hatch (Cooper Classic) currently starts at £22,565 or you can upgrade to the Mini Cooper Sport for £25,165. Expect to pay on average £698* to insure a Mini Cooper.

Mini Cooper S

1963 – present

The Mini Cooper S has always been a sporty car, tracing its routes back to Mini’s rally-winning days in the 1960s.

Mini launched the newest facelift of the car in 2021, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the first BMW Mini being assembled at its factory in Oxford.

The Cooper S comes with a powerful 2.0 litre turbocharged engine and six-speed manual gearbox as standard, with prices starting from £26,065.

You pay more to get a seven-speed automatic gearbox: the Mini 5-Door Hatch Cooper S Sport costs £30,805 on the road. You get a high-performance car, doing 0-62 mph in just 6.7 seconds and offering a top speed of 146 mph.

The Mini Cooper S competes with nippy compact cars such as the Ford Fiesta ST.

Insurance for a Cooper S typically costs around £658* a year.

Mini John Cooper Works

2008 - present

The John Cooper Works (JCW) is a range of high-performance Minis.

Each of the different Mini body styles has their own JCW version. These Minis are developed by John Cooper Works, an in-house company responsible for tuning and developing these special editions.

John Cooper Works was originally founded in 2002 by Michael Cooper, son of John Cooper, who developed the original Mini Cooper. Under BMW, Mini acquired the company in 2008 and soon launched the Mini John Cooper Works, with its impressive, turbocharged engine.

The latest model represents Mini’s third generation of JCWs, having upped the power and performance with each successive incarnation of the car. If you’re looking for a car with Mini’s most powerful engines, the John Cooper Works starts at about £32,195. The JCW is available as a 3-door Hatch, 5-door Hatch, Convertible, Clubman or Countryman.

All JCWs come with sports mode as standard while their aerodynamic design aren't just for looks. Sporty rear spoilers and front bumpers reduce drag and enhance the driving experience.

Insurance for a Mini John Cooper Works costs £804* on average.

Mini Convertible

1993 – present

With an electric roof, the Mini Convertible is a perfect choice for drivers who love the wind in their hair.

A convertible Mini was first offered by Rover in 1993, then known as the Mini Cabriolet. BMW’s Mini Convertible came on the scene in 2004 and is based on the three-door Mini Hatchback, with the Fiat 500c counting among its main rivals.

The Mini Convertible starts at £25,465, giving you the 1.5 Cooper Classic 2-door version, which comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine and manual gearbox.

If you’re prepared to splash out to get more power and high-performance, the Mini Convertible is also available as a two-door Cooper S Exclusive or John Cooper Works. Both come with manual or semi-automatic gearboxes, and are priced in the region of £31,090 to £38,145.

Insurance for a Mini Convertible varies quite a bit due to the wide range of models available and their varying price levels, though £597* is the average premium for a Mini Cooper Convertible.

Mini Countryman

2010 - present

As a small SUV, the Mini Countryman is larger than both the Mini Hatchback and the Mini Clubman estate.

If you want the freedom of going off road or think you want more peace of mind on those snowy days, you could opt for a Countryman with an electronically controlled ALL4 all-wheel-drive system. First introduced by Mini in 2010, it launched a second generation of the model in 2017 and subsequently gave the Countryman a facelift in 2020.

These days, there’s a lot of choice in the small SUV space, with the Mini Countryman pitted against the likes of the Volkswagen T-Roc, the Audi Q2, the Seat Arona and the Ford Puma.

The Mini Countryman starts from just under £29,000 for the 1.5 Cooper Classic 5dr model, with its 1.5 litre petrol engine and manual gearbox.

There are various pricier versions of the Mini Countryman if you are looking for more power such as the 5dr Mini Countryman Cooper S Exclusive edition which starts at just under £34,000.

You can also choose from various plug-in electric hybrid (PHEV) Mini Countryman models, which start at about £36,600.

Insurance costs on average £353* for a Countryman Cooper or £515* for a Countryman PHEV Cooper S E Classic ALL4.

Mini Clubman

1969 - present

The Clubman is one of the larger Minis, giving Mini a further foothold in the small-family car market. Volkswagen's Golf ranks among its main competitors.

The Mini Clubman was first launched in 1969 as British Leyland aimed to create a Mini with more space and improved styling. However, the current breed of the Mini Clubman was first launched by BMW in 2007, having last given the car a facelift in 2019.

The Clubman is essentially a small estate car, featuring its distinctive 'barn doors' at the rear. Rather than a typical estate with one large door opening upwards, the Clubman's boot is accessed by two doors that open outwards.

This is one of the most spacious cars in the Mini range and was the first BMW Mini to have a solid centre console between the front two seats.

The 6-door Clubman starts from upwards of £27,000 and typically features a 1.5 litre petrol engine and a manual or semi-automatic gearbox.

Insurance for a Mini Clubman Cooper Classic is £291* on average.

Mini history and facts

Minis were originally produced by England-based British Motor Corporation from 1959 and morphed into an iconic symbol of 1960s British culture. Though a tiny car, its space-saving engine meant a more substantial share of the floorplan could be used by passengers.

Throughout the 1960s, performance versions of the classic Mini, which were known as the Mini Cooper and Cooper S, won races and rallies, including the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally. Minis famously featured in the classic 1960s film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine, with the racier versions of the Mini used to pull off a daring heist.

The first Mini models under the ownership of BMW were introduced in 2001, departing from the classic two-door Mini with a hatchback format.

Mini has launched numerous models and facelifts over the past 20 years, making the car available as either a hardtop or cabriolet, and reviving Mini's racing heritage with more sporty versions of the car that offer powerful engines.

Under BMW's reign, Minis have become significantly bigger, with the range including hatchbacks, estate cars and small SUVs, making the Mini a more practical option as a family car than before.

BMW has mainly produced Minis at its factory in Cowley, Oxford, though SUV versions have been built elsewhere, with the Countryman assembled at a BMW facility in the Netherlands. The 10 millionth Mini rolled off the production line in Cowley in 2019, marking the Mini's 60th anniversary.

The great deal of choice BMW has brought to the Mini proposition means that the Mini stable varies quite a lot on price, as well as on insurance costs for motorists. You can still buy the more expensive petrol Minis with their turbocharged engines, but Mini now offers all-electric and plug-in hybrid models as well.