Car insurance groups

Every model of car available for sale in the UK is allocated to a car insurance group by the Group Rating Panel (GRP), which is made up of members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Lloyds Market Association. These ratings are purely advisory, but are used by car insurance companies to calculate the insurance premiums they will offer to their customers.

There GRP currently has twenty different insurance groups to choose from, numbered between 1 and 20. Cars which are in group 1 are generally the cheapest to insure as they are considered to be a lower risk by the insurers. Meanwhile, vehicles classified into insurance group 20 are the most expensive to insure as these are generally higher performance vehicles, whose owners are therefore statistically more likely to have an accident and make a claim.

The majority of family cars like the Vauxhall Astra or Ford Focus tend to fall somewhere between insurance group 6 and 12, but how does the Group Rating Panel decide upon the appropriate group number to allocate to a particular model of car? 

How are the group ratings calculated for each model of car?

One of the more controversial factors used by insurers to calculate premiums is the statistical likelihood of the owner of a particular make of car (i.e. Ford Fiesta etc) making a claim. However, the majority of the insurance calculation is based on the insurance group rating to which the vehicle has been assigned by the Group Rating Panel. 

Below is the list of variables which the Group Rating Panel use to decide which group to assign a vehicle to:

The cost of damage and parts – this is the most obvious factor; the lower the costs, the lower the group rating is likely to be.

Repair times – longer repair times are more expensive and lead to a higher group rating. Foreign cars (i.e. those manufactured outside the UK) or more ‘exotic’ models therefore tend to have a higher rating. Different paint finishes can also contribute to a car’s placement in a higher group.

New car values – the prices of new cars can be a useful indicator to replacement costs. A luxury model in the £25,000 price bracket is more likely to reside in a higher group than a family car costing less than £10,000 new.

Body shells – the availability of the body shell (or basic frame) of the car is important because it is essential in many accidental damage repairs. Again foreign cars or non-standard cars are in the higher groups.

Performance – the higher the performance and speed of the car, the more risk there is of theft or accident, which leads to a higher group rating.

Car security – security features can reduce insurance claims, so standard fitted security features can lead to a lower group rating. The kind of features that can make a difference are high security door locks, glass etching, alarm systems and immobilisers, locking devices for wheels and visible Vehicle Identification Numbers.

If you want to keep the cost of your car insurance premium down, choose a car with a low group rating. You can ask a dealer which models belong to which groups; consult car magazines, or do a search on the Association of British Insurers. Choosing a car from one of the lower rated groups may mean that your running costs are less too.

Here is a list provided by moneysupermarket.com which provides an overview of group ratings allocated to some of the most popular vehicles in the UK and the likely approximate insurance costs that this will attract. This helps to illustrate that insurance group rating is not the only variable considered by insurers and that it is therefore best to also run car insurance quotes for the vehicles you are considering before making a purchase decision:

Group 1 Car Insurance - Recommended

Group 2 Car Insurance - Recommended

Group 3 Car Insurance - Recommended

Group 6 Car Insurance

Group 8 Car Insurance

Group 10 Car Insurance

Group 12 Car Insurance

Group 14 Car Insurance

Group 16 Car Insurance

Group 18 Car Insurance

Group 19 Car Insurance

Group 20 Car Insurance

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