UK Car Insurance Groups

How Car Group ratings are arrived at and what does it mean to you

Car insurance groups offer a method of rating cars that are mass manufactured and sold in the UK for insurance purposes. The ratings take into account a range of information about the specification of each model and assesses it against a scale of 1 to 20. This scale represents the relative risk-cost to the insurer, 1 being the lowest risk and 20 being the highest. This is important to car insurance providers because more than half the claim payouts in any year are spent on vehicle repairs.

The car insurance group rating for a given specification of car is one of the factors taken into account when calculating you’re your premium. Therefore if you want to keep your car insurance costs down it makes sense to consider a vehicle with a low group rating as possible.

The factors considered in reaching a given car’s rating are detailed below.

Amount of damage and cost of parts
An assessment is made of the likely extent of damage in regular forms of accident and the cost of the parts required to carry out a repair. If the unit cost of these parts is high or the design of the model means there is complex damage with many parts required then the group rating is likely to be higher.

Ease of repair
The design complexity of the bodywork and mechanical components will impact the amount of time required for mechanics to repair the car, as will the style of paint finish. The longer a repair is likely to take, the higher the impact the insurance group number.

New car costs
As one of the claim options many insurance companies have is to replace a car if written-off in the first year, the cost of a replacement is an important factor. It has also proved an accurate indicator of repair costs.

Body shell costs
The actual availability of various body parts (chassis and peripheral parts such as wing pressings and bumpers) is important. Undue delays in obtaining parts for repairs will impact the overall claim cost.

Performance characteristics
The acceleration and maximum speed profile of a car has a strong connection with the likelihood of being involved in an accident according to statistics produced within the insurance industry. Because of this performance cars are likely to have a higher group rating.

Manufacturers’ Car Security
The security systems fitted to a vehicle as new can dramatically affect the likelihood of theft of car. Manufacturers’ security can vary from security coded audio systems, window etching and alloy wheel locks to high grade alarms and door locks, vehicle immobilisers and visible vehicle identification numbers. Cars with more effective fitted security are likely to attract a lower insurance group rating.

The above factors are combined to reach the car insurance group for each specification of vehicle. It is clear that the any model of car can have a range of groups dependent upon its body type e.g. saloon, estate, hatchback or cabriolet, the engine specification which may vary from a standard commuting LX type to a sporty GTi, and whether the model is still in manufacture for parts e.g. Rover.

The group rating for any given car is an advisory guide to the insurance industry of the risk associated with that individual vehicle. The weighting given to that rating is the responsibility of the insurance company to determine when calculating your premium.

A complete list of vehicles that have been allocated a group rating can be found on the Association of British Insurers dedicated site.