Car Insurance Groups and Categories in 2024

With soaring car insurance prices in 2024 it is more important than ever to understand what cars will be cheaper than others to insure. And to understand that, you need to know all about car insurance groups...

What are Car Insurance Groups?

Car Insurance Groups are a way of classifying vehicles, based on risk assessment, primarily used by insurance companies to price the insurance correctly and fairly for different vehicles. This risk assessment is based on a multitude of factors, and they group all cars into a car insurance group between 1 and 50. These car insurance groups are then one of a multitude of other factors that insurance companies use to assess your overall car insurance premium. Still following? Read on…

What are the cheapest car insurance groups?

The cheapest car insurance groups are the lower insurance groups, 1 being the lowest. Generally, car insurance groups 1-10 or 1-15 are considered quite low risk, and often therefore quite cheap to insure. These cars include cars with smaller engines, more safety features, cheaper cars to purchase, and with more common and cheap repair parts. You can read our full page on the cheapest cars to insure to find out more about what cars are classified into the lowest car insurance groups.

The table below shows the price range for temporary car insurance, for different car groups. As you can see, the price goes up as the car insurance group goes up.

The following table shows the average annual premium for cars based on car groups. Obviously insurance is affected by many factors, not just car group, so keep this in mind when prices might vary for you.

What Car Insurance Group is my car in?

You can find out what car insurance group your car is in online through any one of many car insurance group lookups. This can give you an idea of how much your insurance might be, relative to what it could be on a cheaper or more expensive car!

How many car insurance groups are there?

There are 50 car insurance groups, between 1-50. There used to be only 20 car insurance groups, which worked roughly in the same way in assessing the risk for cars and helping insurance companies fairly price their cover. However, 20 groups was a little restrictive, and 50 groups allows for more nuance and more accurate prices according to each vehicle’s risk assessment.

How do insurance companies decide car groups?

Most insurance companies do not themselves decide what car goes into what car group. They are mostly assessed by the Group Rating Panel, which includes members of the ABI (Association of British Insurers), Lloyd’s Market Association, and Thatcham. Between these, they collect risk assessment data, and divide each vehicle into a group, based on a number of factors that assess their potential risk, chance of accidents, cost of repairs, and all the other factors that influence these risks. Based on their results, they then put each car into a car insurance group from 1-50. 1 being the lowest risk vehicle, and 50 being the highest risk vehicle. Remember, highest risk doesn’t necessarily mean unsafe to drive, it might be heavily impacted by expensive car parts or large engines.

Are van insurance groups different?

Yes, van insurance groups work like the old car insurance groups used to work from 1-20. In the same way, lower van insurance groups are cheaper than higher van insurance groups. They are also based on the same factors as cars:

• Cost of Repairs: The availability and cost of parts that might be needed to repair any damage caused in an accident
• Performance: The engine size and performance of vans will influence what group it falls in.
• Security and Safety: Security features and safety mechanisms are also taken into account when grouping vans

You can find out what insurance group your van falls in using a lookup tool in the same way as you can with car insurance groups.