Car insurance groups explained

Published on 30 May 2024

Different vehicles need different insurance but how do we work out what it’ll cost from one type of car to the next? A lot has to do with car insurance groups. The group your car belongs to is one of the things used to calculate your insurance premium.

We’ll cover what you need to know about the different car insurance groups and what they mean to help you make an informed decision when choosing your next vehicle.

The car insurance groups system is officially called the ABI Group Rating. It was established by the insurance industry to help companies classify different vehicles when costing up insurance cover. There are more than 50 groups in the system, and every vehicle registered in the UK is assigned to one of them.

Vehicles in group one are the cheapest to insure, while those in group 50 are the most expensive. We’ve grouped them below into tens and given examples of typical cars at the higher and lower end across each group range as an example:

  • 1 to 10: Lower end Citroen C1 / higher end Fiat 500
  • 11 to 20: Lower end Audi A2 / higher end Ford C-Max
  • 21 to 30: Lower end Honda Accord / higher end Volkswagen Golf 
  • 31 to 40: Lower end Mazda MX5 / higher end Volvo S60 
  • 41 to 50: Lower end Land Rover Discovery / higher end Porsche Boxster 

Who set up the system?

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Lloyds Market Association (LMA) established the car insurance grouping system. They meet regularly to decide which insurance group any new cars should be attributed to. The system was set up to give insurers an accurate idea of how repair costs differ across different types of car. 

How does it work? 

Every time a new car gets a rating, it’s added to the Group Rating System managed by Thatcham Research. This system tells insurers and car dealerships which insurance group a vehicle’s in. Thatcham’s engineers use complex technology to work out the cost and time it would take to repair a vehicle after a collision at 15km per hour.

Can I check my car insurance group?

Yes, you can easily find out what group a particular vehicle is in by checking online. The Thatcham website has a handy tool where you can search by:

  • Manufacturer, i.e. Audi  
  • Model, i.e. Golf 
  • Year, i.e. 2017-2020
Car insurance groups directly affect how much you pay for your insurance. If you’re buying a new car and working with a certain budget, insurance groups are a great way to create a shortlist of cars to consider.

For example, if you’re a younger driver looking for the most affordable way to get on the road, you’ll want to consider vehicles in the lower groups – from 1 to 10. Where budget is less of a concern but you’re trying to choose between a few bigger, more powerful cars, the higher groups will help refine your search.

Car insurance groups were created to help insurers create fair and accurate premiums for drivers. One of the main things the groups help to predict is the cost of repairing a vehicle after an accident. But there are other factors, too.

The experts who work out the ABI Group Rating also consider:

  • New car value: The showroom price is important to make sure an insurance company sets the right premium for a potential write-off (or total loss) of the vehicle. Cars with greater value indicate one of the higher car insurance groups.
  • Cost of parts: Insurers will generally try to repair a car (where possible) and the cost of parts for that specific vehicle affects the car insurance group it’s placed in. Cheaper parts mean a lower group.
  • Repair times: Mechanics’ labour is another thing to think about. Certain jobs will take longer on some cars than others because of the vehicle’s design. The longer repairs can take, the higher the group.
  •  Brakes: Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) can monitor the road up to 200m ahead (even in fog and rain) so reduces a vehicle’s chances of being in a collision. That’s why cars fitted with AEB systems are likely to get a lower insurance group.
If you’re considering buying a new car and want to make car insurance groups part of your process to find the right vehicle, our handy table of car insurance groups by vehicle model should help.

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Car insurance groups Vehicle make and model
1-10 Fiat Panda Active, Citroen C1, Skoda Fabia Classic, Citroen C3, Ford Fiesta, Fiat 500
11-20 Audi A2, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Audi A1, Citroen C4, Ford C-Max
21-30 Audi A3, BMW 118, Citroen C5, BMW X1, Ford Escort, Volkswagen Golf
31-40 Mazda MX-5, Mercedes-Benz CLK, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf Hatchback, Volvo S60
41-50 Porsche Cayman, Subaru Impreza Saloon, Honda Legend Saloon, Audi TT Roadster, Ford Mustang, Porsche Boxster
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