Your insurance group rating

how important is it to your car insurance policy?

 

A number of factors will determine the cost of your motor insurance quote including the extent of coverage, policy excess, age and profession of the drivers, usage, your no claims discount and so on.

 

When calculating policy rates, the information that insurance companies have collected over the decades is crunched into "actuarial tables". The underwriters for each car insurance company, such as Yes Insurance, a wealth of statistical information from this that they calculate the likely risk/cost of insuring a particular vehicle for a particular individual.
 
One of the leading issues is the car insurance band.

 

The ABI (Association of British Insurers) is the body that advises on the car insurance groups used by insurers to work out premiums. They assign each new model to a group from 1 to 20. Cars in the lowest groups are those that the ABI believes will cost insurers less in insurance claims.

 

Cars in the highest groups, typically high performance models are likely to cost insurers the most in insurance claims. – Ratings depend mostly on the engine size and weight of the car, but can also factor in other things such as cost of replacement parts and the probability of theft.

 

For example, categories range from Group 1 for a Fiat Panda through to Group 20 for a Porsche 911.

 

Recently it’s been decided that cars will now being assigned to a new set of 50 groups, alongside the existing 20. The move to 50 groups enables each model of car to be more accurately banded with similar cars. Looking up a car on the ABI database you will now find group numbers out of 20 and 50 for many models. This is particularly worth knowing when you’re looking for used cars online at sites like Fish4.

 

According to the ABI, the cost of motor vehicle repairs accounts for over half of all the money paid out in motor insurance claims. It's no surprise that repair costs largely influence how the groups are defined.

 

Your car will be given a specific ranking based on the level of risk involved with each car type and model. The ABI consider risk in a number of ways.

 

This covers the probable extent of damage to each model and the cost of parts needed in its repair. The lower the costs, the lower the group rating.

 

Longer repair times mean higher costs and the greater likelihood of a higher group rating. Unusual and different paint finishes on modern cars that may require specialist attention is an important factor; these are also taken into account.

 

The prices of new cars are taken into account, as they are often a good guide to the cost of replacement and repair.

 

The availability of body shells essential for certain accidental damage repairs is taken into account in group ratings.

 

Acceleration and top speed are important factors as is the weight of a car. Claim statistics clearly reveal that high performance cars often result in more frequent insurance claims.