How many car insurance groups are there and what do they mean?

In the UK there are 50 different car insurance groups with 50 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. The lowest car insurance group generally offers the cheapest car insurance premiums.

When a new passenger car is built in the UK it is reviewed and classified by the Group Rating Panel who meet on a monthly basis. The panel is made up of members from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Lloyds Market Association (LMA). When the group meet then review certain aspects of the car and then give an indication of risk to insurance companies, they take into account such aspects as:

• The cost of replacement parts following damage
• The cost of buying the car new
• The car’s performance
• The car’s level of security
• Body shell availability
• The average repair time of the car

It is worth noting that the proposed groupings aren’t binding, but are merely recommendations.Basically, in a nut shell it means that the higher the insurance group, the more risk you pose to an insurer and so, in most cases, the more likely your insurance premium is to be higher.