What Factors Contribute To A Car" s Insurance Group?
Every car in the UK falls into one of the 50 different insurance groups, with group 1 having the cheapest premiums and group 50 having the most expensive. There are several key considerations when it comes to deciding what insurance group a certain car will be placed in. Each of these factors can either increase or decrease the chance that an insurance claim will be made. The lower the chance of a claim is, the lower the insurance group and visa-versa.
1) Performance
High performance cars are riskier to insure than lower performance cars as not only are they more likely to get into an accident, but they incur greater payouts when they do. This is because their quick acceleration and high speeds result in greater damages.
Not only speed but also a vehicle's weight comes under consideration when a car is being placed into an insurance group. Heavier cars carry more inertia and so are also more likely to cause greater damage, especially to other cars.
2) Cost/Availability of Parts
The higher the cost of parts from the manufacturer, the more the insurance company has to pay for parts that need to be replaced. The availability of parts is also a factor, as those that must be shipped from far away will be more expensive. Though different cars may have some different parts, there are 26 standard parts that can be used to compare among different makes and models.
4) Cost of Time/Labour for Repairs
The longer a car takes to fix and the more labour it requires, the more repairs will cost after parts have come in. For example, a turbocharger engine can be more powerful than a regular engine and provide better performance. However, if something goes wrong and you are in need of repairs, then it will also be more expensive to fix than a regular engine. Special paint finishes can also require more time and labour.
5) Car Security
Having good car security features mean that you will probably be making less claims for a stolen car or for one damaged in an attack. This in turn means less risk for insurance companies and lower premiums. Cars that come with standards security features such as alarms and immobilisers will be placed in a lower insurance group.
6) The New Car Value
The new price of a car is a big factor in its insurance group placing. First of all, the more expensive it is when new, the more likely it is to have a higher performance, more expensive parts, higher costs for repair, and better security features. The new car price is an overall indicator of the various costs that it could incur.
The new car price also determines how much insurance would have to pay out if a car becomes a write-off. Since this means that insurance has to pay for a replacement, a car that is initially more expensive becomes riskier to insure than a cheaper one.
7) The Likelihood of a Claim
Finally, all of these factors contribute to the one overarching factor which is the likelihood of a claim being made. If you have spent a lot of money on your car, if it is a high-performance vehicle that you keep running in good shape with a lot of maintenance, and if you intend to keep it in top shape, then you are much more likely to make a claim in the event of damages.
This is compared to a car wasn't so expensive to begin with and which you may not have poured a lot of money into. If a car such as this gets damaged then the owner might decide that it wouldn't be worthwhile to risk raising one's insurance premiums, and to simply leave the damage if it isn't too bad or to pay for it out of pocket.
If you are looking for cheap car insurance premiums then you need to be looking for a car that falls into one of the lower insurance groups. This doesn't mean that it has to be so cheap so as to be unsafe to drive. You just need to make sure to get a car that is reasonably priced when new, that won't incur high repair costs, that comes with security features, and that maybe doesn't hit the sorts of top speeds which you won't need to hit in your daily life anyway.
1) Performance
High performance cars are riskier to insure than lower performance cars as not only are they more likely to get into an accident, but they incur greater payouts when they do. This is because their quick acceleration and high speeds result in greater damages.
Not only speed but also a vehicle's weight comes under consideration when a car is being placed into an insurance group. Heavier cars carry more inertia and so are also more likely to cause greater damage, especially to other cars.
2) Cost/Availability of Parts
The higher the cost of parts from the manufacturer, the more the insurance company has to pay for parts that need to be replaced. The availability of parts is also a factor, as those that must be shipped from far away will be more expensive. Though different cars may have some different parts, there are 26 standard parts that can be used to compare among different makes and models.
4) Cost of Time/Labour for Repairs
The longer a car takes to fix and the more labour it requires, the more repairs will cost after parts have come in. For example, a turbocharger engine can be more powerful than a regular engine and provide better performance. However, if something goes wrong and you are in need of repairs, then it will also be more expensive to fix than a regular engine. Special paint finishes can also require more time and labour.
5) Car Security
Having good car security features mean that you will probably be making less claims for a stolen car or for one damaged in an attack. This in turn means less risk for insurance companies and lower premiums. Cars that come with standards security features such as alarms and immobilisers will be placed in a lower insurance group.
6) The New Car Value
The new price of a car is a big factor in its insurance group placing. First of all, the more expensive it is when new, the more likely it is to have a higher performance, more expensive parts, higher costs for repair, and better security features. The new car price is an overall indicator of the various costs that it could incur.
The new car price also determines how much insurance would have to pay out if a car becomes a write-off. Since this means that insurance has to pay for a replacement, a car that is initially more expensive becomes riskier to insure than a cheaper one.
7) The Likelihood of a Claim
Finally, all of these factors contribute to the one overarching factor which is the likelihood of a claim being made. If you have spent a lot of money on your car, if it is a high-performance vehicle that you keep running in good shape with a lot of maintenance, and if you intend to keep it in top shape, then you are much more likely to make a claim in the event of damages.
This is compared to a car wasn't so expensive to begin with and which you may not have poured a lot of money into. If a car such as this gets damaged then the owner might decide that it wouldn't be worthwhile to risk raising one's insurance premiums, and to simply leave the damage if it isn't too bad or to pay for it out of pocket.
If you are looking for cheap car insurance premiums then you need to be looking for a car that falls into one of the lower insurance groups. This doesn't mean that it has to be so cheap so as to be unsafe to drive. You just need to make sure to get a car that is reasonably priced when new, that won't incur high repair costs, that comes with security features, and that maybe doesn't hit the sorts of top speeds which you won't need to hit in your daily life anyway.
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