What insurance group is my car in, and how much does it matter?

Every car sold in the UK is placed in one of 50 insurance groups. Group 1 is the cheapest to insure, group 50 the most expensive, and the number is decided before you ever ask for a quote. Knowing the group before you buy a car is the single easiest way to avoid a premium surprise, and checking it takes a registration number.

How to find the group

Three ways, in order of speed:

1. Enter the registration into the checker above, or into Rooster’s car check, which returns the group alongside the MOT history, tax status and mileage record.
2. Look it up on the Thatcham Research or Parkers websites by make, model and trim. You need the exact variant; the group for a 1.0 litre and a 2.0 litre version of the same hatchback can differ by fifteen places.
3. Ask an insurer for a quote. The group appears on some quote documents, though not all.

The V5C does not show it. Neither does the MOT certificate. It is not a DVLA number; it belongs to the insurance industry.

Who sets the groups and what they measure

Thatcham Research runs the Group Rating Panel on behalf of the Association of British Insurers and Lloyd’s Market Association. The panel assesses every new model before launch and assigns it a group from 1 to 50. The assessment looks at:

• Repair cost. The biggest factor. Thatcham crash-tests the car at low speed and prices the repair using manufacturer parts and labour times. A car that needs a new bumper, headlamp and radiator after a 15 km/h impact scores badly.
• Parts prices. The cost of 23 common replacement parts, compared across models.
• Performance. Acceleration and top speed, because faster cars are involved in more expensive claims.
• Security. Alarm, immobiliser, locking and key security. Good security lowers the group; poor security raises it.
• New car value and bumper compatibility, with a small weight on each.

The panel assigns the group to the model and trim, not to your individual car. Two owners of the same car in the same trim have the same group whatever they do to it, unless they modify it, which is a separate conversation covered in our modifications guide.

The letters after the number

Most groups carry a letter suffix, and the letters tell you about security.

• E means the car exceeds the security standard for its group and has been moved down a group as a result.
• A means it meets the standard.
• D means it falls short and has been moved up a group.
• P means the rating is provisional because the car was assessed before all the data was available.
• U means the security is unacceptable for the group and insurers may require improvements before covering it.

So a 12E is a car that would have been group 13 on repair costs but earned a discount for good security. A 12D was an 11 that lost a group for poor security.

How much the group moves your premium

Less than most people expect, and less than it used to. The group is one input among many. Your age, your postcode, your claims history, how the car is kept, your mileage and your job all carry weight, and our guide to what affects your car insurance premium ranks them. For a 45-year-old with a clean record in a low-crime postcode, moving from a group 8 car to a group 20 car might add a couple of hundred pounds a year. For a 17-year-old in an inner-city postcode the same move can double a premium, because every risk factor is being multiplied together.

That is why the group matters most for young drivers. Our guides to the cheapest cars to insure for new drivers and the cheapest first cars to insure are largely lists of group 1 to 5 cars for that reason.

Telematics changes the arithmetic a little. With insurance priced on how you drive, the car’s group still sets the starting point, but a good driving score pulls the price down from there in a way that a conventional policy cannot.

Groups by type of car

As a rough guide to where cars fall:

• Groups 1 to 5: small city cars with small engines. Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10, VW Up, Toyota Aygo, Skoda Citigo. The group 1 list is short and changes as models are updated.
• Groups 6 to 15: superminis and small family cars in ordinary trims. Fiesta, Polo, Corsa, Focus 1.0, Golf 1.0.
• Groups 16 to 25: larger family cars, mid-size SUVs, warm hatches. Qashqai, Golf 1.5 and 2.0, most 3 Series and A4 diesels.
• Groups 26 to 35: performance versions and premium SUVs. Golf GTI, Focus ST, larger Mercedes and BMW models.
• Groups 36 to 50: high-performance and luxury cars. Golf R and above, M and AMG cars, anything with a large engine and a high list price.

Electric cars tend to sit higher than an equivalent petrol car because battery repairs are expensive and parts are still pricey; our electric car insurance guide explains why a small EV can land in the 20s.

Frequently asked questions

Is a lower insurance group always cheaper?

For the same driver, yes. But the driver factors are usually larger than the car factors, so a group 10 car in a bad postcode can cost more to insure than a group 20 car in a good one. See how postcode affects your premium.

Can I check an insurance group by registration?

Yes. The checker on this page and Rooster’s car check both return the group from the registration.

Do insurance groups change?

Rarely for an existing model, though a facelift or a security change can move it. New models are rated before launch.

Is there a group 0?

No. The scale runs from 1 to 50.

What group is best for a new driver?

As low as possible, and ideally under 10. The cars in groups 1 to 5 are almost all sensible first cars for exactly that reason.

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