Car Insurance ratings explained

When you buy a new car you have to consider the cost of motor car insurance – but when you see the insurance rating number for the car you have in mind, what are the implications for you in terms of cost?

What do the car insurance ratings mean?
Most new cars fall into an insurance group. The ratings range from 1 to 20. The lower the rating, the lower the insurance premium because they it is a lower risk car. The ratings don't cover specials, such as kit cars, imports and conversions.

Insurance group ratings are purely for guidance and insurers don't have to follow them rigidly. However, most car insurers will take them into account alongside their own records of any previous claims and risks for that particular car when they set your insurance premiums.
All else being equal, the insurance group assigned to a particular car model can give you a good idea of the relative cost of insurance. So, if there's more than one car on your shortlist and you're on a tight budget, the insurance group may be an area to look at.

The insurance group for a particular model takes account of:

• the car's price when new
• performance – image, top speed and time taken to go from 0 to 60mph
• repair costs – labour and parts following a standard low-speed (15km/h) impact test
• body shell – availability and price
• parts prices – associated with more severe collisions

What difference in the price of car insurance?
The truth is, it depends on the insurer and the best way is to get some prices from insurers. Fortunately our on-line tool allows the true comparison of insurance costs.  Insurewith lets you compare car insurance quotes and find the cheapest insurance by using car insurance tool. This tool allows you to find the cheapest insurance deals at any moment in time and get free car insurance quotes in the UK.  It is crucial that you use a tool like this to get the best car insurance quote as prices vary over time.