The Best Way To Check What Insurance Group Is My Car [[ Affordable Car Insurance ]]

The Best Way To Check What Insurance Group Is My Car

There are several different ways to find out exactly what insurance group your car or a car you are looking to buy is classified in. The new car insurance groupings are in place to provide a more accurate way of rating vehicles for car insurance purposes . However it must be remembered this is only a guide for the car insurance companies to use and the group that your car is actually in with one insurer may be different from another insurer. The best way to check is to ask your car insurance company which group they have allocated to your car . snjauto.blogspot.com

When shopping around for the best deal on your car insurance and getting motor insurance quotes you can ask the insurance company to confirm the grouping at the quotation stage. You may find that the difference in groupings will mean a difference in the premiums for the insurance between companies. You can also use the insurance comparison sites for this as well as they have sections for checking the groupings with the various insurance providers.

Why It Is Important To Know What Insurance Group Is My Car

Here you will find information on what car insurance groups are and how important it can be to find out what insurance group is my car in when it comes to paying your car insurance premiums each year.

There is now a new insurance group system which is claimed to make car insurance premiums more accurate to the type of car you drive . [[ Car Insurance Guide Tips ]] How to Get Cheap Car Insurance | How to Get Affordable Car Insurance

The old system had 20 groupings for all UK cars , this has now been updated with a new 50 group system which is designed to provide more accurate insurance premiums . It has been calculated that most premiums should be pretty much on a par with the old 20 group system.

Thatcham, the specialist motor insurance repair research centre, has provided the data for the new groupings and points out  that the previous 20 groups were too narrow to really reflect the actual cost of repairing certain vehicles. This was especially true when considering more niche cars like small people carriers and off road cars. Now using the updated 50 groups will more accurately reflect how much a car costs to repair following an accident. Autos Insurance Policy On The Web | Auto Insurance Coverage & Car Insurance Quotes

The majority of cars have now seen the insurance group they are in roughly double in number.

To give an example, a Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi ECOnetic three-door hatchback used to be a group 4 in the old groupings and this is now in group 11 on the new system.

To give a guide Thatcham have said that in general if the car insurance group your car is in has roughly doubled in number then your car insurance premiums should not change that much. If the change in groups is more than double then your car insurance may very well cost more in premiums. Conversely if the change in car insurance groups  is less than double this may well mean your insurance will probably be cheaper.

The new car insurance groups  went live on January 1st 2010 following a 2 year period when the insurance companies were introducing gradually alongside the old insurance groups.

Car Insurance Groups Explained

Over half of all money paid out in motor insurance claims goes on repairing cars.

The cost of spare parts and the times taken by repairers are therefore major factors in pricing motor insurance.

The factors used to calculate group ratings are:

• Damage and Parts Costs – The likely extent of damage to each car model and the cost of the parts involved in its repair. The lower these costs, the more likelihood there is of a lower group rating.
• Repair Times – Longer repair times mean higher costs and the greater likelihood of a higher group rating. Different paint finishes on modern cars are an important factor, so these too are taken into account.
• New Car Values – The prices of new cars are taken into account as they are often a good guide to the cost of replacement and repair.
• Parts Prices – A standard list of 23 common parts is used to compare one manufacturers parts costs to another. The lower these costs, the more likelihood there is of a lower group rating.
• Performance – Acceleration and top speed are important factors. Insurers know very well, from their claims statistics, that high performance cars often result in more frequent insurance claims.
• Car Security – Security features fitted as standard equipment by motor manufacturers can help to reduce insurance claims costs. Such features include high security door locks, alarm/immobilisation systems, glass etching, coded audio equipment, locking devices for alloy wheels and visible VIN numbers.
• Recommended Group Ratings

The group ratings are recommendations only. Individual insurers will generally use these ratings as a key input to their underwriting process but will also take account of their own claims experience to guide their pricing decisions. Direct General Auto Insurance: Getting To Know The Facts

Car Insurance Groups Suffix Codes (A, D, E, U, P, G) Explained

Attached to most of the advisory group ratings is a suffix, which illustrates the level of security fitted as standard to that vehicle. The level is group dependent and the requirements increase along with the group. (The higher the group, the higher the level of security required.) A further explanation of the suffix follows: -

A = Meets security requirement for this group.

D = Does not meet the security requirement for a car of this type and the group rating has therefore been increased. (e.g. A group 9 car where the security requirement is not up to Thatcham’s minimum standard for that group will be listed as a 10D.)

E = Exceeds security requirement for a car of this type and the group rating has therefore been reduced. (e.g. A group 9 car where the security requirement exceeds Thatcham’s minimum standard for that group will be listed as an 8E.)

(It will be seen from the above that the level of security on a vehicle could result in a two group differential between otherwise identical models.)

P = Provisional – This is used in cases where the data for group rating was incomplete at time of launch.

U = Cases where the level of security for the model concerned is regarded as Unacceptable. This does not mean that the car will be uninsurable but consumers should be aware that individual insurers may insist on the security being upgraded before providing cover.

G = Import – Insurance Group Ratings are currently only allocated to vehicles built for the UK market, although our data will list vehicles that are classed as imports. These fall into two categories: -

Parallel Imports – these are vehicles that are built for and sold in Europe and will conform to European Whole Vehicle Type Approval requirements.

Grey Imports – these are mainly vehicles that are built specifically for other, non-EU, markets and are unlikely to conform to European Whole Vehicle Type Approval. Cheap Car Insurance | Tips to Get Cheap Car Insurance