AUTOMOBILE manufacturers and the leading insurers in the United Kingdom meet from time to time to assign what is known as ‘group insurance rating’ to the different cars and light commercial vehicles in the country. These ratings indicate the risk assessment of each car model, hence enable insurers to decide the premium price for each model. The insurance group rating system is widely used by insurers in the United Kingdom though the system is not binding on them.
The factors that decide a car’s insurance group rating are: car make, model, type, series, cubic capacity, and manufacturing year.
STRUCTURE OF RATINGS: Insurance group ratings have a numeric component and an alphabetical component. It is the numeric component that indicates the risk assessment, hence premium. The numerics range from ‘1’ to ’20’. Higher the numer, higher the risk assessment, hence higher the premium to be paid.
MOST POPULAR RATINGS: Let’s now look at the most popular car insurance group rating in the United Kingdom. We shall judge this by looking at the most popular cars in the market today and their corresponding insurance group ratings in brackets. They are as follows;
* Ford Focus: ( 4-17)
* Volkswagen Golf (4-18)
* Ford Fiesta (3-13)
* Vauxhall Corsa (1-4)
* Renault Clio (1-4)
* Honda Civic (4-17)
* Audi A3 (9-18)
* Ford Mondeo (8-16)
* Vauxhall Zafira (5-15)
* BMW 3 Series Saloon (8-12)
* Vauxhall Vectra (9-18)
* Vauxhall Astra 5 Door Hatch (4-11)
* Toyota Yaris (1-4)
* Peugeot 206 (1-4)
* Volkswagen Passat (8-12)
* BMW 3-Series Coupe (8-12)
* Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch (4-11)
* Citroen C4 Picasso (6-9)
* Audi A-4 Saloon (8-12)
It follows from the above there is no single most-popular insurance group rating of cars in the United Kingdom. However, it can be surmised that the group ratings from 4 to 11 are the most popular.