UK Car Insurance Groups Explained

Whether you decide to buy or lease a car, we understand that running a vehicle can be costly, especially for younger or first-time drivers, whose insurance tends to be higher. 

Younger drivers particularly bear the brunt of high motoring costs, as age and inexperience are significant factors in determining just how risky a driver is. 

So how can you ensure you keep insurance costs as low as possible when car leasing? Picking a car with a low car insurance group may be the answer. 

In this handy guide to UK car insurance groups, we explain how car insurance groups work, how the group rating system is calculated and which car insurance groups will help keep your overall car costs as low as possible. 

A car insurance group rating is an advisory system used to show the relative risk of a car. The rating system, created by Thatcham Research, scores cars from Group 1 (usually cheapest to insure) to Group 50 (usually most expensive). 

• High-performance cars and vehicles that are expensive to repair will fall under higher insurance group
• Smaller, lower-powered cars with strong safety and security kit often sit in lower groups

That said, groups are not the same as your final price. Your premium still depends heavily on your postcode, mileage, age, licence length, and driving history.

In simple terms, insurers care about two things:

• How likely a car is to be involved in a claim
• How expensive that claim is likely to be

So cars are rated using a mix of:

• Engineering factors (what it’s like to repair, how it performs, how it’s built)
• Real-world risk signals (how often it’s stolen, how often it’s involved in costly claims)

As a rule of thumb: higher group = higher premium.

• Cars in Group 1 are usually considered lower risk (often smaller, less powerful, and cheaper to fix) 
• Cars in Group 50 are typically high performance and/or expensive to repair

But, your premium will still depend on personal circumstances. For example, an experienced driver in a low-risk postcode will usually get a very different price to a newly qualified driver in a high-risk area, even if they're insuring the same car. 

If you want a cheap lease deal that isn't in a lower car insurance groups, there are several measures you can take to help reduce your insurance costs. 

Sometimes, but not always in the way people expect.

Older cars can be cheaper to insure because:

• They’re often worth less
• Replacement costs can be lower
• Parts may be simpler (depending on the model)

Older cars can also be more expensive to insure if:

• They lack modern safety and security features
• Parts are harder to source
• They’re more likely to be stolen (some older models are popular targets)

Fancy a used lease car? Nationwide Vehicle Contracts is a leading UK used car leasing broker, offering affordable deals on a range of pre-leased cars. Browse our second-hand lease deals today. 

Typically, the cheapest cars to insure are: 

• lower-powered, non-sport trims
• widely available models with common parts (cheaper, faster repairs)
• cars with strong safety and security kit as standard
• vehicles with lower theft appeal

Examples for younger drivers include: 

• Hyundai i10
• Seat Ibiza
• Dacia Sandero
• Skoda Fabia
• Volkswagen Polo

Car insurance groups are a simple way to screen out expensive-to-insure cars before you go any further. If you want to keep costs down as a younger driver, focus on:

• Lower group cars first
• Sensible trims and engines
• Comparing quotes on the exact version
• And building safer driving habits that help over time

Ready to get on the road for less? We’ve been trusted since 2002, with 180,000+ leases arranged. Compare our latest lease deals and get honest help choosing a low-insurance first car.