Car Insurance Groups: The Full 1 to 50 List

Who sets the groups, and how

Groups are set by the Group Rating Panel, a motor-insurance industry body with members from the Association of British Insurers and the Lloyd's Market Association. Thatcham Research administers the system and assesses the cars.

Each variant is scored on over a hundred data points. The big ones are the cost and time of repairing common damage, the price of a basket of 23 everyday parts, the car's new value, its performance, and its security kit.

The rating is advisory. Most insurers start from it, none are bound by it, and your own details always matter more to the final premium than the car's group does.

Since late 2024 the industry has also been rolling out a newer Vehicle Risk Rating, scoring five risk areas from 1 to 99 each, running alongside the familiar 1 to 50 groups.

The full list, band by band

Click any group for its own page, with costs, cars and the suffix letters explained for that number.

UK car insurance groups 1 to 50, with average premiums by band
Groups	What typically sits there	Avg premium*
1 2 3	The very cheapest cars to insure e.g. variants of the Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo, Hyundai i10	£428
4 5 6	Budget city cars and small superminis e.g. variants of the Fiat 500, Toyota Aygo, Dacia Sandero	£428
7 8 9 10	Mainstream superminis e.g. variants of the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Renault Clio	£428
11 12 13 14 15	Family hatchbacks and small crossovers e.g. variants of the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Astra	£485
16 17 18 19 20	Well-equipped family cars and entry premium models e.g. variants of the Audi A1, BMW 1 Series, Mercedes A-Class	£485
21 22 23 24 25	Premium hatchbacks, saloons and crossovers e.g. variants of the BMW 1 Series, Audi A3, Mercedes CLA	£544
26 27 28 29 30	Executive cars and mainstream electric models e.g. variants of the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class	£544
31 32 33 34 35	Larger executive cars and hot hatches e.g. variants of the Audi A6, BMW 4 Series, Mercedes E-Class	£661
36 37 38 39 40	Performance models and premium electric cars e.g. variants of the Audi TT, BMW Z4, Tesla Model 3	£661
41 42 43 44 45	Sports cars and luxury models e.g. variants of the Porsche Cayman, Jaguar F-Type, Ford Mustang	£791
46 47 48 49 50	The most expensive cars to insure e.g. variants of the Porsche 911, BMW M3, Audi RS 6	£791

*Median annual price of comprehensive policies sold through MoneySuperMarket in July 2026, for the surrounding ten-group band (1–10, 11–20 and so on). Ratings are per variant, so one model can span several groups depending on engine, trim and security kit.

The letters after the number

A rating like 13E or 27D carries Thatcham's security verdict alongside the group.

Insurance group suffix letters
Suffix	Stands for	What it means
E	Exceeds	Security is better than the standard expected for the car's group, so the group shown is one lower than the car would otherwise get.
A	Acceptable	Security meets the standard expected for the group. No adjustment either way; this is the most common suffix.
D	Doesn't meet	Security falls short of the standard, so the group shown is one higher than the car would otherwise get.
P	Provisional	The rating was set before complete data was available and will be reviewed.
U	Unacceptable	Security is significantly below standard. Some insurers may insist on security upgrades as a condition of cover.
G	Grey import	An import with no standard UK rating; insurers price it at their own discretion.

How to find your car's group

The group is an industry rating, so it is not on the V5C logbook and not on the DVLA's vehicle record. No reg check can read it back, whatever some sites imply.

The places that genuinely hold it are Thatcham Research's group rating search, the free checkers on the big comparison sites, the specs pages on motoring titles, and any insurance quote for the car.

Vans and motorbikes are rated separately. Vans have their own 1 to 50 group scale, so a van in group 30 is not directly comparable with a car in group 30, while bike insurers band motorcycles themselves, commonly 1 to 17. The scale on this page is the car one.

Using groups when you choose a car

Groups earn their keep when you are choosing between two cars. A couple of steps rarely matters, but the gap between a group 10 supermini and a group 30 executive saloon shows up in every renewal for as long as you keep the car.

Check the whole car, not just the group. The free MOT check shows its test history in seconds, and the full £5.00 report reads back the spec the rating is built from, plus the history any insurer will care about.

For the long story, read our insurance groups guide, or see what a car costs to run with the running cost calculator.

Insurance groups: common questions

What are car insurance groups?

Every car variant sold in the UK is placed in a group from 1 (cheapest to insure) to 50 (most expensive) by the industry's Group Rating Panel, administered by Thatcham Research. The group summarises how costly the car is likely to be to an insurer, and insurers use it as a starting point for pricing.

How do I find my car's insurance group?

Thatcham Research runs the official group rating search, the big comparison sites offer free checkers, and Parkers lists groups in its specs pages. It also appears on any insurance quote. It is not on the V5C or the DVLA record, so a reg check cannot return it.

Are lower insurance groups always cheaper?

Broadly yes, all else equal, but all else never is equal. Your age, postcode, claims history, mileage and excess move a premium far more than one group step. A careful driver in a group 20 car can pay less than a new driver in a group 3 one.

What do the letters after a group number mean?

They are Thatcham's security verdict. E means security exceeds the standard and the group was cut by one. A means acceptable. D means it fell short and the group rose by one. P is provisional, U is significantly below standard, and G is a grey import with no standard UK rating.

Is the 1 to 50 system changing?

The industry began introducing a new Vehicle Risk Rating alongside it in late 2024, scoring performance, damageability, repairability, safety and security from 1 to 99 each. The 1 to 50 groups still apply across the existing car parc, so both systems are in circulation.

Figures last checked against the official source on 2 September 2026. Check the source yourself.

Ready when you are

Know the car before you buy it

Type in a reg and get the whole record in seconds. £5.00, no subscription, and credited straight back if a reg turns up nothing.

Check a vehicle See a sample report

Car insurance groups, 1 to 50