Insurance Group 30: Cost, Cars and Meaning

Group 30 at a glance

Where it sits on the industry's 1 to 50 scale, and what that has meant in real premiums.

Position on the scale	30 of 50 (1 is cheapest to insure)
Broad verdict	Middling
Its neighbourhood	Groups 26–30: executive cars and mainstream electric models
Median premium, groups 21–30	£544 a year (MoneySuperMarket policies sold, July 2026)
Who sets it	The Group Rating Panel (ABI and Lloyd's members), administered by Thatcham Research. Advisory, so insurers can depart from it.

What kind of cars sit in group 30?

Mid-size executive saloons and a lot of the volume electric cars, whose battery and sensor repair costs land them here despite modest badges.

Typical residents of groups 26 to 30 include variants of the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Volkswagen ID.3, Nissan Leaf and Jaguar E-Pace.

The word variants matters. Ratings are set for each engine, trim and security combination separately, so the same badge can span several groups.

A car that is cheap to fix and hard to steal earns a lower group than its price tag would suggest, which is how the panel scores every model.

Where group 30 sits on the scale

29 groups are cheaper to insure than group 30, and 20 groups are dearer, so it sits about 59% of the way up.

A single step either side is rarely worth agonising over. Group 29 and group 31 sit in the same part of the market and usually quote within a few pounds of each other. It is the jump between bands that shows up at renewal.

What group 30 costs in practice

The group is only one input into a premium. As a yardstick, the median annual price of comprehensive policies sold through MoneySuperMarket in July 2026 was £428 for groups 1 to 10, rising to £791 for groups 41 to 50.

Cars in groups 21 to 30 came in at £544 a year on the same data.

Treat those as landmarks, not quotes. Your age, postcode, occupation, mileage, excess and claims history each move a premium more than a single group step does, which is why two drivers of the same group-30 car can pay wildly different amounts.

Group 30 with a letter after it

A rating like 30E or 30A is not a different scale. The letter is Thatcham's verdict on the car's security, and two of the letters change the number you see.

30E means security exceeds the standard, so the group was reduced by one (it would otherwise be group 31).
30A means security is acceptable for the group. No adjustment, and the most common suffix.
30D means security fell short, so the group was raised by one (it would otherwise be group 29).
30P marks a provisional rating, set before complete data was available.
30U means security is significantly below standard. Some insurers ask for upgrades before covering the car.

How to check a specific car

The group is an industry rating, not a government record. It is not on the V5C and not on the DVLA file, so no reg check, ours included, can read it back.

Thatcham Research runs the official lookup, the big comparison sites offer free group checkers, and any insurance quote will state it too.

What a vehicle report does tell you is the spec the rating is built from, the engine size, fuel and model details on record, plus the history that matters when any insurer prices the car. Our guide to how insurance groups work covers the system end to end.

Groups either side

One step on the scale rarely moves a premium much; compare the neighbourhood.

Group 27 · Group 28 · Group 29 · Group 30 · Group 31 · Group 32 · Group 33

The full 1 to 50 list, and how the system works

Insurance group 30: common questions

Is insurance group 30 high or low?

Middling. Group 30 sits at position 30 of 50, which puts it a little above the middle of the scale. Groups 26 to 30 broadly cover executive cars and mainstream electric models.

How much does group 30 insurance cost?

As a guide, MoneySuperMarket put the median annual price of comprehensive policies sold through it in July 2026 at about £544 for cars in groups 21 to 30. Your own age, postcode, claims record and mileage move the real figure far more than one group step does.

What does 30E or 30D mean?

The letter is Thatcham's security rating. 30E means the car's security is better than the standard expected, so the group was reduced by one from 31 to 30. 30D means it fell short, so the group was raised by one from 29 to 30. 30A means the security simply matches the group.

Which cars are in insurance group 30?

Groups 26 to 30 are typically executive cars and mainstream electric models: think variants of the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Volkswagen ID.3. Ratings are set per variant, so one model can span several groups depending on engine, trim and security kit. Always check the exact car.

Where does group 30 sit on the 1 to 50 scale?

29 groups are cheaper to insure than group 30, and 20 groups are dearer, so it sits about 59% of the way up. A single step either side rarely changes a premium much. The distance between bands is what shows up at renewal.

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

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Insurance group 30 explained