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Motor Insurance Group Information from the Car Insurance UK Supermarket

Note: It is now compulsary for insurance companies to take account of the 1-50 Thatchem rating system. The 1-20 system was abandonned in Jan 2010. You can check your car's rating here:
ABI Group Rating

All motor cars in this country are given a motor insurance group rating of between one and twenty. The motor insurance group allocated to your vehicle is then used to determine the appropriate cost of insurance for your car. The lower the motor insurance group, the cheaper will be the cost of that insurance. Not suprisingly, the value of your car has a big impact on your motor insurance group rating.

The Insurance Group Rating Panel (IGRP) determines this motor insurance group rating. The IGRP relies on the Motor Insurance Repair Centre's data for each make and model of car to decide the appropriate rating. Panel members that decide each motor insurance group come from the Association of British Insurers and the LLoyds Market Association. As a result they are, arguably, a good sample of UK insurance providers, well-placed to make this determination on the basis of insurance risk.

Each motor insurance group determination is for guidance purposes alone. Although they are unlikely to do so, insurance companies are not required to use them to calculate premia. Numerous other considerations influence the cost of your cover as well. These include your age, sex, any previous claims on car insurance policies in the past and whether you live in a low or high risk area.

Knowledge of the relevant motor insurance group in advance of buying any car makes good sense particularly where you are expecting costly cover as with the young driver, the new driver, the driver with previous driving convictions or anyone without a no claims discount.

As well as the value of the car, the motor insurance group rating is influenced by issues including the engine's capacity and horse power rating, the cost of parts when the car is involved in a major accident, or these repairs in a minor collision, the price of the car's outer shell, the cost of labour, as well as car security devices and the relative risk of theft of the vehicle.

Clearly, lower cost, less powerful, small motor cars attract the low motor insurance group numbers. Group 1 includes a Vauxhall Corsa while the slightly bigger Ford Focus, according to the model, can be found in the motor insurance group range 4 to 8. Group 20 cars, naturally enough, are seriously expensive supercars.

A related measure is the Thatcham Security Rating which all new cars are assigned nowadays. This rating provides a good indication of how much a car will crumple in an accident. A five star rating is the safest, being associated with excellent maintenance of the integrity of the driver and passenger space than the lower ratings.

Obviously, in addition to the motor insurance group rating, this is an important consideration when buying a family car. Higher Thatchem rated cars are literally life savers in many more serious accidents.

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