Confused about car insurance groups

Justfedup

Hi there, this is my first post on this or any other forum. I am four months into paying my monthly car insurance premium, and i have just informed them about a policy change, that being, that i have changed my car. I was driving an old Renault Laguna 1.8 RN, year 1995, but not wanting to shell out loads of cash to get it through its MOT, and then tax it, i decided to scrap the car, thanked it for its long and loyalty over the past nine years, and bought an absolute bargain of a car, a BMW 318ti Compact. Although only a year younger, it's in very good nick. With it having higher BHP, although the same engine size, i did think that my premium would increase. The Renault is in group 15, but when i spoke to the insurers, they informed me that the BMW was in group 33. Groups now go from 1 to 50. I reluctanly agreed to pay the increase in my premium, which was higher than i imagined would be! Anyway, having sifted through various sites for information about my new(old) car, it seems that one of the many good things said about it, was that it was a fairly cheap car to insure, stating among many sites like, Autotrader, RAC, Thatcham etc... that it was in group 12. Lower than my family car Renault. I sent an email to my insurer about this and asking them why their grouping was different to everyone elses. Their reply was to say it was open to their own interpretation as to what group cars are placed in! But what is the point in having these insurance groups for cars if they can just ignore them? I'm a little confused. Has anyone else had this problem, or have an answer to why this is so?

jonathon

was the group 12 on the old system where there was only 20 groups

jamesml

All insurance companies base their premiums on their own experiences and their own interpretations. I don't believe that the insurance groupings are determined by any motoring body in particular or that individual insurance companies are required to follow them. To be honest even if they were the same group across each insurer, that doesn't mean that each company would charge the same premium.

Without wanting to sound rude, I'm surprised you weren't expecting an increased premium moving from a Renault Laguna to a BMW compact. Things are a certain price for a reason - in this case it was probably cheap because people expect to have to pay a lot for insurance...

forgotmyname

Just because its a lower group does not mean its cheaper to insure.

When they had 20 groups i had a group 16 or 18? 2500cc V6 Rover. Yet almost half the price to insure compared to a 1600cc XR3 escort. Which was a group 13.

Your car maybe a group 1. But if they have lots of claims for that particular car the premiums will rise.

F1F93

jonathon wrote: »

was the group 12 on the old system where there was only 20 groups

This. Group 12 on the old system will equate to around group 30-35 under the new system.

Justfedup

All the groups quoted are from the new 1 to 50 system, as it has been changed for a while now. I just don't understand why it's known as
"insurance groups" when the insurance companies take no bloody notice of them!!!
By the way jamesml, i did write in my post that with it having a higher BHP, i DID expect a higher premium. It's not the premium that i am complaining about, it's the fact that they are quoting my car to be in a group that according to the stats, it clearly is not in that group!

Justfedup

Neither did i say it was cheap, i just said it was an absolute bargain!

CKhalvashi

forgotmyname wrote: »

Just because its a lower group does not mean its cheaper to insure.

When they had 20 groups i had a group 16 or 18? 2500cc V6 Rover. Yet almost half the price to insure compared to a 1600cc XR3 escort. Which was a group 13.

Your car maybe a group 1. But if they have lots of claims for that particular car the premiums will rise.

There is a Merc one of the girls has in the office that was cheaper to insure than a 1.6 Focus, so I don't understand it either.

I've got an XF 3.0d, which was cheaper than the both the Merc E350 and BMW 535d when I last changed my car by several £100, even though they're comparable cars........

That may be costs for insurers, with other variables to be taken into account, such as car history with the average driver of that car.

CK