UK Car Insurance - How is Car Insurance is calculated

There is no set price that car owners have to pay when it comes to car insurance. Each car insurance quote is individual and varies depending on a number of factors that the car insurance company/underwriter take into consideration.
To get to a final quote a range of different factors such as the following are used to calculate how much it will cost to insure the driver and the vehicle:
Age - Age is a big factor when it comes to car insurance. Younger drivers are more at risk of having an accident and needing to make a claim than older drivers who have more experience in driving.
Sex - Insurance quotes between male and females can vary. Young males car insurance is higher than a young females. This is because statistically young males are more likely to need to make a claim or have an accident than young females.
Where you live - Where you live and where your car is kept makes a significant difference to car insurance companies. Car insurance companies having a "post code rating" system where they can rate the area that a person lives in. This rating has a range from A to F. "A" being a good low risk crime area and an "F" being a high risk crime area.
Those living in an "A" rated post code area are likely to receive a lower car insurance quote than those living in an "F" rated post code area. This is because there may well be very little crime in the "A" rated post code area but in the "F" rated post code area car crime may be extremely common meaning that there is more likely that the car insurance company are going to need to pay out for theft.
Where Vehicle is Kept - Where a vehicle is kept/stored is another important factor. A car kept parked on a road that is then free for passers by to easily look into is at more risk than a car parked on a private driveway. A car parked in a garage is likely to be the most secure as it is then out of sight and also locked away making it harder for anyone to risk trying to steal it.
No Claims Bonus (NCB) - Drivers who have built up NCB can usually expect a reduction in their car insurance quote. NCB can be built up and are designed to reward good/careful drivers who do not make a claim on their insurance. The more NCB that a driver has the lower their car insurance premium is likely to be as the car insurance company rewards them for being a careful driver who do not cost the car insurance company money.
Previous accidents - If you have a history of making claims on your car insurance your premium is going to go up as you are likely to be "high risk" to the car insurance company. You will have to pay more for your car insurance as the car insurance company are taking more of a risk if you have a history or having to make claims for car accidents.
Type of Cover - There are 3 different types of car insurance cover.
Fully Comprehensive which provides cover for both an third parties involved in an accident and also yourself if the accident was your fault.
Third Party, Fire & Theft insurance offers protection only for third parties if you are the cause of the accident, it also pays out if your car is stolen or has a fire.
Third Party only insurance covers only any third parties if you are the cause of an accident and you will not be able to claim anything for your own car.
Vehicles Insurance Group: There are so many different vehicles out there offering so much choice in popularity/speed/cost each vehicle has an insurance group rating.
Smaller engined, lower cost cars such a a 1litre Fiesta will have a lower group insurance than faster more expensive car such as a Ferrari.
Insurance Groups range from 1 to 20. With a car in insurance group 1 being less to insure than a car in group 20 which will cost more to insure. So the higher the insurance group your car falls into the higher the insurance is likely to be.
So if you take all the above into consideration and look at a couple of examples.
A young male who drives a car with a high insurance group, lives in an "F" rated post code area who keeps his car on the road and has had a couple of previous accidents is going to have a very high car insurance quote. The quote is likely to be high even if the person only wants third party insurance too.
On the other hand:
A middle aged female driving a mid-range group insurance car, living in an "A" rated post code area, parks the car in a garage at night, has no recent claims and has full No Clims Bonus will likely get a very competitive car insurance quote from every insurance company.
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UK Car Insurance - How is Car Insurance is calculated
UK Car Insurance - How is Car Insurance is calculated
Reviewed by Merlyn Rosell
Published :
Rating : 4.5