As a 17-year-old, passing your driving test feels incredible as it provides you with a sense of freedom. But there’s one burden that always lurks around for young and new drivers, your car insurance.
In this article, we will discuss what affects the car insurance prices for different groups, the top 5 cars to insure in group 1, and the top 3 learner driver insurance providers for teenagers.
How Do Car Insurance Groups Work?
For those who don’t know, cars are put into an insurance group between 1 and 50. This grouping is based on several factors, including:
- Car value: The car’s current market price, in the event it needs to be replaced.
- Parts and repair: An average price on how much parts will cost and the labour needed to fit them.
- Part prices: Estimated costs of the top 23 common parts claimed from insurers in conjunction with other manufactures.
- Repair times: Some cars have more complex mechanics than others, meaning they’ll take longer to repair.
- Performance: Typically, the more horsepower your car has, the more expensive your insurance premiums are.
- Safety: This includes breaks, anti-theft mechanisms, crash protection.
- Bumper compatibility: Surprisingly, the alignment and overall structure of your bumpers affect your insurance.
As a rule of thumb, the lower the performance and the higher the safety features, the cheaper your insurance will be. There are, however, many other factors to check when choosing a car insurance policy.
What Is The Lowest Car Insurance Group?
Within insurance groups, group one is the cheapest to insure. As you can probably guess, fifty is the most expensive.
What Are The Cheapest Cars To Insure In Group 1?
In insurance group one, there are a variety of different vehicles to choose from. From looking into several sources for the cheapest group 1 cars to insure, we have found that the below appear the most:
- Vauxhall Corsa Hatchback
- Fiat Panda
- Citroen C1
- Chevrolet Spark
- Volkswagen Up
NOTE – Not all group one cars are the same insurance price. The costs will fluctuate between manufacturers and models.
The above is just a small portion of cars in insurance group one, where the full list is much more extensive. You can find a list of the top ten group 1 cars and reviews here.
If you are buying your first car, you may likely be looking for a pre-owned car. If so, be sure to read our guide on the different factors to check when buying a second-hand car.
What Are the Best Car Insurance Policies for Teens?
Now you understand how car insurance grouping works, and you’ve chosen the cheapest possible car. You’ll need to insure it. For the best insurance prices, we recommend that you select one of the following providers:
- Direct Line – Young Driver
- Co-op – Young Driver Insurance
- Churchill Car Insurance – Drive Sure
The above will provide you with the cheapest insurance if you choose to opt into their telematics system. This system allows insurers to monitor your driving performance, and it’ll track driving metrics like speed, turning velocity, breaking, etc.
“The average savings on car insurance with a telematics for 17-20-year-olds were £1,307.07”
Based on Compare the Market data between 1 October 2020 to 1 January 2021
Since insurers have introduced telematics (otherwise known as the “black box” system), young drivers have been able to save money on their car insurance policies. However, there is one catch. You must drive sensible and to their rules. Failing to do so will result in the providers removing you from their policy. If you get removed, this will be logged and shared between insurance networks, and your premiums from all companies will increase.
Once you have your car and insurance policy, next up is to learn to drive!
James Banerjee is an Account Director who graduated from the University of Kent in 2014. He works in SEO on clients such as HSBC UK and Nestle and he has a keen interest in personal finances and money-saving advice.
