ABI Group Rating Information and Help Page

Welcome to the web site containing the insurance group ratings for all volume manufactured private cars for the UK market.

Please note that insurance group ratings are purely advisory. They are used by many motor insurers as just one of the many input factors in calculating premiums. As such, they can provide a useful indicator of the likely relative cost of insurance when comparing one vehicle with another. Insurers are not required to follow the advisory group ratings and it is therefore advisable to compare premiums before making any purchasing decision based on the insurance group.

Click here for more information on how the insurance groups are worked out.

We do not currently allocate Insurance Group Ratings to "special" cars that are constructed for a specialised purpose only (e.g. kit cars), imported cars, or to cars which have been converted from the manufacturer's standard specification.

The information provided for each vehicle (except imports) is:

• Vehicle Make & Model e.g. Ford Fiesta
• Series e.g. 1, 2, 3. This is used to identify a major design change in the life of a vehicle.
• Cubic Capacity e.g. 1596cc — This is an exact figure provided by the manufacturer. The Search screen calculates an approximate cc to the nearest 50cc. For example, 1600cc will display all Cubic Capacity between 1550cc and 1650cc.
• Years Manufactured (From — To) — Note that it is possible that a vehicle will still be available after the end dates shown. This can be because of unsold stock being available after production has ceased.
• Door Plan - 2, 3, 4 or 5. Unclassified refers to vehicles where the door plan was unknown at time of entry.
• Body TypeThis is used to distinguish Cabriolet and Estate vehicle types.
• Fuel Type - Petrol, Diesel or Electric
• Gearbox Type — Displays the standard transmission - Automatic or Manual
• Make & Model Code - A unique 8 digit code used by the insurance industry for electronic transmission of data. (This may appear on documentation from the insurer or broker)
• Advisory insurance Group These range from 1 to 20. The higher the group, the more relatively expensive it is likely to be to insure the vehicle. (1 is low, 20 is high).

  From January 2007, the range of insurance groups will be expanded from 1 to 20, to 1 to 50. All vehicles that have a security "suffix", which covers the majority of cars from about 1996 on, will have been allocated an insurance group between 1 and 50. These new groups will be published alongside the 1 to 20 groups. The latter will continue to be published until further notice.

Security
The insurance industry has established its own criteria against which to evaluate certain security features (e.g. alarms and immobilisers) built into new vehicles. These criteria are generally higher than those required by European legislation. Since 1995, vehicles sold specifically for the UK market have been assessed by the insurance industry's research centre Thatcham to establish the level of standard fit security. Manufacturers whose vehicles are fitted with systems that meet the standard Thatcham criteria may benefit from improved insurance group ratings. Older cars may qualify for insurance premium discounts if subsequently fitted with alarms or immobilisers meeting the criteria.

• Suffix (A, D, E, U, P, G)

  Attached to most of the advisory group ratings is a suffix, which illustrates the level of security fitted as standard to that vehicle. The level is group dependent and the requirements increase along with the group. (The higher the group, the higher the level of security required.) A further explanation of the suffix follows:

  • A = Meets security requirement for this group.
  • D = Does not meet the security requirement for a car of this type and the group rating has therefore been increased. (e.g. A group 9 car where the security requirement is not up to Thatcham's minimum standard for that group will be listed as a 10D.)
  • E = Exceeds security requirement for a car of this type and the group rating has therefore been reduced. (e.g. A group 9 car where the security requirement exceeds Thatcham's minimum standard for that group will be listed as an 8E.)

    (It will be seen from the above that the level of security on a vehicle could result in a two group differential between otherwise identical models.)

  • P = Provisional - This is used in cases where the data for group rating was incomplete at time of launch.
  • U = Cases where the level of security for the model concerned is regarded as Unacceptable. This does not mean that the car will be uninsurable but consumers should be aware that individual insurers may insist on the security being upgraded before providing cover.
  • G = Import - Insurance Group Ratings are currently only allocated to vehicles built for the UK market, although our data will list vehicles that are classed as imports. These fall into two categories:
    • Parallel Imports - these are vehicles that are built for and sold in Europe and will conform to European Whole Vehicle Type Approval requirements.
    • Grey Imports - these are mainly vehicles that are built specifically for other, non-EU, markets and are unlikely to conform to European Whole Vehicle Type Approval.
• Security Code (N1, N2, T1, T2)

  Finally there is a security code which indicates that an alarm/immobiliser has been fitted as standard by the manufacturer, and whether that alarm/immobiliser has been submitted to testing at Thatcham. The codes are as follows:

  • N2 = An immobiliser that has not been tested by Thatcham
  • N1 = An alarm/immobiliser combination that has not been tested by Thatcham
  • T2 = An immobiliser that has been judged to comply to the Thatcham criteria.
  • T1 = An alarm/immobiliser combination that has been judged to comply to the Thatcham criteria.

Downloads

Three types of downloads are available for users.

• code44txt.zip - This is a compressed plain text file of the make and model code database (Code 44 database)
• grouptxt.zip - This is a compressed plain text file of the list of cars with their group ratings.
• groupupdate.txt - This is a plain text file of the last updated list of Vehicles with their group ratings.

• code44ctxt.zip - This is a compressed plain text file of the make and model code database (Code 44 database)
• code44c_update.txt - This is a plain text file of the last updated list of vehicles

• code44mtxt.zip - This is a plain text file of the make and model code database (Code 44 database)
• code44m_update.txt - This is a plain text file of the last updated list of motorcycles

To download a file, simply click on the filename you wish to download. A prompt will then appear on the screen allowing you to either open the download or save the file. Select Save this file on disk and press OK and save the file on the local machine.

Click here for a more information about the files' layout.