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Insurance companies in the UK have announced that some drivers may be facing a steep rise in the cost of car insurance due to plans to broaden and increase the number of vehicle insurance classification groups from 20 to 50.
 The increase in insurance groups means that some drivers, such as those driving 4x4 vehicles, super minis, and sporty diesel cars, could see their insurance premiums rise quite dramatically.
The vehicle classification groups are put together and maintained by the Association of British Insurers and are followed by most insurance companies in the pricing of their policies, although this is not compulsory.
Based on the acceleration and speed of the vehicle, as well as the make and model, the groups have been in place since the early 1990s. However, the Association of British Insurers have now added groups to the list that could result in the drivers of certain vehicles paying a lot more to keep their cars and vehicles on the road.
Malcolm Tarling of the ABI stated: 'The changes have been made to take into account the fact that there are now 6,000 models on the road. The technology in cars and the techniques needed to repair them have become much more expensive, and that makes claims more expensive to meet.'
He added that modern technology used on some vehicles that would otherwise have fallen into the cheaper insurance groups has made the vehicles far more costly to repair, hence the need to move them into higher insurance groups.
He also stated that larger cars could cause more damage in an accident, resulting in bigger vehicles also needing to move into higher groups.
He added: 'Having a bigger, heavier car might make the driver feel safer but the greater the weight of a car, the greater the damage when they hit something, and the more expensive the claim.'
Tom Smith
13.03.07
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