Insurance Classifications

Seth Brundle

What kind of system (if any) of classification of cars do the insurance companys use in this country? I know in the UK the insurance industry uses to a large extent the research completed at thatcham (www.thatcham.org).
Here, they evaluate the cars in terms of cost of repair (both time and parts), test security features, etc. and are able to provide 70% of the info for an insurance rating for any car. (Group rating takes car price, performance and other things into account also). Thatcham also evaluate car alarms for their effectiveness which insurers then use when calculating insurance risk.
On this basis cars are given a rating of up to 20 (with some exceptions) - a low figure means that the car should be a pleasure to insure whereas a high performance car gets an equally high group rating.
This system has been in operation since the late 60s and is obviously quite reliable.
Now back to my point - what do companys here use as a source of info for their risk assessment? Do they even use one? Does every company use the same system? They certainly don't let on that they have a reputable system as there doesn't seem to be any transparency in it, especally when compared to the likes of Thatcham. Why do they not ask what type of car alarm is installed instead of the usual question of "does it have an alarm or immobiliser?"?

(Id rather not hear about how much people are paying for insurance as this is not what Im asking - I know that is done by picking a number out of a hat!)

John R

Your final sentince answered your original question.

unkel

Originally posted by John R
Your final sentince answered your original question.

I don't think it is picked out of a hat. They do seem to have a classification system and I agree with kbannon that I'd like to know what they are using and are they all using the same system

Some transparancy would be good!

Seth Brundle

Well my E30 320i was refused quotes by some insurance companys because they told me it was classified as a sports car. No further info was forthcoming from them.

Interceptor

They use a number of databases which take the car and its specification into account, along with the associated risk as a result of previous accident data hence the difficulty getting anything with vtec/mivec/gti in its name. The classifications are deeply frustrating and I have had several 'normal' cars fall into the sports classification which drove the price up.

Shop around as there seems to be only two or three different databases - which BTW aren't related to UK databases as they have vastly reduced ranges. I once got a list of 'un-insurable' cars from someone who ran a group insurance scheme and it had some of the most mundane/normal stuff on it. God forbid you are trying to get cover for a mid-eighties TVR 3500....

'ceptr

Wanton

So what mundane cars are un-inusable, just for future reference.

DukeDredd

Dunno what system they use but recently i was getting some quotes on a Subaru Impreze WRX - needless to say they were unbelievably expensive. However when i was getting quotes afterwards on a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, which has the same technology as the Subaru including 4 wheel drive and a 2.5 litre turbo engine, it was much less expensive to insure (by thousands) even though it is just as if not more powerful than the Subaru. This must mean that they're using some form of classification and it seems arseways if this example is anything to go by...

shurl

Whatever "system" they use, the data seems to be from the UK.

When I was insuring the Golf. (every year since 2001)
I'm always asked what model it is . cl / s etc
Which is only given to UK Golfs.

PITA trying to explain it to the phone drones.

S.

unkel

Originally posted by shurl
Whatever "system" they use, the data seems to be from the UK.

I always got that impression as well. Why can't all this be made public? Surely this is in everybody's interest, including the insurance companies...

mike65

Originally posted by DukeDredd
Dunno what system they use but recently i was getting some quotes on a Subaru Impreze WRX - needless to say they were unbelievably expensive. However when i was getting quotes afterwards on a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, which has the same technology as the Subaru including 4 wheel drive and a 2.5 litre turbo engine, it was much less expensive to insure (by thousands) even though it is just as if not more powerful than the Subaru. This must mean that they're using some form of classification and it seems arseways if this example is anything to go by...

They only need to hear the word Impreza....

Mike.

Seth Brundle

Originally posted by mike65
They only need to hear the word Impreza....

Mike.

does the drones computer make a $$$ kerching $$$ sound when quoting for these (maybe it does for all cars!)

michaelanthony

When I went to change my car to a Peugeot 605 2.1 Diesel, AXA told me that they wouldn't insure me on the basis that it was classified as a group 5 car.

They went on to say that I couldn't get insured on such a car as I would need to be over 30 to be insured on a group 5 car on my own policy. However they would be prepared to insure me as a named driver on somebody's policy who had a 3.0 diesel car?

Conclusion: There are insurance groups in place(with AXA at least). Their significance is not so easy to understand.

shurl

Originally posted by kbannon
does the drones computer make a $$$ kerching $$$ sound when quoting for these (maybe it does for all cars!)

Lol Kbannon.
Tis on silent.

Merrion

When I went to change my car to a Peugeot 605 2.1 Diesel, AXA told me that they wouldn't insure me on the basis that it was classified as a group 5 car.

The ABI has ithe Peugot 605 as groups 13 to 17. Presumably Axa were using the old system that only went 1-9.

[b]MODEL	                CC	Fuel_Type	Car_Group	ABI_Code[/b]
605 SRDT 	2088	T	13	39113001
605 SRDT AUTO	2088	T	13	39113002
605 SLDT	                2088	T	13	39113501
605 SVDT 	2088	T	13	39113601
605 SVDT AUTO	2088	T	13	39113602
605 TURBO DIESEL SLD	2088	T	13	95390015
605 TURBO DIESEL SRD	2088	T	13	95390016
605 SLI                    1998	P	14	39110201
605 SLI AUTO	1998	P	14	39110202
605 SRI    	1998	P	14	39110401
605 SRI AUTO	1998	P	14	39110402
605 SCEPTRE	1998	P	14	39110403
605 SCEPTRE AUTO	1998	P	14	39110404
605 SRTI  	1998	P	14	39110501
605 SRTI AUTO	1998	P	14	39110502
605 SVI    	1998	P	14	39110601
605 SVI AUTO	1998	P	14	39110602
605 SVTI  	1998	P	14	39110701
605 SVTI AUTO	1998	P	14	39110702
605 Z6     	2975	P	17	39012201
605 SR     	2962	P	17	39111001
605 SVE    	2962	P	17	39111101
605 SVE AUTO	2962	P	17	39111102
605 SVE 24V	2962	P	17	39111201
605 SV     	2975	P	17	39111501
605 SV AUTO	2975	P	17	39111502
605 SV Z6	2975	P	17	39111503
605 SVE   	2975	P	17	39111601
605 SVE 24 VALVE	2975	P	17	39112001
605 SV3 A	2975	P	17	39199301
605 SR V6	2975	P	17	95390014