It probably comes as no surprise that the car you choose plays a big part in how much insurance you’ll be paying. Your car will be put into a car insurance group (1-50) by an independent panel that assesses each vehicle, on everything from its general safety level to running and repair costs. We’ve already taken you through the cheaper groups 1-10 and 11-20, so here we’ve kicked it up a notch and found the best cars in groups 21-30.
Top Insurance Group 21-30 Cars
Hyundai Tucson Honda CR-V Kia Sorento Nissan Leaf Ford Kuga Audi Q3 Mazda CX-5 Kia Soul BMW 2 Series Active Tourer Skoda Octavia
Hyundai Tucson
Insurance Group 21
View the latest Hyundai Tucson lease deals.
Honda CR-V
Insurance Group 24
Composed, understated and classy, the Honda CR-V sits in either group 24 or 25 for most models in the range. The Japanese crossover-SUV comes with just the one super-efficient hybrid drivetrain, while it has a huge cabin and an even huger boot to make it as practical as possible. To add further desirability, the interior is not only well equipped but is beautifully built and solid too, so you get a sense of high quality from the CR-V, at odds with its affordable nature in terms of leasing and running costs.
View the latest Honda CR-V lease deals.
Kia Sorento
Insurance Group 30
Looking for a family car that doesn’t look and feel like your typical large family car? The Kia Sorento is broadly the same size as many premium five-seater SUVs, but it comes with one vital difference – three rows of seating. To stay in Group 30 you’ll be in a lower ‘2’ specification model, but as Kia is famously generous with its equipment levels across the board, and offers an industry-leading seven-year warranty, the Sorento is a sound choice even in basic trim. It’s perfect for a family looking for a highly capable seven-seater that’s not going to break the bank for insurance costs.
View the latest Kia Sorento lease deals.
Nissan Leaf
Insurance Group 21
Want to go electric? All versions of the battery-powered Nissan Leaf sit in insurance groups from 21 to 28, so you’re going to find they’re pretty affordable in that department. And don’t be worried about range either, as you’ll be safe in the knowledge that the Leaf is capable of up to 239 miles on a single charge. If that’s not enough, Nissan provides plenty of tools and apps that make the Leaf really easy and quick to recharge at public points, too.
View the latest Nissan Leaf lease deals.
Ford Kuga
Insurance Group 21
This sleek SUV by Ford is a family SUV that you’ll love to drive. Rivalling the likes of the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Nissan Qashqai, the Kuga has a striking design and sportier feel. What’s best about this is that even the PHEV version – that’s the flagship plug-in hybrid model – only sits in group 21 for insurance premiums, so you’ll be paying very affordable annual rates to keep your Ford family chariot on the roads. View the latest Ford Kuga lease deals.
Audi Q3
Insurance Group 23
Hard to believe that a premium SUV from a brand like Audi would be so affordable to insure, but most models of the Q3 sit in this insurance banding 21-30, with the exception of the TFSI e plug-in hybrids and the high-performance RS Q3. What you’re getting here is a smooth, cultured and efficient SUV that comes in two body styles – the regular SUV or the more rakish Sportback version. In either case, it has all of Audi’s usual high-quality interior finishing, as well as a excellent practicality thanks to a massive boot and plenty of space in the second row of seats.
View the latest Audi Q3 lease deals.
Mazda CX-5
Insurance Group 26
The Mazda CX-5 is a five-seat SUV that’s surprisingly cheap to insure. Out of the 50 groups in total this practical SUV sits midway at group 26. It’s big enough to fit the family, including a generous boot space, and the engine choice offers impressive fuel economy too. It doesn’t compromise on the drive or handling, either - it’s one of the most fun-to-steer SUVs on the market today.
View the latest Mazda CX-5 lease deals.
Kia Soul
Insurance Group 21
Now only available in fully electric form, the Kia Soul is one to look out for if you’re looking for an EV with plenty of space and low insurance premiums. The Soul sits nicely in affordable group 26 and it has very useful a 280-mile range, which makes it one of the longer-distance EVs out there. To top it all off, you get what you always enjoy with any Kia – peace of mind provided by a seven-year warranty and relatively low running costs.
View the latest Kia Soul lease deals.
BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
Insurance Group 22
The brilliant BMW 2 Series Active Tourer is a type of car that is slowly being phased out these days – the Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV). But that doesn’t make the BMW obsolete before its time. In fact, it’s a superb antidote to all the crossover SUVs out there, as its tall styling makes for a truly lovely interior ambience. Every model bar the most powerful plug-in hybrid (PHEV), badged the 230e, sits in insurance group 30 or lower, which means these BMWs are surprisingly affordable to run. If you really want a PHEV, check out the 225e model, which is less powerful than the 230e but sits in a lower insurance group so it’s cheaper to run.
View the latest BMW 2 Series lease deals.
Skoda Octavia
Insurance Group 26 If you like the Volkswagen Golf GTI but want more space, take a look at the Skoda Octavia. All versions of the vRS performance model – there’s all of a diesel, a petrol and a plug-in hybrid petrol-electric variant to choose from – sit in group 26, so you know you’ll be paying a reasonable amount. While it’s not the quickest hot hatch on the market, the Octavia vRS is one of the most grown-up and likeable vehicles of its type, and it comes with the usual Octavia attributes of loads of cabin space, a simply huge boot and impressive fuel economy too.
View the latest Skoda Octavia lease deals.
Insurance Groups 21-30 FAQs
Who are insurance groups 21-30 cars suited to? Cars in lower insurance groups tend to be smaller and comparatively underpowered compared to higher group cars, but that makes them ideal for inexperienced and younger drivers. If you’re a little older and wiser behind the wheel, and you need a larger, more capable vehicle for family-carrying duties or similar, then insurance groups 21-30 will comfortably have you covered – all without breaking the bank.
Is insurance group 21 high or low? Insurance group 21 is around the midpoint of the entire rating system in the UK, as the groups run from one to 50. Cars in 21 are therefore not the most basic and affordable new vehicles of them all, but neither are they fitted with very powerful and inefficient engines either.
What is the highest insurance group? The highest insurance group is 50 and is reserved for high-end and/or high-performance machinery, typically with basic list prices of more than £60,000.
Which factors are taken into account when it comes to rating cars for insurance groups? The groups are decided by a body called the group rating panel, which consists of members of both the Association of British Insurers and the Lloyd’s Market Association, as well as receiving information from car safety and security organisation Thatcham Research. When determining which group a given car will fit into, the group rating panel will consider the vehicle’s new list price, the cost of replacement parts and repairs, the safety and security features it is fitted with as standard, and of course its performance potential too. So if a car is more powerful, more expensive to buy and more costly to repair than comparable vehicles, it will be pushed into a higher insurance group as a result.
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