Classes of use: how they might affect your car insurance premium

What you intend to use your car for can make a difference to the cost of your insurance premium. Find out what car insurance classes of use mean and how they work.

Daniel Hutson

From the Motor team

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Posted 19 APRIL 2021

How classes of use work

In car insurance, ‘class of use’ means what you intend to use your car for. When you’re taking out a new policy, you’ll be asked which class of use you want to insure your car for.

Typically, there are three choices when selecting a class of use:

1. Social, Domestic and Pleasure (SDP)

SDP is when you use your car for everyday social driving, such as visiting friends, doing the school run and shopping.

2. Social, Domestic, Pleasure and Commuting (SDP+C)

This class covers the same uses as SDP, and additionally includes your journey to and from work.

Typically, only one place of work is covered. If you travel to a number of places for work you may well need the next level of cover.

3. Personal Business use (SDPC+business use)

This third class of cover includes everything in the first two, plus business-related driving. For example, travelling to more than one location for business purposes. You can also include your spouse or a named driver if they also use the car for business purposes.

Some insurance providers will ask for more details so they can assess how much driving you’ll be doing. From that they can work out the risk and your business car insurance premium.

Be aware though that this class of cover doesn’t include making business deliveries of any kind.

Why class of use matters

When an insurance provider calculates your car insurance, they will assess your risk of being involved in an accident.

Commuting to work for example, could involve being on the roads at the busiest times, so you’d be exposed to more risk than if you were driving for purely social reasons.

Similarly, if you’re up and down the motorways visiting different offices, you’re likely to be exposed to greater risk.

For an insurance provider, the greater the risk, the higher the premium they will charge. For this reason, business class of use is going to cost more.

How can I reduce the cost of my car insurance premium?

There are ways to help reduce your premiums while staying on the right side of the law. Check out our top tips for cheap car insurance for more information.

And shopping around could also help you save money on your car insurance. Comparing quotes with us could save you up to £225** on your premium, so it’s always worthwhile comparing prices.

**Based on Online independent research by Consumer Intelligence during February 2021, 50% of customers could achieve this saving on their car insurance through Compare the Market.