Low emission car insurance

Cars with low fuel emissions not only help the environment, they’re also cheaper to run. No surprise then that they’re increasingly popular with car-buyers in the UK.

Car makers are investing heavily in innovative new petrol and diesel engines, as well as hybrid and electric-only cars, so there’s plenty of choice if you want to go green.

Daniel Hutson From the Motor team
3
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What constitutes a low emission car?

With rules around low emission zones set to tighten in some areas, sales of environmentally friendly cars in the UK are rising and there are definite savings to be made when it comes to insurance.

There’s no definitive guide stating which cars are low emission, but the Government does publish car tax guides each year that are a good reference point.

Since April 2017, changes to the law around car tax – Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) – mean that only new vehicles with zero emissions now have free car tax.

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Do low emissions affect my insurance?

There are many things that affect your insurance cover and, while they’ll be different for each individual, the insurance industry has helpfully attributed an insurance group, with categories ranging from 1 to 50, to every model of vehicle on the road. As new models come to market they’re assigned a rating by insurance providers. Data is used from research by Thatcham Research to help define the right group.

Car insurance groups take account of:

  • Repair costs
  • Repair times
  • New car values
  • Parts prices
  • Performance of the vehicle, eg the power and acceleration
Split 1
  • Safety features
  • Bumpers and how well they protect cars on impact
  • Security features  

A low car insurance grouping tends to mean that a car is cheaper to insure.

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Examples of car with low emissions

So let’s look at a selection of low emission cars and see what insurance groups they’re in:

Car Emissions (CO2g/km) Insurance Group 1- 50
BMWi3 standard 0 21
Fiat Panda 1.2l 119 4
Nissan Leaf Visia 0 21
Nissan Micra 1.2l 115 6
Renault Twizy Cargo 0 6
Skoda Citigo 1.0l 95 1
Suzuki Celerio 1.0l 84 7
Tesla Signature Performance 0 50
Toyota Prius 1.8 VVTi Active 83 14
VW Up! 1.0l 105 1

It’s tricky to give average prices for insurance groups as a lot of factors, including your personal situation and driving history, are taken into account. But the lower the grouping, the more affordable the insurance tends to be for you, whatever your circumstances.

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The good news is that many low emission vehicles are in low insurance groups, which could mean cheaper insurance for you.

This, however, is less likely to be directly to do with the emission values themselves. It’s simply that these types of vehicle are relatively economical to repair and limited in performance terms.

Comparing car insurance prices is simple. Why not try it today and see what you can save? Simply give us details about yourself and the car you’re thinking about and let us do the rest.

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