Vehicle Risk Rating vs insurance groups
Quick answer
They are two different systems for two different sets of cars. Classic insurance groups rate cars from 1 to 50 and cover every model range on sale before 1 August 2024. Vehicle Risk Rating scores new model ranges from 1 to 99 across five separate pillars. The scales do not convert into each other, and almost every used car you look at still has a group rather than a VRR.
Why there are suddenly two systems
The 1–50 group scale has been the UK's shared language for vehicle risk for decades, and it worked well when a bumper was a bumper. It struggles with modern cars. A front-end shunt now means recalibrating radar and camera systems; aluminium and bonded structures need approved bodyshops; battery packs can turn a moderate impact into a total loss; and keyless entry changed theft entirely. Squeezing all of that into one number between 1 and 50 loses too much information.
Thatcham Research — the motor insurers' research centre behind the testing that the Group Rating Panel has always relied on — built the Vehicle Risk Rating framework as the answer. Instead of one blended figure, VRR reports five pillar scores so an insurer can see why a car is risky, not just how much.
The two scales side by side
This is the comparison most people are actually looking for when they search for the difference between VRR and an insurance group. Note the last row especially — it is the one that trips people up.
| Aspect | Insurance group (1–50) | Vehicle Risk Rating (1–99) |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | 1–50, where 1 is cheapest | 1–99, where 1 is lowest risk |
| Applies to | Model ranges on sale before 1 August 2024, and used cars generally | New model ranges launched from 1 August 2024 onwards |
| How it is built | A single rating reflecting repair cost, parts, performance, safety and security | Five separate pillar scores — performance, damageability, repairability, safety and security |
| Can it change? | Effectively fixed once a model range has been rated | Can be revisited as real-world claims, repair and security data comes in |
| Directly comparable? | No — a group 20 car is not 'the same as' a VRR 40 car | No — the two scales measure different things on different ranges |
Which one applies to your car?
The cut-off is about when a model range launched, not when your individual car was registered — a distinction that matters a great deal and gets lost in most explanations of the change.
Registered before 2024
Classic insurance group (1–50)Almost every used car on UK roads sits here. Your car was rated by the Group Rating Panel when its derivative launched, and that number is what insurers, dealers and our checker all work from.
Registered 2024 or early 2025
Usually still a classic groupVRR applies to model ranges launched from 1 August 2024 — not to every car sold after that date. A 2024 car from a range that launched in 2021 keeps the 1–50 group its derivative was given.
A genuinely new model range from 2025 on
Likely a Vehicle Risk RatingIf the nameplate or generation itself is new rather than a facelift, it is likely to have come to market with a VRR score instead of a group. You will often find no 1–50 figure published for it at all.
Why the two numbers can never be converted
You will see people ask what a VRR score “is” in insurance group terms. There is no honest answer, for three reasons. The ranges differ, so there is no shared midpoint. The structures differ — one blended figure against five pillars, where a car can be low risk on four and high on the fifth. And the populations differ: the two systems are applied to different sets of cars, so there is no overlap set you could calibrate a conversion against.
The practical consequence is simple. If your car has a group, use the group — look it up by registration or in the full 1–50 list. If it is a VRR-era car, the group is not “unknown”, it genuinely does not exist, and comparing quotes is the only meaningful way to see where it sits.
What actually changes for you as a driver
Less than the amount of noise around the change suggests. You never bought insurance by quoting a group number at an insurer; you entered your registration and got a price. That is unchanged. What changes sits behind the quote: insurers get a more precise view of repair and security risk, so pricing should track the real cost of a car more closely than a single blended number allowed.
The one practical difference is at the point of buying a car. For a pre-2024 range you can check the group before you commit and know it will not move — see checking the group before you buy. For a new VRR-era model there is no published figure to check, so the only reliable pre-purchase move is to run real quotes on the exact derivative you are considering. On that point the old system is genuinely more convenient, even if it is less accurate.
How long will both run together?
Years. The average UK car is well over a decade old, and every one of those cars carries a classic group. VRR only accumulates coverage as new model ranges arrive, so the 1–50 scale will remain the relevant number for the large majority of cars being bought, sold and insured for a long time yet. There is no switch-off date, which is why we maintain both: group data across the cars we cover, and an honest “this is likely a VRR-era car” flag where a group does not apply.
One thing neither system does is change with your circumstances. A rating describes the vehicle only — see whether an insurance group can change for what does and does not move a published number, and what affects your price for everything that sits outside the car.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between VRR and insurance groups?
Insurance groups rate a car from 1 to 50 as a single blended number, and apply to model ranges on sale before August 2024. Vehicle Risk Rating scores new model ranges from 1 to 99 across five separate pillars — performance, damageability, repairability, safety and security — so an insurer can see which specific risk drives the rating rather than just the total.
Is VRR replacing insurance groups?
Gradually, yes. VRR applies to new model ranges launched from 1 August 2024 onwards, and the 1–50 scale is not being applied to those new ranges. But the tens of millions of cars already on UK roads keep their existing groups, so both systems will run alongside each other for many years.
Which rating applies to my car?
If your car's model range was on sale before August 2024 — which covers virtually every used car — it has a classic 1–50 insurance group. Only genuinely new model ranges launched since then are rated under VRR. Our checker flags when a car is likely to be from the VRR era based on its DVLA year.
Can you convert a VRR score to an insurance group?
No, and you should be suspicious of anything that claims to. The scales have different ranges, different structures and are applied to different sets of cars. A VRR of 40 is not 'group 20 doubled' — there is no conversion factor, because the two systems are not measuring the same thing in the same way.
Is a VRR score of 50 good or bad?
Mid-range on a 1–99 scale, but the total is less informative than the five pillars behind it. Two cars can both score 50 for very different reasons — one because it is quick, another because it is slow but expensive to repair. The pillar breakdown is the whole point of the new framework.
Does VRR make insurance cheaper or more expensive?
Neither by design. It is a risk-assessment framework, not a pricing scheme. In practice it should sharpen pricing: cars that are cheap to repair and hard to steal are rewarded more precisely than a single blended number allowed, and cars with expensive calibration-heavy repairs are penalised more precisely too.
Why does my new car show no insurance group anywhere?
Because it may not have one. If the model range launched under VRR, there is no 1–50 figure to publish — so group lookups come back empty rather than wrong. That is the honest answer, and it is why we tell you when a car is likely VRR-era instead of inventing a number.
Do insurers have to use VRR?
No. Like group ratings, VRR is advisory. Insurers use it as a shared reference and then apply their own claims data, underwriting rules and appetite on top — which is exactly why quotes for the same car still vary widely between providers.
More on how the rating system works
Car insurance groups explained
The pillar guide: what the 1–50 scale means and how it's used.
How groups are decided
The Group Rating Panel, Thatcham's testing and the factors behind each number.
Vehicle Risk Rating (VRR)
The 1–99 successor framework for model ranges launched since August 2024.
Can an insurance group change?
Why classic groups are fixed, what VRR changes, and the postcode myth.
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Check my insurance group →Sources & further reading
- Thatcham Research — The motor insurers' automotive research centre. Co-runs the Group Rating Panel that sets UK insurance groups, and publishes the Vehicle Risk Rating (VRR) framework.
- Association of British Insurers (ABI) — The trade body for UK insurers. Co-runs the Group Rating Panel behind the 1–50 insurance group scale.
- DVLA — Get vehicle information — The official GOV.UK service for vehicle details by registration. Our checker uses the DVLA's Vehicle Enquiry Service API, the same underlying record.