Quantcast
Menu
Save, make, understand money

Insurance

The jobs that mean you pay more for your car insurance

John Fitzsimons
Written By:
John Fitzsimons
Posted:
Updated:
24/02/2021

Fast food delivery drivers face the most expensive car insurance premiums.

That’s according to new research from price comparison site GoCompare, which has broken down the average premiums faced by different occupations. The team looked at average comprehensive car insurance quotes between 2018 and the end of 2020 for a host of occupations to come up with an ‘average best premium’ price for each.

And it found that those who make a living from delivering food face extraordinarily high premiums, having to shell out an average of £1,394.05.

Here’s how the most expensive occupations shape up:

Rank Occupation  Average best premium
1 Fast food delivery driver  £1,394,05
2 Car dealer  £1,005.70
3 Property developer  £949.86
4 Librarian £949.15
5 Shop keeper £899.04
6 Picker £894.56
7 Delivery Courier  £874.43
8 Plasterer  £871.96 
9 Waiter £861.37
10 Construction worker £857.83

In some cases these results won’t be that surprising. After all, delivery drivers, couriers and car dealers are likely to spend a fair bit of time behind the wheel, and so are perhaps more likely to be involved in some form of accident. 

Others may be somewhat more surprising though, such as librarians ranking fourth for most expensive occupations and waiters in ninth.

At the other end of the scale, here are the occupations that were found to have the cheapest average premiums.

Rank Occupation  Average best premium 
1 Retired £372.29
2 Speech therapist  £423.54
3 Classroom Aide £435.29
4 Psychotherapist  £438.44
5 College Lecturer  £451.03
6 Nursing sister  £452.13
7 Massage therapist  £457.11
8 Occupational therapist  £457.27
9 Medical secretary  £458.07
10 Postwoman  £458.30

Lee Griffin, founder and CEO of GoCompare, said: “It is understandable that fast food delivery drivers have higher premiums because of the amount of time spent in their vehicles, but having some occupations, such as librarians amongst the most expensive is surprising, as they spend significantly less time in their vehicles and on the road.”

The factors that influence your car insurance costs

Your job title will inevitably make a difference to the cost of your car cover, as it can give insurers an insight into what level of risk they are taking on by insuring you. However, it’s worth playing around with the titles you enter as you may find that a slightly different job description ‒ so long as it remains accurate ‒ will return a cheaper premium.

There are a host of other factors that insurers consider when calculating your premium. Your history as a driver will be important here; young drivers, with less experience, tend to face much higher premiums for example, while if you’ve recently had to make a claim your premium will be more expensive than a driver with a decade of no claims.

The car you’re covering will also be a crucial factor, as certain models are more desirable to thieves or more likely to be targeted by vandals. 

Your location is another vital ingredient in working out your premium. The level of car crime in your area will influence the price of your cover, as will any additional security measures you have in place. For example, if your car is parked in a garage overnight, or with a security bar over the steering wheel, then your premium will be cheaper than if it is parked on the road outside your house.

Whether you are an existing policyholder or not plays a role too. Existing customers often get whacked with price rises when it comes to renewal time, to the point that drivers are wasting around £565m a year through misplaced loyalty according to TotallyMoney.

There are plenty of things you can do to ensure you pay less for your car cover though, as we outlined in our piece highlighting car insurance hacks.