Is your job title increasing your car insurance costs?

The cost of car insurance has dropped after peaking at a mammoth annual average of £995 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Comparison platform Confused.com found the average cost of car insurance in the fourth quarter of 2024 was £834.

While this marks a steep annual decline of £161 (-16%) in the cost of car insurance, costs are still well above pre-pandemic lows.

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There are a number of things that could add to your overall car insurance costs - for example, your age, where you live or if you have made previous claims. But, did you know your - your job title could also impact the premium?

Not many people may expect their profession to influence how much they pay for their car cover, but research has shown that some job titles can affect quotes – and it might not work in your favour.

We look at which job titles could be costing you more, and ways to cut the cost of car insurance without falling foul of your insurer.

Which job titles cause the biggest spike in car insurance costs?

A study by Go.Compare in 2024 found that people with certain job titles have to fork out significantly more for their car insurance than others.

Manual labourers were among the worst hit, with roofers, floor layers, construction workers, and engineers facing higher premiums.

Go.Compare says that the rationale behind this for insurance companies could be that all these jobs will likely include a lot of car use as they drive to building sites and residential addresses - and as result, are more likely to make a claim.

Tom Banks, car insurance spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: “If your job typically involves a lot of driving, or presents additional risks due to the nature of the work, then you might see higher insurance premiums.

“Conversely, if your profession is one that doesn’t generally involve much driving or obvious risk at all, then you could potentially find yourself paying less for your car insurance.”

We look at the job title that could cost you more.

Source: Go.Compare, February 2025

Which job titles pay the lowest car insurance costs?

While working as a labourer might lead to your car insurance almost doubling, certain other professions are luckier.

The same data from Go.Compare revealed that the profession that pays the least in car insurance is medical secretary, with their average price being just £333.

The job titles that pay the least in premiums are modern clerical professions, with legal secretary, accounts clerk, and clerical officer all paying far less than the national average for their insurance.

The reason for this will be the reverse of why manual workers tend to pay more for car insurance. Those in office-based roles will likely be driving on safe and predictable routes to their workplace and back, while also avoiding high-risk areas like construction sites.

These are the 10 jobs that pay the lowest car insurance premiums:

Source: Go.Compare, data published 05/02/2025

Though technically not an occupation, the group that pay the lowest in car insurance premiums are pensioners, with retirees paying an average annual premium of just £319.

Can you tweak your job title to reduce insurance premiums?

While you shouldn’t lie about your job, if you find another description for what matches your role best, it may be worth comparing quotes for both occupations and seeing which is cheaper.

For example, if you’re a journalist, you can pay significantly less in premiums if you tweak your job title to ‘Editorial Staff’, while if you opted for the title of Newsreader you could pay almost double, according to an online tool from MoneySavingExpert.

Similarly, if you are a roofer, you could potentially reduce your car insurance premiums by tweaking your job title to ‘labourer’ for savings, albeit small ones.

It’s important to be very careful when doing this. The job title on your policy must be accurate for your role or it can invalidate your car insurance coverage. As a result, if you try to make a claim, you may find that you are left having to pay the cost of repairs entirely out of your pocket.

There’s a further financial impact too, since you will need to declare that you have had an insurance policy voided when arranging other financial products in the future. This can mean they are more expensive or even lead to financial firms declining your application altogether.

So, before you go ahead and tweak your job title, be sure to apply common sense and ensure that it still fairly reflects what you do, just in different words.