Is your job title increasing your car insurance costs?

The cost of car insurance has been extremely high over the past few years, peaking at an annual average of £885 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Luckily, average premiums have been dropping relatively quickly since then with comparison platform Quotezone finding the average cost of car insurance fell to £664 in June.

While this still marks a steep decline of £221 (-25%) in just under two years, the cost of car insurance is still well above pre-pandemic lows.

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Most people know that variables like your age, location, mileage, and losing your no claims bonus, can add to the overall cost of your car insurance.

However, many do not realise that something as simple as your job title can impact your premium – and it might not be 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?

Healthcare assistants, warehouse workers, and the unemployed are facing the steepest car premiums, according to recent data from Quotezone.

The comparison site found that these job titles were among the most commonly flagged as “high risk” by insurers, pumping up their premiums by nearly double the national average.

The job title that Quotezone found paid the most for car insurance was ‘healthcare assistant’, with those who hold this title being charged an average of £1,064 to insure their cars.

Meanwhile, warehouse workers will also be charged far more than the average driver, with premiums costing them around £1,063.

Other job titles seeing above-average costs include accountants (£1,041), delivery drivers (£1,013), company directors (£1,004), and chefs (£952).

The reason for these outsized car insurance premiums may be because many of these roles involve long hours, high stress, or shift work – all of which are factors that insurers can associate with higher risk.

The job title that commands the highest premiums is not actually an occupation, rather it is the lack of one. According to Quotezone’s data, being unemployed will mean you pay an average of £1,265 to insure your car.

Greg Wilson, CEO of Quotezone, said this was “worrying”, noting that the high average cost could be because the UK’s unemployed tend to be younger people “who are normally the most expensive to insure, given their additional risks and lack of experience”.

“One thing drivers can do is explore how they word their job title when reviewing quotes. As long as the description remains accurate and honest, variations in an individual’s job title could help bring the cost down,” says Wilson.

A full list of the job titles that drive your car insurance costs above the national average can be found below.

Source: Quotezone, July 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.

Professionals that pay the least in car insurance are civil servants, paying £494 – 25% less than the national average, Quotezone said.

Teachers also pay less, with the average educator paying £531 for their insurance, 20% less than the average price.

Administration assistants also pay less than most for their insurance, although not by much. Their average car insurance premiums cost £663.49, just 51p less than the national average.

Quotezone explains that these professions are often viewed as low-risk drivers because of the nature of their work. They are associated with more structured roles and regular working hours, which could mean fewer accidents and claims.

Perhaps surprisingly, a job title that commands significantly less in car insurance is an HGV driver, who pays an average of £556 for insurance, 16% less than the national average.

This may be because these drivers often undergo high levels of training and certification to operate HGV, so have significant driving experience, Quotezone explains, while also spending more hours in company vehicles rather than personal cars.

A list of the four job titles that lead to lower car insurance premiums can be found below.

Source: Quotezone, July 2025

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 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.

We look at the cheapest day to buy car insurance in a separate article.

How your marital status affects your car insurance

Another way that your car insurance costs could be being inflated is through your marital status, according to MoneySuperMarket.

While it may not be why you get married, lower car insurance premiums could be a happy side effect of getting hitched – though it’s probably best not to tell your spouse that’s the reason you tied the knot.

The average single person pays £859.04 for their car insurance, making it the most expensive marital status to have when trying to get cover for your vehicle.

Getting married can drive this down by over £100, with the average married driver paying £721.35 for their insurance.

Telling your insurer that you are in a civil partnership leads to average car insurance premiums of £799.25, but stating you are in a partnership means average premiums of £760.77.

Meanwhile, the average car insurance premium for a person in a common law marriage is significantly lower at £606.82.

As for those who have been less lucky in love, they tend to pay less for their car insurance than when they were married. The average premiums for divorcees are £509.57, while they are £496.24 for people who are separated.

Alicia Hempsted, car insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket told MoneyWeek: “Insurers consider lots of factors when pricing a premium, such as age, length of no claims discount, marital status, occupation, location, driving experience, and the make and model of the car.”

She added that all of these factors are used to assess your risk and they then price your premium accordingly.

Source: MoneySuperMarket, August 2025