Chinese Car Insurance Cost in the UK: Why Premiums Average £901 and Some Insurers Simply Say No

The premium gap nobody mentions in the showroom

The showroom maths on a new Chinese car looks irresistible. Generous kit, long warranties, list prices that undercut established rivals by thousands. Then the insurance quote lands, and a chunk of that saving quietly disappears. The Chinese car insurance cost UK buyers actually face averages £901 a year, according to a Carwow/GB News analysis — around £255 more than the £646 average for equivalent petrol models.

The worst cases are starker still. Carwow found the Jaecoo 7 averaged £1,103 a year to insure, against £577 for a Skoda Karoq — a comparable family SUV costing barely half as much to cover. Over a typical ownership period that is a four-figure difference the brochure never mentioned.

And for some buyers the problem is not the price of cover but getting any at all. As of mid-2026, Auto Express reported that some insurers still decline to underwrite certain Chinese models altogether, citing parts supply and repair-data gaps — this despite booming sales across the newcomer brands.

Why insurers are twitchy about newcomer brands

Insurance pricing is, at heart, an exercise in predicting repair bills. Underwriters lean on decades of claims history: how often a model crashes, what it costs to fix, how quickly parts arrive, which bodyshops can handle the work. A brand that arrived in Britain two or three years ago offers none of that.

Thatcham Research — the insurance industry's automotive research body — points to exactly this. Newcomer brands attract higher premiums partly because insurers lack claims history and established repair networks. Without data, actuaries price for the worst case. Without a repair network, a modest prang can mean a car sitting in a compound for weeks while parts cross the world and the insurer funds a courtesy car. Uncertainty is expensive, and the customer pays for it.

None of this is unique to Chinese marques — any new entrant faces the same cold start. But the sheer pace of the brands' price-war-fuelled UK expansion means insurers are being asked to absorb a lot of unknown metal at once.

Parts, repair data and the £1,528 headlamp

The raw numbers behind repair costs explain much of the caution. Parts make up around 40% of repair costs, according to Thatcham figures reported by evo — and parts inflation has been brutal across the industry. One example headlamp rose from £1,039 in 2020 to £1,528 in 2025. When a single light unit costs more than some annual premiums, an underwriter's view of a car with uncertain parts supply hardens quickly.

The encouraging news is that at least one manufacturer is tackling the problem at the source. Chery — parent of the Omoda and Jaecoo brands — has hired Thatcham Research to improve the insurability of its cars, Fleet News reported, after underwriters raised concerns about repair information and parts availability. Working with the body that effectively sets the industry's risk ratings is the most direct route to cheaper cover; established players spent decades building that relationship, and Chery is attempting it in fast-forward.

The honest assessment

A Chinese SUV that undercuts established rivals by thousands on the list price but costs roughly £255 a year more to insure is still, on paper, a decent deal — but a slimmer one than the sticker suggests, and one that depends on you actually getting a quote. If your chosen insurer declines the model, as some reportedly still do, you may be pushed towards pricier specialist cover, eroding the saving further.

The sensible move is boring but effective: get real quotes for your exact model, postcode and mileage before signing anything, and compare total annual running costs rather than the monthly PCP figure. Premiums vary hugely by driver and region, so treat every average here as a signpost, not a promise — and nobody can guarantee your renewal.

The questions buyers actually ask

Will insurers really refuse to cover a Chinese car? Some still decline certain models, per Auto Express reporting from July 2026, mostly over parts supply and thin repair data. It is model-specific rather than blanket, so shop widely — comparison sites plus a broker will usually find cover, though not always at a friendly price.

Why is the premium higher when the car itself is cheaper? Because insurers price repair risk, not list price. With parts making up around 40% of repair costs, uncertain parts pipelines and missing repair data outweigh a low RRP. A cheap car with expensive, slow-to-source parts is a costly car to underwrite.

Will premiums for Chinese cars come down? They are expected to ease as claims history builds and manufacturers share repair data — Chery's Thatcham partnership is the template. But there is no fixed timetable, so budget on today's quotes, not tomorrow's hopes.

Key takeaways

• Chinese cars average £901 a year to insure in the UK — about £255 more than the £646 average for equivalent petrol models.
• The Jaecoo 7 averaged £1,103 against £577 for a Skoda Karoq, per Carwow.
• Some insurers still decline certain Chinese models over parts supply and repair-data gaps, as reported in July 2026.
• Parts are roughly 40% of repair costs, and prices are climbing — one headlamp went from £1,039 in 2020 to £1,528 in 2025.
• Chery has hired Thatcham Research to improve Omoda and Jaecoo insurability; expect the gap to narrow, gradually.