Driving a hard bargain: hospitality workers getting stung on insurance

The median insurance quote for hospitality workers is £1,182, making the profession second only to the building and construction industry (£1,186).

Police and community support professionals enjoy the cheapest premiums with a median of £499, while driving instructors and examiners follow in second place at £615.

Within the hospitality sector there is a relatively high level of variability between different job roles. With insurance premiums closely linked to the value of the vehicle, restaurateurs pay the most, with average premiums an eye-watering £1,461.

The median car insurance premium for chefs is £1,142 while waiters and waitresses pay £1,448 and £1,283 respectively. Barmaids enjoyed the lowest insurance price with an average quote of £874.

The findings are based on over 60,000 car insurance quotes across fifteen professions in the UK, which Quotezone.co.uk compiled earlier this year. 

While each of the quotes the company analysed were for personal car insurance policies rather than commercial policies, a driver’s occupation can still have a significant effect on their premium.

“Insurers use a wide range of variables when they’re calculating premiums, and your occupation is one of them,” says Quotezone.co.uk founder Greg Wilson. “That’s because your occupation has the potential to say something about your risk appetite and your driving style, in much the same way as your age can do."

“In addition, insurance companies have built up a huge volume of data relating to which occupations are least likely or most likely to make an insurance claim, which can then be used to assess the risk of a new policyholder with a particular occupation making a claim.”