What Are Insurance Symbols?

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An insurance symbol is a numeric code carriers assign to a specific vehicle to summarize its expected loss cost across coverages. Symbols are set separately for collision, comprehensive, liability, personal injury protection and medical payments; each coverage uses its own scale. Higher symbols mean higher expected losses and therefore higher premium factors. Insurance Services Office (ISO) publishes an industry symbol set; many carriers use their own proprietary versions built on top.

Why symbols exist

Rather than re-price every year/make/model/trim from scratch, insurers reduce a vehicle to a small set of symbols summarizing what similar cars have cost to insure.

Rather than re-price every year/make/model/trim from scratch, insurers reduce a vehicle to a small set of symbols summarizing what similar cars have cost to insure. The symbol is one of many rating factors, combined with your driving record, location, mileage, coverages and credit-based insurance score to produce the final premium.

How the symbols are set

  • Based on actual loss experience for that model, when available (frequency × severity).
  • For new models, based on price, weight, horsepower, size class and predicted safety.
  • Reviewed and updated annually as more data accumulates.
  • Separate symbols for collision, comp, liability, PIP and medical.

Symbol vs. rating factor, not the same thing

The symbol is the vehicle's score; the rating factor is the multiplier applied to base premium.

The symbol is the vehicle's score; the rating factor is the multiplier applied to base premium. Two cars can share a symbol yet still price differently after credit, geography and coverage limits are applied. If your quote jumped after buying a new car, the symbol change is often the biggest single reason.

Where to look yours up

ISO's symbols are published in industry reference tables but not typically consumer-facing.

ISO's symbols are published in industry reference tables but not typically consumer-facing. The simplest way to see the effect: request two quotes from the same carrier for two candidate vehicles with identical coverages, and note the vehicle-only premium difference. HLDI's public loss indexes on iihs.org tell you the same story in a more transparent way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a lower symbol always cheaper?

Directionally yes, but only for that coverage. A car can carry a low collision symbol and a high comprehensive symbol (or vice versa).

Do all insurers use the same symbols?

No. Many use ISO's set as a baseline and layer their own proprietary factors on top, which is one reason quotes vary across carriers for the same car.

Do symbols change over time?

Yes. Symbols are reviewed as new claim data comes in, so an older model's symbol can drift up or down.

Can I see my car's symbol on my policy?

Rarely, and not by that name. What you see is the vehicle-level premium; the symbol is the internal ingredient.

Related Guides

Sources: Insurance Services Office (ISO), rating symbol tables · NAIC.

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