Insuring electric cars...

[AE-NMidlands]

The Guardian says it is a problem: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/ ... ance-costs

‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs: Drivers who ditched petrol and diesel to help save the planet face huge price rises in premiums
Driving an electric car should be a win-win, saving money and the planet. So David* was shocked when the insurance on his Tesla Model Y came up for renewal, and Aviva refused to cover him again, while several other brands turned him away.

When David did secure a new deal, the annual cost rocketed from £1,200 to more than £5,000.

“My insurer was Aviva from July 2022 to July 2023, but when it was coming up for renewal, I received a letter stating that they would not be covering the Tesla Model Y any more,” David says. “I am a member of a Tesla UK owners forum, and lots of other people seem to be having the same issue.”

In the Facebook group, members share stories of horror renewal quotes, with increases ranging from 60% (up to £1,100) to a staggering 940% (a jump from £447 to £4,661, according to a screengrab shared by one driver).

“I spent weeks on every comparison site as well as trying individual insurers and specialist brokers, but either they wouldn’t cover the car or the quotes were £5,000 or more,” says David, whose only change in circumstance was three points on a licence.
etc

Sounds bad for the people who have committed.

[Mart]

Big increases for us this year (late Sept renewal).

The 2018 28kWh IONIQ went up about 50% from roughly £350 to just over £500.
The 2022 LR Tesla Model Y went up about 100% from about £350 to about £700.

Back in 2020 when we got the LR Tesla 3, it was also about £350, actually a bit cheaper than the 7yr old Zafira it replaced.

[smegal]

Big increases for us this year (late Sept renewal).

The 2018 28kWh IONIQ went up about 50% from roughly £350 to just over £500.
The 2022 LR Tesla Model Y went up about 100% from about £350 to about £700.

Back in 2020 when we got the LR Tesla 3, it was also about £350, actually a bit cheaper than the 7yr old Zafira it replaced.

In fairness, my diesel Volvo renewal went from £324 to £480 I managed to get it back down to,~£324 by using a comparison website, but it seemed that the lower price on the comparison site was an outlier.

[Mart]

Big increases for us this year (late Sept renewal).

The 2018 28kWh IONIQ went up about 50% from roughly £350 to just over £500.
The 2022 LR Tesla Model Y went up about 100% from about £350 to about £700.

Back in 2020 when we got the LR Tesla 3, it was also about £350, actually a bit cheaper than the 7yr old Zafira it replaced.

In fairness, my diesel Volvo renewal went from £324 to £480 I managed to get it back down to,~£324 by using a comparison website, but it seemed that the lower price on the comparison site was an outlier.

Good point. So just to clarify, those prices are after we shopped around, following the even higher, initial renewal quotes.

TBF to Wifey, she'd mentioned for months that based on comments on the Tesla Owners Group, that the policy prices would be going up, a lot. But, mustn't look a gift horse in the mouth, when we first decided to go nuts, and buy a Tesla, we assumed a much higher insurance price than we are even now paying. Certainly didn't expect it to be the same (slightly lower) than the old Zafira, and the 2014 24kWh Nissan Leaf (in 2020). Weird stuff, be it insurance quotes or magic.

[Stinsy]

1) Insurance prices are going up across the board. Insurance companies own vast amounts of government bonds, the value of which have plummeted dramatically over the last year or so. The rising insurance prices affect both ICEVs and BEVs.

2) Many models of BEV have long lead times for parts such as bodypanels, bumpers, etc.. Additionally repairers are very quick to write off BEVs if there is any sign of the battery pack being damaged. They basically err on the side of caution.

[Adokforme]

Having gone from a Nissan Leaf's renewal price of £310 in June '23, then I got something of a surprise when simply transferring it over to the Model 3 that month at what seemed a whopping £760, but maybe not.
On August 2nd having decided to keep the Leaf, for V2H hopefully, I then insured it also on the insurers multipolicy scheme and staggered to be quoted a mere £87. Couldn't sign up quick enough.
We are with LV both for cars and home.

[Stinsy]

Having gone from a Nissan Leaf's renewal price of £310 in June '23, then I got something of a surprise when simply transferring it over to the Model 3 that month at what seemed a whopping £760, but maybe not.
On August 2nd having decided to keep the Leaf, for V2H hopefully, I then insured it also on the insurers multipolicy scheme and staggered to be quoted a mere £87. Couldn't sign up quick enough.
We are with LV both for cars and home.

A TM3 costing twice as much to insure as a LEAF seems perfectly reasonable to me! Imagine how much a minor ding would cost to repair in the two cars. Also compare their performance.

[dan_b]

Used to be in the UK that only Direct Line would insure Teslas, but there are more who will now.
The premium on my TM3P is pretty punchy, but I think it's commensurate with the car's value and performance and I'm in London.
At least it's not a Range Rover - they're now the most stolen vehicles in London and some insurers are refusing to write policies for them at all.

[Stinsy]

Used to be in the UK that only Direct Line would insure Teslas, but there are more who will now.
The premium on my TM3P is pretty punchy, but I think it's commensurate with the car's value and performance and I'm in London.
At least it's not a Range Rover - they're now the most stolen vehicles in London and some insurers are refusing to write policies for them at all.

It is funny seeing all those £100k Range Rovers with 90s crook locks in London. I hear they're super easy to steal!

[richbee]

Used to be in the UK that only Direct Line would insure Teslas, but there are more who will now.
The premium on my TM3P is pretty punchy, but I think it's commensurate with the car's value and performance and I'm in London.
At least it's not a Range Rover - they're now the most stolen vehicles in London and some insurers are refusing to write policies for them at all.

It is funny seeing all those £100k Range Rovers with 90s crook locks in London. I hear they're super easy to steal!

Maybe taking over from Transit vans then - the old 90s Vauxhall trick of 'put a screwdriver in the door lock and hit it with a hammer' is still a thing, then stick a dongle thing in the OBD port and off you go.
Mine now has a steering wheel lock and an increased security lock. You would think manufacturers could sort it out by now