Insurance Question.....

My Allstate agent said that it'll cost a little more than my current regular Prius. I don't remember how much more off the top of my head, but the difference didn't seem surprising between a 2009 car with nearly 130Kmiles, vs. a brand new 2017mobile.


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There was another strange point here. I could almost understand a car being misclassified.

Why is an EV so hazardous that they would not even insure the household?? It is their (bad) choice not to insure EVs but why lose the other household business??

 

Yeah, that strikes me as bizarre... Somebody there is confused.

All I can think of is that they might have heard reports of Tesla fires and said, "no way we'll insure that house." But if anybody understands statistics, it would be insurance companies, and anybody who crunches the numbers can see the stats are down in the ones to tens of parts per million, depending upon which incidents you include, so...


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There was a Gen 4 user in Alaska whose car caught fire due to the engine block heater. The garage was OK, but smoke damage to the motorcycle, if I recall correctly.
In curiously searching for the OP insurance company, I discovered a different company, Liberty Mutual, that claims to offer a discount for Hybrids because they protect the environment.
Strange times, indeed!

 

That's somewhat true. However, the service, many insurance companies use a database compiled by R. L. Polk, is a subscription and the database used by your company may not be updated as frequently as is possible in order to save money. That said, your company underwriter does have the ability to provide your VIN to Polk and obtain an up-to-date spec sheet. I can't imagine why your underwriter didn't do that when you questioned them regarding coverage for your Prime. It almost sounds like the OP's agent and company representative aren't communicating well.

 

Old fashioned and complacency in the dangers of an ICE car.

The company might have noticed the availability of EVSE units without UL approval, or realized how easy it is for a user to take risks in using the portable EVSE. So they decided that it would be better to avoid the hassle in the event a car's charger started a fire.

 

That's an interesting possibility...


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Yes, was there any more explanation?

 

Let's see. They won't insure a car that uses electricity, but they will insure the use of a vehicle where you routinely store many gallons of a very highly combustible liquid. I suspect that there is some confusion here somewhere.

 

When you register a Prius in Colorado, they ask if it is a plug-in and add a surcharge if so to offset the loss of revenue from gasoline taxes. Apparently, they cannot tell from the VIN number, and rely on your honesty when registering. This surcharge is added each year when you renew your plates.

 

That defeats the purpose of trying to get people to save.

 

State Farm insures my Prime.

#1 in Easley,SC

 

I have Allstate and I just gave them the VIN and that was it. Like I said earlier, my rate dropped when we went from the 2012 PIP Basic to the Prime Advanced. I would have expected an increase since the replacement cost with all of this technology has to be ridiculous.

 

Most parked car fires to involve the fuel when starting. Spilled oil or another fluid on a hot part is a possible ignition point, but then many recalls over cars catching fire involve something in the electrical system, like the window switches.

 

I think the OP has perhaps the ONLY auto insurance company that doesn't want to insure any "electric" vehicle. As others have mentioned with their insurance companies, and also my experience with AAA Insurance, other insurance companies seem to rate plug-in vehicles as not particularly risky. There is something really weird going on with Preferred Mutual, that they don't want to insure Prime, Volt, Leaf, Tesla, etc. And the regular Prius and other hybrids are just as much an electric vehicles as the Prime, except that the electricity comes from the onboard gasoline engine rather than the wall; do they also refuse the insure them because they are electric? Strange.

 

Has anybody told them ALL cars have dangerous electric parts?
I guess they only insure cars with crank start or recoil start, like some lawn mowers.

 

Perhaps they have been trying to short Tesla stock.

Not insuring a EV likely has nothing to do with the systems in the car, but connection a plug in has directly to the house's electrical system. For a conservative/paranoid insurance company, a charging car pulls as much amperage as a high power vacuum for several hours during a day, and no one is babysitting it. On top of that, there EVSEs out there without UL certification and even in kit form. That's like running a vacuum that a person has built themself.

It is silly not insuring electrics, but I've heard of Allstate dropping people's auto insurance if they find out they take place in sanctioned racing, even if the car used for racing isn't insured through them. Being run by people, companies are free to do odd things.

 

So they are afraid that the house will burn down (which they don't really care about, since they aren't insuring that), and it will take the car with it (which they ARE insuring)? If that is the case, then why don't they just decline to write comprehensive coverage on EV cars? Unless they feel that owners of EV cars are more like to generate more or more expensive liability or collision claims? I think we really will never know what is in their mind, since they don't want customers talking to the people who make those decisions, and the OP will just have go somewhere else for auto insurance.

 

Actually I think they were insuring the house too.