Hybrids cost insurers more

My 07 GS 450h is cheaper to insure than my V-8 01 GS 430 by around $500 a year

 

Reading between the lines on their press release, the point of the study was to show that their re-estimation of underwriting risk is superior to the insurer's own underwriting models. Hence the intensive study of 360,000 cars. If the results had agreed with the mainstream (meaning the NHTSA data that Bob posted, congruent with the experience of most of us, that the Prius was no more expensive to insure than a regular vehicle), then the study would not have seen the light of day.

Based on their press release, the study used a sample of 360,000 vehicles (NOT 360,000 claims, as the WSJ mis-reported). From that, I'd guess the sample of Prii was about 1000 cars (1M prii out of 300M US fleet, x 360,000 car sample). Here's the press release:

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Quality-Planning-Corp-1017137.html

Elsewhere, I read a statistic of about 9 insurance claims per 100 insured vehicles per year, for all types of coverage (ie, including theft and such).

Assuming that's about right, then we are looking at the results of insurance claims for roughly 90 Prii.

And it's not 90 randomly chosen Prii, it's 90 Prii within the sample of a dozen insurers that participated in the study. (So, you'd need to know why the insurers chose to participate in order to understand whether there's any bias there.)

In any case, since the insurance industry as whole knows the experience of the entire fleet of Prii, and this study looks at claims from roughly 90 Prii (out of roughly 1000 Prii in the sample), I'd say that it's not enough to make me change my mind. And I'm guessing it's not enough to make my insurer change their rates.

Classic man-bites-dog story, classic weak evidence.

 

CNW say Prius are expensive because they do low mileages.
Insurance is high because Prius do high mileages.
Someone's wrong!

 

CNW also claims hummers last 25 years... And to this day I have never seen a 25 year old hummer... So it must be a lie...

 

There seems to be some confusion among readers here, so I'll point out the following:
Yes, our insurance is cheaper at the moment on average (note that part about discounts for Prius drivers in the very first line.) The point of the study is to claim that the reasons for it being cheaper are erroneous and that the rate should be higher. If insurers agree then our rates will go up.

As I said earlier, there are some things about the Prius that would tend to support portions of the claims. Without seeing the actual data sets though I'm not going to say the study is right or wrong with regards to the loss rate. Regardless of my suppositions, the data are the proof one way or another, so I can't make any conclusion.

 

Our rate went up $100 a yr over the car we traded in...a 2002 Jeep Liberty 4WD

 

Hi All,

Last time I checked my car insurance there was a line that estimated the usage of the vehicle - above 12000 mi/year was more expensive. So, It befudles me how insurance companies are getting short-change by drivers that put more mileage on their cars. Surely these professional acuarials are charging people what they think it costs for them to drive more - for insurance.

Based on this, this news seems to me to be some sorta guerilla marketing FUD baloney....

 

Base on the materials thickness, the Hummer is definitely will take longer to disintegrate. It does not mean it will run for 25 year without repairs.

 

Just traded in my 2003 Honda Accord and for my beautiful new 2010 III prius (Solar + Nav + awesome). My insurance rates went up by $150. I was surprised by this and asked the agent to figure out why (may as well make them work for the money!). She compared it to my previous rate in all the categories and found the largest jump was in collision repairs and damage. Apparently it is considered more expensive to fix by my company.

 

Yeah, but the estimated miles per year is self-reported by the driver. I'm guessing you weren't the one who set up your insurance?

I put down just 6k miles/yr myself... I don't intend to drive a whole bunch since I live less than 2 miles from my Grad school, but I guess we'll see what happens...

Then again, I do live about 35-40 miles away from my family.

 

I'm happy to say that my Prius now has hail damage, so I'm dropping comp and the rate should now be the same as my old Subaru -- about $250/year for $1,000,000 liability.

Rate is for a boring driver who lives in a boring suburb.

 

Well yeah, it's a newer car... you need to compare a Prius and a non-Prius of the same year.

Also, you have to consider the options. I was quoted about $600 (every 6 months... because I'm only 22 ) online for my Prius, but it ended up being $700 in reality because there was nowhere to enter my acutal VIN online. The difference occurred because online they were assuming the base model, whereas my 2007 Prius is fully loaded.

 

I try to bear in mind that this is the same industry which refused payment for Katrina loses based claiming Flood damage as compared to Storm damage.
I am at peace with the concept that the Prius holds it's value and is more technologically advanced therefore the costs of totaling a vehicle or repair are higher and must be factored in. I believe Prius owners may be actually safer drivers in overall statistics and therefore a reason must be found to increase fee's.
We are today surrounded by flim-flam industries from cell-phone to banking to insurance. It is sadly a part of our life.
Regards
Froley

 

Hi Muh....,

Hey fraud is fraud. So, your conjecture is that the article is saying Hybrid drivers lie to their insurance agents more? Does not sound right to me. With savings on gas maintenance hybrid owners can afford to have the insurance they need, and not risk a denial. Ever see some of those tires on big pickups and SUV's that are more than a few years old? Many are wore down dangerously. It seems these vehicle owners would have more motivation to lie to their insurance writer.

I told the agent what I drive and they wrote the policy.

 

Hybrids are like ohter cars: if you don't like your rates, then go shopping. There are huge differences between companies, and the differences can seem arbitrary.

Your locale, how the company did in your state last year, marketing initiatives, the phase of the moon -- it all plays a part.

 

You may want to rethink that, because if you happen to total your car, they will very likely only cover the cost of a base model, not your fully loaded one.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that anyone lies about it. But even if someone makes their most honest attempt at estimating their yearly mileage, it could still be off by a significant margin. It's not like the insurance company comes out and takes an odometer reading once a year.

I do not know, perhaps some people actually keep track of the number of miles they drive per year, but I certainly don't (then again, I'm only 22). I didn't lie to get a better rate. I simply came up with a good estimate based on how long my "commute" is, and etc.

Considering that I put at most 45k miles on my previous car (probably less, but who knows by how much), which I had for 5 years, I'd say 6k-10k miles per year is a good estimate for me. However, for most of that time I've been living over 400 miles from my family, whereas in a few months I'll only be about 40 miles from them. That easily brings it down to 6k-7k. I guess we'll see...

 

Perhaps you are right. I certainly don't know much about it.

I wonder why it went up then, considering the online quote didn't include the multi-car discount that I get in reality by being on my parent's policy...

Oh well. I'm stuck with my parent's insurance company anyway. Getting my own would certainly be more expensive.

 

Insurers tend to determine their brackets differently depending on who you have. I've had one of my two vehicles in the low mileage bracket each year.

For some reason, my insurer shows the description of the Prius as a 2 door...although they rate it as a 4.