The Truth About Electric Car Insurance! Is It More Expensive???

After having messages for years from people telling me Electric Car insurance is more than petrol, I decided to look into it to see if it's actually true. I also have a look at LV Insurances new 'EV Insurance' they've launched.

[Bin]

When we got an EV in November, our then current insurer (HastingsDirect) said they were sorry, but they don’t insure EVs.
They even checked with the underwriter for me. They refunded my remaining cover and made it clear that this wasn’t a policy cancellation or refusal for the purposes of answering the question to a subsequent insurer.
The best part is I had checked with them about a week before going to pick up the car, and they had even given me a quote. It was only once I called back to go ahead when they told me they couldn’t.
One thing I did notice, if you want cover to start immediately or tomorrow, then they jack the price up. I started my new cover at the end of the free 7 day drive away insurance from the dealer to get a better price for the same insurance.

[peteafloatable]

Not boring at all !! Just gone with LV for my Leaf, but only because it was the best quote. Saw the bit about recovery for flat battery and thought 'oooh cool' but now you have made me realise that I'm already covered !! Oh well, great vid, keep up the good work
Pete

[leesmart]

My Admiral multi-car policy renews on June 14th at £62 higher than last year for the same cars.

I collected my Kona EV on Friday so rang to change over. No admin fee and nothing to pay for remaining 3 weeks cover.

The quote for the full year is £64 cheaper than with the old ICE car - £2 cheaper than last year!

(Old ICE car was a 4yr old diesel Ford Focus BTW)

[kjhaz]

Thanks EVM! It's crazy out there. My LV Zoe policy cost me....wait for it...£164. Yes, just £164. RAC, my previous broker said, we "salute" you with our £25 admin charge and our Zurich policy at £295 for your new Zoe. I salute the RAC with my middle finger. I am a long standing RAC recovery member. Otherwise, your points about LV are entirely right. Guess I just got lucky with my 2019 Zoe. I rent the battery, but LV didn't ask. So, their risk/liability is lower than if I owned the battery - which also means I get free recovery and replacement. It's crazy out there. Keep shopping around. I salute you, nice!y!

[vkxre]

Here in Straya the price of comprehensive insurance is based on the value of the car, the excess you are willing to pay, no claim status and any extras such as hire vehicle after an accident. One insurance company where I am, RACWA (Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia) then discounts the policy for EVs. The also do cheaper finance for EVs. 0.5% cheaper than their normal interest rate, which was the best rate even without the discount. Being a club they return profits to the community, such as running 2 rescue helicopters. They also provide discounts for club members at various retailers, for example 5% at a white goods retailer.

So when I bought the Kona, guess who I went with? In fact I moved the insurance of my other 2 vehicles, house and contents insurance to them as they were cheaper than the company I was with.

And I bought a new iron, 5% discount.

[RWBHere]

It's the Emperors new clothes again. Thanks for the clear explanation, Andy. People forget that, every time they replace an old car, the insurance premium is higher for the new vehicle, which would cost a lot more to replace than the old one. As for the Leaf premiums being higher than for the Kia, maybe there's a latent worry about the battery life with the 3 year-old model? Couple that with the way that the Leaf retains its resale value in comparison to, for example, a Zoe, and the insurance price begins to make more sense.

[babylon]

Great video. My insurance with Plugnsure is cheaper then when I had my Swift.

In Canada. 2018 Leaf insurance bumped my monthly payment by $3.50 per year over my previous 2009 Golf.

[TheLaughingdonkey]

Insurance costs on my 3kW electric moped (Evomotion 3000-RX) are more than 3 times higher than for my 50cc petrol equivalent (Yamaha YQ-50) - £250 vs £80 - despite in this case the electric is actually slower and cheaper to buy than the petrol plus has quite limited range (Pb batteries). I hope other insurance companies will spot the gap in the market and bring on some healthy competition for this vehicle class.
Thanks for another brilliant video :-)

[robsmitha]

Last year I paid £200 to insure my Zoe but now it is £242, still fairly cheap but quite an increase. I got a quote on a Model S out of interest and it was a tad over £1000 (I'm 57 on Surrey / Hants border with full NCD)

[jonathandunn]

In contrast to your findings, my experience was completely different when it came to insurance costs. A few months ago I was looking at a 1-2 year old Renault Zoe for my wife and was getting quotes back of around £500. I decided to compare this with a Renault Clio (on which the Zoe is loosely based). I chose a Clio which had a similar value as the Zoe as well as one of similar age and performance. The quotes came back at around £250. So the EV cost double to insure than the ICE car, and you can't argue that this wasn't a true 'apples with apples' comparison!

[jeffreyfearn]

I'm pleased you did this video, it explains more than just saying it's more expensive.
You've explained that the EV is normally more powerful with the motor than a like for like equipment of the vehicle.
I have an e-golf so body for body it's the same body parts.

[chrisunderhill]

Hi EVM, interesting video for me as an EV owner and a qualified insurance broker who has been in the industry for nearly 15 years.

You raise some good points, some of which are not entirely accurate. I like the way you looked at risk comparing the EV and Petrol counterparts stating that your not comparing like for like or "apples to apples". However, whilst comparing list prices with list prices, remember that these vehicles devalue at different rates. My understanding is that typically, EV's devalue faster than ICE vehicles. You'd be hard pressed to find an insurer who will replace your vehicle with a list priced brand new car after a total loss claim once the car is more than six months old, although, you can purchase GAP insurance to cover this.

Whilst you are right in stating that the LV policy seems like some fluffy marketing to sell more insurance to EV owners (things like this happen all the time), there are potential benefits from the policy given your points raised (please note, I am not an employee of LV or associated with LV). For example, your point about the household insurance and the wall box being covered by it. This assumes that there is a household policy in place to cover the wall box. My wall box is outside and some HH insurers may exclude cover for contents which are permanently outside. It's also my understanding that more people insure their pets than they insure their homes (which is bonkers but that might be because I'm a cold hearted insurance broker by trade). Also, whilst you may pay £150 to replace your wall box and do it yourself, I wouldn't. I know hardly anything about electrics so I would pay an electrician to come out and replace it. Granted, this maybe a minimum cost of £60 which would still fall under an assumed excess of £250 (my excess is £150 on my car), due to my circumstances, the cost to install my car charging setup was over £800 (my circumstances are not typical and it took about 6 hours to install by a qualified electrician). Also, if your already claiming on car insurance, a lot of which come with protected no claims discount, why would you claim on household insurance for the wall box?

If you wanted to into more detail, I'd be happy to discuss this with you.

[alanboothby]

Hi, we used to own a Mazda MX5 2008 and a Honda CRV which used to cost £77.80 per month through Aviva, we now own have a 24kwh Leaf 14 plate and a Hyundai Kona 64kwh Premium 18 plate and our insurance is now £59.21 per month again through Aviva, fully comp, legal cover, no claims protection, 15000 miles cover for the leaf and 10, 000 miles for the Kona

[MythosGandaar]

Totally agree, although I don't have recovery or roadside assistance. I might consider getting it when my Bolt starts to get old, but even when I ran over a nail, I still made it to a gas station and tire shop without needing to call for help. Worst case, order a rideshare or call a friend I guess. Insurance is so expensive :'(

[stephenlee]

Hi, Just a quick clarification, nerdy point. Cover for your wall box against damage from your car is probably not covered by your car insurance, normally. Since, if you cause the damage as the car owner, the house or box owner would logically have to sue the car owner and you are not able to sue yourself for damage caused. Likewise if you were to knock down your own garden shed with you car you will not normally be able to claim on your car insurance. I agreed you would be able to claim on your house insurance for the charging point, 'though probably not for the shed.

[johnm]

Brilliant video thanks for posting it:-(😋

[jochenstacker]

Very informative video and awesome poster!

[michaelperrin]

I remember when fully comprehensive insurance was indeed comprehensive with no extra's or ad-on's costs.

[barryhaeger]

Last week I got a quote from LV to cover my eNiro (delivery expected July). I've currently a 4 year old 1.6 Diesel Honda CRV in SR trim (one below fully loaded) which cost me New in 2015 £24k (list just below £30k) and has current value £10-£11k. LV said they'll charge only document fee of £15 for change of vehicle 5 months into my insurance year.