Who do you use to insure your EV

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trig42

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#310509 26-Oct-2023 11:49

I'm about to get an EV (MG4).

I've heard that some companies really sting for insurance. I'm with AA currently, but am happy to shop around.

Who do you use for Comprehensive insurance on your EV? What's it worth?

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#3152335 26-Oct-2023 11:55

i wonder if it will get like the UK where insurance companies wont insure EV's or charge exorbitant premiums if you want insurance.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

KrazyKid

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#3152336 26-Oct-2023 12:03

Just insured my 51KW MG4 with FMG - $975.

When I shopped around the rates ranged up to $1800 so defintely worth trying a few places.
As usual the cost does change a with excess levels and driver age/history so YMMV.

Congratulations - it's a nice car to drive and the range is definitely a step up from my old 24KW leaf.

trig42

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#3152338 26-Oct-2023 12:18

KrazyKid:

Just insured my 51KW MG4 with FMG - $975.

When I shopped around the rates ranged up to $1800 so defintely worth trying a few places.
As usual the cost does change a with excess levels and driver age/history so YMMV.

Congratulations - it's a nice car to drive and the range is definitely a step up from my old 24KW leaf.

Thanks. I wonder if FMG insures non-farmers?

We're getting the Excite 64. Looking forward to it.

xpd

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#3152342 26-Oct-2023 12:26

They'll probably insure you, but at a higher rate if you are urban.

Will be more cars stolen from urban areas than rural, so more risk involved etc.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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BlargHonk

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#3152354 26-Oct-2023 12:38

vexxxboy:

i wonder if it will get like the UK where insurance companies wont insure EV's or charge exorbitant premiums if you want insurance.

Is that for all EVs, or just Teslas which are a PITA to repair?

KrazyKid

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#3152370 26-Oct-2023 13:14

trig42:

Thanks. I wonder if FMG insures non-farmers?

We are not farmers - I live urban city, so worth asking.

Varkk

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#3152374 26-Oct-2023 13:21

We just have our Leaf insured with AMI, just added on to the policy with our other car, we also have house/contents etc with them. No hassle and no crazy fees.

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jonathan18

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#3152375 26-Oct-2023 13:22

Like KrazyKid, we’ve insured my wife’s MG4 with FMG. They were a decent amount cheaper than AA Insurance, which is typically one of the more competitively priced options.

FMG is fairly conservative as to where and what it’ll insure - for example, they won’t insure Teslas which is why my Model Y is with AA. There are also a number of parts of the country where they won’t offer insurance, for example where I live (which is ironically where FMG is headquartered) they won’t sign up new customers (we were ok as the rest of our insurance is with them). If they will offer you cover and it’s well-priced I’d certainly recommend them - while they’re not up there in terms of tech (eg, no instant online quotes) they’re great to deal with.

michaelmurfy

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#3152389 26-Oct-2023 14:10

BlargHonk:
vexxxboy: i wonder if it will get like the UK where insurance companies wont insure EV's or charge exorbitant premiums if you want insurance.

Is that for all EVs, or just Teslas which are a PITA to repair?

Insurance companies just need to catch up. The biggest problem is due to less parts in EV's the main parts that could fail often are bigger parts that cost more per unit. Not talking about the battery but the motors etc also. Due to a lack of understanding insurance companies often write off EV's due to this. It is just plain stupid. Otherwise less goes wrong with any car and it is a myth that Teslas are a PITA to repair at-least in NZ (I've never had a bad experience with mine) plus they've opened up service mode and manuals to customers too in order to allow more self repairs.

My Tesla Model 3 Long Range is insured at $90k, $500 excess and zero excess on all glass (including the glass roof) through Star Insurance for $1700 as of the last renewal. I expect this to go up but will be dropping my agreed value too. Star Insurance also have "A new replacement vehicle for up to 3 years if it’s uneconomical to repair your vehicle" in their policy (see: https://starinsure.co.nz/prestige/ ) and believe it or not this worked out to be the 2nd or third cheapest option for me and picked it because of this. Star Insurance are great to deal with too with email queries being answered quickly + their phone support just being awesome. It also covers me for 2 track days per year if I wish to take my Tesla out on a track (never have however!).

Historically I had my cars insured via Vero but they rather silently dropped free glass cover which annoyed me plus also for an EV I'd much rather have an agreed value instead of market value.

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trig42

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#3152390 26-Oct-2023 14:11

AA just quoted me just under $1000, not bad. Was expecting much higher.

Will call FMG as well.

Thanks for everyone's input thus far.

mdf

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#3152403 26-Oct-2023 14:32

I have an EV motorscooter so not exactly directly comparable, but happily insured with MAS - last time I shopped around, they were price comparable but are just fantastic to deal with. I've had a quick look at their online quoting tool and both Teslas and MGs are an option there: https://www.mas.co.nz/insurance/motor-vehicle-insurance/

When I initially spoke to them about insurance for my bike, they said that they would not be able to insure EVs with really low numbers - wasn't direct cost or difficulty of repairs, rather concerns about the availability of repair expertise. My scooter is available NZ new and has a local authorised service agent so they were fine insuring me. But clearly I am not an expert in this area and just relaying what I remember.

Wellingtondave

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#3152405 26-Oct-2023 14:40

xpd:

They'll probably insure you, but at a higher rate if you are urban.

Will be more cars stolen from urban areas than rural, so more risk involved etc.

Other than the risk being shared, such is the insurance and reinsurance industry, it's apparently that for an E.V they're being very conservative as to the cost of repairs - which can be enormous given there's not a well established parts industry like there is yet / spares are coming out of very few plants and are hard to get, so longer time to repair anything minor and more rental car costs if the policy allows for that.

There are also supposedly more issues with the "fancier" cars that have lots of cameras / sensors as these are expensive. Then if there's any indication of crash damage to a battery pack, the whole car is written off.

vexxxboy

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#3152412 26-Oct-2023 15:35

BlargHonk:

vexxxboy:

i wonder if it will get like the UK where insurance companies wont insure EV's or charge exorbitant premiums if you want insurance.

Is that for all EVs, or just Teslas which are a PITA to repair?

most of them. eg the cheapest MG model went from 500 up to 700 pounds a year, but Teslas are the worst 800 to 1300 pounds a year increase. Experts have previously warned electric vehicles are being written off after minor bumps because of the cost and complexity of fixing their batteries. there is no test to find out if the battery cells are damaged.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

ANglEAUT

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#3152415 26-Oct-2023 15:41

trig42: I'm about to get an EV (MG4). ... I'm with AA currently, ...

AA insurance for a 2015 Nissan Leaf cost me less than $900pa

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

Dratsab

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#3152419 26-Oct-2023 16:12

KrazyKid: Just insured my 51KW MG4 with FMG - $975.

When I shopped around the rates ranged up to $1800 so defintely worth trying a few places.
As usual the cost does change a with excess levels and driver age/history so YMMV.

Congratulations - it's a nice car to drive and the range is definitely a step up from my old 24KW leaf.

That's cheap. I'm about to start shopping around for all my insurances as my current insurer is hiking everything like crazy. Was going to start today but other things cropped up. For comprehensive cover on my MG ZS EV I'm currently paying 172.33/mth so $2068/pa. I was paying about $58/mth less than that but some a-hole in a carpark put a big dent in one of my doors which has taken my no claims bonus away. In hindsight, given that I already paid $500 excess, I shouldn't have claimed as it would only have been about another $400 for the entire job, and an extra $58/mth over 12 months would weigh in at $696.

@trig42 - congrats on you're upcoming purchase, it's a very nice looking vehicle!

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