Insurance Cancelled - Reason: unacceptable vehicle!!

[mdzmura]

Hello, Fellow FFE Friends,

I just received a notice of non-renewal of my policy for just one of our two cars - the Ford Focus Electric. I have been insured with this company for over a decade, and have had the FFE insured with them for 18+ months.

Here is the exact text of the reason:

"THE REASON FOR NONRENEWAL IS the Ford Focus, VIN #xxxxx, is an electric car and is considered an unacceptable vehicle."

WTF ??? Knock me over with a feather !!

The company in question is the former Unitrin, now the direct/internet group of Kemper insurance. Of course I will follow up with the PA Insurance Commissioner as they suggest, to "review this action". In the meantime I probably need to find a new insurance company, and would love to hear any positive info on companies that will insure the FFE.

A bit of googling did not reveal much useful information on problems getting insurance for electric vehicles, but I did find these two items:

* Apparently GEICO will not insure electric cars in HAWAII ?? Go figure.
* I found a PDF of a vehicle rate book for Paramount Insurance in Maryland - it listed electric vehicles as one of 19 types of vehicles that they would not insure.

I've also searched this forum and haven't been able to find any comments on insurance problems with EV's.

If anybody can shed any light on this situation, I'd greatly appreciate hearing about it. I took the notice out of the mailbox Friday evening, so haven't even had a chance to talk to the insurance company yet.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[TomEV]

That is really strange. My FFE is insured with State Farm. There were no issues. You might try Amica. They are consistently rated one the best insurance companies for customer service and price.

 

[michael]

This is just a guess, but insurance companies will generally only accept risks that they understand well enough to assess. They may feel the car is uncommon and sufficiently different than the cars they are used to that they don't want to bother to assess the actual risk and therefore simply say "no".

State Farm gave me insurance without hesitation however it I is more expensive than an ICE Focus.

 

[SpecVStrom]

Interestingly, I am also in CA and also with State Farm.
I've been with them a long time with auto and homeowner's insurance.
I had them email me an official insurance quotation before leasing the FFE in August of 2014. And, like the others, it was no problem.
One of the few, un-negative things about living in California.
Not sure what's going on there in PA.

 

[Kakkerlak]

I'm in Washington State and have had my FFE insured both with MetLife Auto and now with Safeco.

I agree it's a bizarre thing to not want to underwrite an electric vehicle. It's not the same as providing warranty coverage.

EV's tend to have excellent traction control and tend to be driven by responsible adults are reasonable speeds. They're nearly impossible to steal, and they don't carry gallons of explosive liquid fuel.

I figure write them a not saying you won't miss them, and go find another insurance company.

 

[focussed]

I am in California and insure with Ameriprise. They didn't blink when I added FFE to my stable and under Ameriprise insurance.

 

[JimB_FFE]

I'm with Farmer's in California. They gave me a discount for having an EV.

 

[Olagon]

* Apparently GEICO will not insure electric cars in HAWAII ?? Go figure.

Not true. Have been driving electric since a 2012 iMiev and now a 2014 FFE. Both cars were insured no problem with Geico. I'm in Hawaii. In between I switched to State Farm (bad move) and then moved back to Geico (good move). My State Farm agent convinced me to move and they were going to jack up my rates. Geico took us back no problem.

 

[breeves002]

I have USAA here in MO. Fairly expensive, but I have low deductibles and they just have amazing customer service... I mean my comprehensive deductible is $150 so I make a claim when I get a scratch... Door repaint $900. My cost $150. Rates don't go up.

They acted like it was any other car when I added the car to my policy. I've had them since I got my learners permit.

 

[JimB_FFE]

https://www.farmers.com/faq/discounts/

What kinds of Auto insurance discounts does Farmers offer?
Farmers offers many Auto insurance discounts to help keep your auto insurance premiums as low as possible. Discounts vary by state. Some of the types of discounts available include:

Auto/Home: You can save money on both auto and homeowners insurance by purchasing both of these policies from Farmers.
Good Student: Drivers under 25 years of age who are full-time students in high school or college and have good grades may qualify.
Multi-Car: If you own two or more vehicles and insure both of them with Farmers, you may qualify for the Multi-Car discount.
Alternative Fuel - Owners who drive hybrids and other alternative fuel vehicles may save 5% on all major coverages.

 

[triangles]

I switched to Travelers insurance when I bough my FFE. They were FAR cheaper than the quotes I got from other companies. Shop around. The insurance cost seems to be all over the place with these cars.

 

[rsanders4]

My premium with Progressive for my 2015 Focus Electric is HALF the premium for my 2009 Focus.

Apparently limited range means "harder to drive to a chop shop in Mexico".

 

[Tom French]

Geico in Fla. no issues

 

[hybridbear]

State Farm gave me insurance without hesitation however it is more expensive than an ICE Focus.

Geico told me that it isn't more expensive than the ICE Focus for them. The ICE Focus is very expensive to insure. Just about every other EV that is a dedicated model (Leaf, Volt, etc) is much cheaper with Geico than the FFE. Even the pricey i3 is no more expensive with Geico than the FFE. At least, that's my experience in MN.

No one else has been able to beat Geico's rates for me. Geico recently increased all MN premiums by about 20% due to a few summers with major severe storms causing them lots of losses. This prompted me to switch to Esurance. I only lasted 6 months with Esurance before they caught up & were raising all their MN premiums by about 30%. I switched back to Geico at that point. I've been very happy with Geico.