MASTER THREAD: Tesla Insurance Services in California

[ibGeek]

I highlighted the big differences in coverage. Tesla is on the left, my Progressive plan is on the right.
Note that if I change the annual miles to 10,000 the rate goes to $96.79 per month. It's not less than my current plan, but it does offer more features. And changing the deductible to match progressive didn't affect the cost that much. My plan is to wait two or three months, then call them and talk to a rep. I want to see if there or different options not on the website and if the prices the rep give out match the quote.

I'll likely change to them though. Progressive has been jacking up my rates every 6 months since I got my M3, so it wouldn't take long before Tesla was cheaper.

 

[OCR1]

Tesla is not the provider of the insurance. It's a rebranded product from State National. For those concerned about Tesla's customer service and how it would carry over to the insurance, those concerns are unfounded. And insurance, especially in California, is highly regulated. Regulation is a whole independent government function, with a statewide elected Insurance Commissioner.

How a company provides customer service is not regulated. There are many lousy insurance companies out there who provide terrible service. And some of the service is provided by the broker. I left Allstate after 30 years because my broker was horrible and Allstate refused to let me switch brokers.

 

[xkwizit]

As of 9:30am this morning, Tesla Insurance has the capability to add additional drivers but not the cars. They said the software update was released but hasn’t replicated through systems yet.

For me with my spouse, a kid in college and a teenage driver, Tesla came out about $50/month higher than GEICO. And this is after GEICO raised their rates about 52% in 2019 - purely on the basis of their loss experience in California ..no changes to our driver profiles.

 

[SMAlset]

How a company provides customer service is not regulated. There are many lousy insurance companies out there who provide terrible service. And some of the service is provided by the broker. I left Allstate after 30 years because my broker was horrible and Allstate refused to let me switch brokers.

Assume you mean your insurance agent? We’ve been with ours since the early 90s I think and her office has always been very responsive. We periodically will meet with her to review coverage. Having a good agent is pretty important in the scheme of things and can make things much easier on you when you have a question or claim. Going through some non-local office though I can see where you end up with the luck of the draw.

I also hate that if you decide you want to change agents within a company they don’t let you. At least that’s been my experience in the past before moving out to Calif. I had some guy who I didn’t really know back then and wanted to switch to an agent my friend had who was really good. Told I couldn’t.

 

[OCR1]

Assume you mean your insurance agent? We’ve been with ours since the early 90s I think and her office has always been very responsive. We periodically will meet with her to review coverage. Having a good agent is pretty important in the scheme of things and can make things much easier on you when you have a question or claim. Going through some non-local office though I can see where you end up with the luck of the draw.

I also hate that if you decide you want to change agents within a company they don’t let you. At least that’s been my experience in the past before moving out to Calif.

Yes, having a good agent makes a big difference in your overall satisfaction with an insurance policy. I'm still not clear on who the agent (broker) is for Tesla. Is it an employee of Tesla, and if so how much experience do they have? It appears that it would be a random person answering the phone rather than an individual person assigned to the account.

And while insurance is regulated, as I said they don't regulate the quality of the service being provided, nor the rates (as evidenced by the wild variation in pricing we see when we get quotes from multiple carriers). So buying insurance from Tesla at this point still has a lot of unknowns for me.

 

[Big Dog]

Yes, having a good agent makes a big difference in your overall satisfaction with an insurance policy. I'm still not clear on who the agent (broker) is for Tesla. Is it an employee of Tesla, and if so how much experience do they have? It appears that it would be a random person answering the phone rather than an individual person assigned to the account.

And while insurance is regulated, as I said they don't regulate the quality of the service being provided, nor the rates (as evidenced by the wild variation in pricing we see when we get quotes from multiple carriers). So buying insurance from Tesla at this point still has a lot of unknowns for me.

I'm guessing that TSLA Insurance does not come with an agent. (one of the ways to get prices lower is to cut out the middle-man.)

 

[OCR1]

I'm guessing that TSLA Insurance does not come with an agent. (one of the ways to get prices lower is to cut out the middle-man.)

California law requires all insurance to be sold through an agent. Direct sales are not allowed. However the agent is not required to charge a commission, so Tesla may simply not be marking up the premium to achieve the so called 20-30% discount. However there still has to be an agent to handle certain aspects of policy administration. Tesla has filed as an agent with the state of California so we know they are providing these services. The question is who did they hire? People who previously worked in the insurance industry? Who knows.

 

[Eno Deb]

I highlighted the big differences in coverage. Tesla is on the left, my Progressive plan is on the right.

Note that there is no need for Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage in your Progressive plan, since you have Collision and a deductible waiver for damages caused by uninsured drivers. Roadside Assistance is very cheap. Rental car reimbursement could be useful given Tesla's extremely long repair times, but make sure that there is a reasonably long time limit. I'd try to play with a higher Collision deductible. Raising this to $1000 (or even $2500 if you can stomach it) made a huge difference in my own Progressive plan.

 

[Big Dog]

California law requires all insurance to be sold through an agent. Direct sales are not allowed. However the agent is not required to charge a commission, so Tesla may simply not be marking up the premium to achieve the so called 20-30% discount. However there still has to be an agent to handle certain aspects of policy administration. Tesla has filed as an agent with the state of California so we know they are providing these services. The question is who did they hire? People who previously worked in the insurance industry? Who knows.

Perhaps true, but USAA is a direct-to-consumer model such that its 'agents' are on a 800 telephone number and customers speak to whoever answers the phone. I'm guessing the other big advertisers (gecko, flo, and the like) are similar.

So, while perhaps one technically speaks to a (random) agent on an 800 line, I believe that is much different concept that what you were raising in post #81 ("having a good agent makes a big difference in your overall satisfaction with an insurance policy.")

Your overall point is well-taken, however. If the Auto Division's Customer Service rep is any indication of Elon's interest in a superior customer experience......

U.S. auto insurance consumers are quite happy about their coverage, and a growing shift to direct-to-consumer models has driven much of their good feelings.

J.D. Power: Insurance Consumers More Satisfied with Direct Auto Carriers - MyNewMarkets.com Articles about Property Casualty Insurance Coverages

 

[OCR1]

Apparently Tesla didn’t do their homework before launching the site and the insurance regulators are already getting on their case.

Tesla Insurance Is Available Even For Chevy Bolts In California–If You Can Get A Quote

 

[OCR1]

Has anyone done business with State National Insurance Company? There is very little helpful information on the internet about them. They appear to have a license to issue policies in all 50 states but are primarily a Texas based company. They certainly don’t rank in the top 20 for national insurance carriers. Why wouldn’t Tesla go with one of the more established brands like Liberty Mutual or Farmers?

If you were shopping for insurance today and Tesla hadn’t announced their entry into the business would anyone be contacting State National for a quote?

 

[ecarfan]

USAA is a great insurance company if you're a veteran; competing companies' rates will never beat USAA.

I have been a USAA member for my entire adult life (father is a veteran). I just got a Tesla Insurance quote for my 3 and X and it was over $600/year less than USAA. Which surprised me.

 

[tvad]

I have been a USAA member for my entire adult life (father is a veteran). I just got a Tesla Insurance quote for my 3 and X and it was over $600/year less than USAA. Which surprised me.

That's frankly shocking. Makes me wonder if there is error with the Tesla quote.

Did your father have USAA insurance? The reason I ask is I joined USAA because my father was a veteran as well. However, my father never had USAA insurance, so I did not qualify for low USAA rates...I was sent over to Liberty Mutual.

If it were me, I'd contact USAA and give them this info and see if they would lower your premium.

 

[ecarfan]

Did your father have USAA insurance?

Yes, for a long time, and still does.

 

[Magnets!]

Has anyone else received this reply when attempting to get a quote for Tesla insurance? "We are unable to get a quote for this driver. Please review the information below." The information I entered is correct, I haven't had any accident claims with my long time provider and I have good credit. So, I wondering if my driving habits which are presumably known by Tesla is the problem?

Not sure, but Tesla does not use any data from your car in pricing the insurance, despite what Elon said.

 

[Magnets!]

California law requires all insurance to be sold through an agent. Direct sales are not allowed. However the agent is not required to charge a commission, so Tesla may simply not be marking up the premium to achieve the so called 20-30% discount. However there still has to be an agent to handle certain aspects of policy administration. Tesla has filed as an agent with the state of California so we know they are providing these services. The question is who did they hire? People who previously worked in the insurance industry? Who knows.

There is a lot of insurance sold direct without a conventional agent in California. For example with Costco/Ameriprise, I deal directly with Ameriprise and not an agent. I think what you might be saying is the person you deal with needs to be licensed, but not necessarily a third party agent like the conventional insurance companies have.

 

[BriansBucketList]

Yeah... I have car, homeowners, and umbrella all through Mercury. As such, I don't think I am allowed to change jus the car... no?

Even so, what Tesla quoted me was ~$20/mo higher than my mercury quote.

Same here, but Mercury allows auto insurance through another company, and is charging me 50 percent more than the Tesla quote. I lose a 15 percent discount on homeowners, and umbrella, if I were to purchase one, would also increase. Mercury may be coming out with new "solutions."

 

[OCR1]

There is a lot of insurance sold direct without a conventional agent in California. For example with Costco/Ameriprise, I deal directly with Ameriprise and not an agent. I think what you might be saying is the person you deal with needs to be licensed, but not necessarily a third party agent like the conventional insurance companies have.

Yes, you are correct. As long as the individual is licensed they can be directly employed by the underwriter. When I was with Allstate they would not allow any direct sales, but that was company policy, not state law.

But in Tesla's situation they have registered with the state as a broker. I read somewhere that in addition to State National they may also use Liberty Mutual at some point. And of course Elon is posturing that some day Tesla will be providing their own underwriting but that's the last thing they need to be focused on right now.

State law does require Tesla to cover all brands of cars though, which it appears they may not have been aware of when they first launched their web site. That's kind of a big thing to miss.

 

[Economite]

State law does require Tesla to cover all brands of cars though, which it appears they may not have been aware of when they first launched their web site. That's kind of a big thing to miss.

I think they are intentionally playing the game of offering such insurance, but not mentioning that in their website, press releases, or online application. But if you call in they'll reluctantly sell you such insurance.

They don't want to highlight that they sell insurance for all cars, because they are trying to let people think that their "low rates" for Teslas derive from specializing in Tesla's and having some special knowledge of the risks associated with Teslas.

In fact, their low rates for Tesla's (if they exist) are probably just a result of using their lack of claims experience as an opportunity to undercharge. Expect those rates to go up soon. Auto insurance rates are only locked in for six months.

 

[Lloyd]

I got a quote for my 2013 Model S

The monthly premium was almost what I pay USAA for 4 cars on this policy!