Model S insurance question

[ribsandbbqbeef]

I just got a few quotes for my P85. The company that gave me the best deal quoted me very low $500s semiannually with $2000 deductible & high $700s for $250 deductible.

It's my first time buying a new car, so not sure whether a low or high deductible is more advantageous for a new car, of if it even matters at all. I can easily cover the deductible ( I actually asked for a much higher deductible but they said $2000 is as high as they'll go).

Pros of a high deductible is of course almost a $500 savings annually in premiums. Cons would be everything out of pocket if any small damage occurred.

Pros of a low deductible is almost any damage will be covered by insurance (except anything <$250, which is rare these days, esp for an expensive car like Tesla). Cons would be the money I loose on the premium.

I'm leaning toward the high deductible, but wanted to get everyone's thoughts to see if I missed thinking about anything, and see what everyone else did, insurance wise.

Any thoughts / comments appreciated. Thanks.

 

[liuping]

If you have a loan on your car, there maybe limits on how high the deductible can be ( it's $1000 on my loan from Alliant CU)

Geico is about $500 per 6 months for me with $250 comprehensive and $500 collision deductibles, and fairly high liability ($500k/$1 million for bodily injury, for example) but we have 2 other cars and very clean driving records. Your mileage may vary.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

Thanks liuping. I'll check with my lender. That's good to know. Didn't know lenders had a say on the insurance as well.

Since you have $250 comprehensive & $500 collision deductibles, would it be accurate to say that you would favor a lower deductible on your Tesla? May I ask why you didn't go with the $1000 deductible that Alliant allowed you? Thanks.

 

[liuping]

Thanks liuping. I'll check with my lender. That's good to know. Didn't know lenders had a say on the insurance as well.

Since you have $250 comprehensive & $500 collision deductibles, would it be accurate to say that you would favor a lower deductible on your Tesla? May I ask why you didn't go with the $1000 deductible that Alliant allowed you? Thanks.

The difference was fairly negligible when I checked. Geico already saved me so much money over my last insurance company I just took the lower deductible. My new rates with a Model S added to my other two cars is only $200 more than what I was paying at 21st Century for just the two cars.

As a bonus, Geico gives a 10% discount on their auto insurance rates if you also have an Umbrella policy with them. I was able to add a $1 million Umbrella policy for effectively $10 a year!

 

[PokerBroker]

Well if you save $500/year with the higher deductible of $2000 you have to go 4 years with no claims before you break even... up to you on how safe you think you can be

 

[liuping]

I checked with Geico today. If I bump my Model S deducables to $1000 for both comprehensive and collision, I would save $88 a year. I think I'll keep the $250/$500.

 

[Bradleybang]

I understand some bank loans will not allow higher deductibles, however I have a question for those with $250 to $500 deductibles.
If you had a $1,000 accident would you turn it into your insurance company and jeopardize either a claims free or accident free discount? Check your discounts before you answer.

 

[Ride Long]

You have indicated that you can handle the deductible, so that boils it down to a math question and a psychology question.

The math: is the present value of saving $X on premiums every year greater or lesser than the present value of $X on a claim that may or may not occur?
The psychology: which will make you happier (or more pissed off??): the certainty of saving a known amount of money each year, versus the possibility of spending an extra $1750 on a claim?

If the claim does not occur in 3.5 years, then we know you are ahead on the math. But since you bought a Tesla, we know that happiness is more important to you. :wink:

 

[William13]

High deductibles allow you to pay for small fender damage without a Carfax report being generated. This might translate into higher resale. Claims for cosmetic damage can be frequent for the Model S as it is truly a big car. I scraped the bumper on my garage door after 6 months of ownership. This is a very individual decision.

 

[Gizmotoy]

High deductibles allow you to pay for small fender damage without a Carfax report being generated. This might translate into higher resale. Claims for cosmetic damage can be frequent for the Model S as it is truly a big car. I scraped the bumper on my garage door after 6 months of ownership. This is a very individual decision.

This is not completely true. Unless the car is a total loss or stolen, Carfax gets no further data from the insurance companies. Selecting a higher deductible so that you have to pay for small damage may result in lower rates, but it does not really affect the Carfax in any way. Indeed, if you had your car repaired after hitting the garage door, it's likely that will eventually show up on the Carfax (there's a pretty large time delay). The reason is that Carfax gets their data from the repair facilities. Carfax fought hard to get access to the insurance company's C.L.U.E. and ISO databases, but for obvious reasons the insurance industry was not super excited about sharing its data.

You don't have to take my word for it, though: CARFAX Car Data Sources | Comprehensive Car Database

This is one of the reasons you shouldn't trust Carfax to give you the whole story when buying a car. There's a long delay between when an accident occurs and when it ends up on the Carfax because they're collecting data from the individual facilities. It took over a year for a minor fender-bender my wife had to show up.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

The difference was fairly negligible when I checked. Geico already saved me so much money over my last insurance company I just took the lower deductible. My new rates with a Model S added to my other two cars is only $200 more than what I was paying at 21st Century for just the two cars.

As a bonus, Geico gives a 10% discount on their auto insurance rates if you also have an Umbrella policy with them. I was able to add a $1 million Umbrella policy for effectively $10 a year!

Hmmm, sounds like I have to give Geico a call & see if they can top my insurance.

Well if you save $500/year with the higher deductible of $2000 you have to go 4 years with no claims before you break even... up to you on how safe you think you can be

I've been very fortunate that I haven't been in any auto accidents since I've been driving (20+ years). However I think I'm just lucky. That's why accidents are just that ... accidents. Doesn't matter how safe I am, if someone hits me someone hits me. However I don't know how I should apply this idea to what deductible I choose.

I understand some bank loans will not allow higher deductibles, however I have a question for those with $250 to $500 deductibles.
If you had a $1,000 accident would you turn it into your insurance company and jeopardize either a claims free or accident free discount? Check your discounts before you answer.

Would it affect the discount if it wasn't your fault? I thought it only goes up only if one's found at fault for the accident.

You have indicated that you can handle the deductible, so that boils it down to a math question and a psychology question.

The math: is the present value of saving $X on premiums every year greater or lesser than the present value of $X on a claim that may or may not occur?
The psychology: which will make you happier (or more pissed off??): the certainty of saving a known amount of money each year, versus the possibility of spending an extra $1750 on a claim?

If the claim does not occur in 3.5 years, then we know you are ahead on the math. But since you bought a Tesla, we know that happiness is more important to you. :wink:

I like your thinking. Personally, any accident will upset me the same, regardless if I loose an extra $1750 or not, but I think knowing that I am saving an extra $500 every year will add to my happiness. I guess I have my answer. Thanks.

High deductibles allow you to pay for small fender damage without a Carfax report being generated. This might translate into higher resale. Claims for cosmetic damage can be frequent for the Model S as it is truly a big car. I scraped the bumper on my garage door after 6 months of ownership. This is a very individual decision.

I don't plan on selling my Tesla; my plan is to run it to the ground. But your post however gave me a different thought. I might do what liuping did & split my deductible. Make the comprehensive $250 to cover for scratches, bumper scrapes, chipped windshields, etc... but have the collision at $2000 for the less likely (hopefully) event of an all out collision. The premium will likely be in the middle (~$600 i'm guessing...will check with insurance).

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

Update, so I pulled the trigger & opted for the $250 comprehensive & $2000 collision deductible at $600 semianually. Then as the car gets older, may slowly increase the comprehensive deductible some more.

 

[JST]

H
Would it affect the discount if it wasn't your fault? I thought it only goes up only if one's found at fault for the accident.

I am not an expert, but based on the quotes I just got from Progressive, yes, a not at fault claim will impact your rate (though in this case it was not very much). I believe that my old agent told me that it was only claims of greater than $1000 that they looked at, but that might vary from company to company. Other things that will impact your rate, aside from the obvious ones like speeding, can be things like home ownership and credit score. It's all about actuarial risk profiling, and having a not-at-fault accident can mean you are more risky than a similar driver with no claim (e.g., it could suggest you drive in an area where such accidents are more common).

That said, I saved an ENORMOUS amount of money by switching from my current carrier to Progressive, even with the claim history. And by enormous, I mean like 50 percent. Progressive's rates on the Model S were about half what my other carrier wanted to charge, and were in fact about the same as the rate for my current car, a 2008 BMW 535.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

hey JST, what's your rate with Progressive? And is that for an S85 or P85?

 

[JST]

hey JST, what's your rate with Progressive? And is that for an S85 or P85?

S85. I think it's about 650/6 months for 500 deductible (both comprehensive and collision) and 500K in coverage--sounds similar to your rate. But rate comparisons are really hard to make, since they vary so much based on state, coverage, etc.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

S85. I think it's about 650/6 months for 500 deductible (both comprehensive and collision) and 500K in coverage--sounds similar to your rate. But rate comparisons are really hard to make, since they vary so much based on state, coverage, etc.

Yup yup, you're right, but good to have something to compare to, nonetheless, when I call up other insurance companies for quotes. Thanks.

 

[roblab]

Yup yup, you're right, but good to have something to compare to, nonetheless, when I call up other insurance companies for quotes. Thanks.

I wish I could remember where I read it, just recently, but the gist of the article was that the longer you stay with an insurer, the higher your rates go. They give you good rates to get you in, then let your premiums slowly drift up due to "inflation" and "costs". The article recommended ALWAYS checking around. That's why Progressive can pick up so much business, and why Geico can advertise "15 minutes can save ...." Because it's true. Don't worry about making comparisons. Call several insurers, tell them what you are wanting to do, and get quotes. Toss in your house and other cars if you want. THEN, if you still trust your old reliable friendly insurer, give them a call.

I have found that my insurance went DOWN with my new car. Yours should too.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

so I did some more digging around on this site as well as the TeslaMotors site. Also called up a few more insurance companies. Seems like a few things affect your rate the most: age, state, exactly which city you live in, & your driving record is probably the most important, then things which bring down your premium include multi car discounts, bundled (home / umbrella / etc...) policies, & how much you'll be driving the car (ie primary or secondary car & whether you'll be driving it >7500 miles annually). Lastly, I saw some threads where people with similar stats as me get slightly lower quotes, but realized when I looked at their liability limits, the coverage was also a bit lower, so that defitely affects your premiums too.

All said & done, I'm in my late 30s, clean driving record, no tickets, no collisions, no claims, house & umbrella bundled, multi car, 250/500/100 liabilities, $2000 collision deductible, $250 comprehensive deductible, P85

State Farm: $1200 annually
Geico: $1100 annually
Progressive: $1400 annually

Considering I've delt with State Farm on claims for other family members, & found them very easy to work with, I'm sticking with them instead of switching to Geico for $100 savings. I've seen threads where people had both great & horrible experiences filing claims for Geico, as I'm sure is the case with any insurance company. I happen to know my agent well & have been with her for over 20 years, so I'll get taken care of well.....I hope.

 

[jaw]

Insurance costs

I'm covered with State Farm and was pleasantly surprised at the $1000 annual premium. Driving record, etc. is a big factor but the safety design of the car helps too.

I just got a few quotes for my P85. The company that gave me the best deal quoted me very low $500s semiannually with $2000 deductible & high $700s for $250 deductible.

It's my first time buying a new car, so not sure whether a low or high deductible is more advantageous for a new car, of if it even matters at all. I can easily cover the deductible ( I actually asked for a much higher deductible but they said $2000 is as high as they'll go).

Pros of a high deductible is of course almost a $500 savings annually in premiums. Cons would be everything out of pocket if any small damage occurred.

Pros of a low deductible is almost any damage will be covered by insurance (except anything <$250, which is rare these days, esp for an expensive car like Tesla). Cons would be the money I loose on the premium.

I'm leaning toward the high deductible, but wanted to get everyone's thoughts to see if I missed thinking about anything, and see what everyone else did, insurance wise.

Any thoughts / comments appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ribsandbbqbeef]

I'm covered with State Farm and was pleasantly surprised at the $1000 annual premium. Driving record, etc. is a big factor but the safety design of the car helps too.

Initially, I intended to purchase an S85, & State Farm quoted me the same thing $1000 annually with $250 collision / comprehensive deductibles. However I upgraded to the P85 before my order finalized & the quote went up to around 1400, so I bumped up my collision deductible to get it down to $1200 annually.