Insurance Experience

[CLTGT]

I got rear-ended with, what looked like, very minor damage. The initial estimate from the other driver's insurance Company was in line with what I expected. I took it to a Lucid-certified shop and they did another estimate with the local Geico rep. The estimate went up 6X, from less than $2k to over $11k. It wasn't due to replacement parts either. The only parts they needed to order were the bumper covers, a couple bumper trim pieces and the foam bumper cover backing. Much of the additional cost came down to a line item called "Parts Restricted Vehicle Rate Adjustment". That was essentially half the total and was in addition to the actual cost listed for the parts. It is not my insurance Company involved, but this kind of discrepancy between the initial estimate and the final estimate would throw some serious red flags, especially since it isn't like they missed any damage. I still do not have the car back and it has been about a month.

My more big picture concern is that with costs like this for what really was a minor repair, our insurance rates are almost guaranteed to go up, dramatically.

I have seen one other estimate from someone who had some suspension damage that also looked astronomical.

I had similar damage to my BMW M5, but it was the front bumper cover and headlight that needed replaced. The cost to do that was in-line with what the initial estimate above was, around $3k, most of that being the cost of the headlight. Funny thing is that both incidents had a common factor, a teenage girl not paying attention, one ran into the back of me (probably texting) and the other hit me head-on in a parking lot yelling out her window to a friend.

 

[CLTGT]

This is a $12k repair.

 

[HC_79]

"Parts Restricted Vehicle Rate Adjustment"

That sounds like the shady shit the car dealers pull with “Market Rate Adjustments”.

 

[CLTGT]

I thought so as well. That is why I was glad it wasn't my insurance Company. Then I realized that this really could have been any of them and the overall experience across the industry is what is going to drive rates. Even if Insurance Company X isn't more vigilant, they will ultimately either charge such a high rate that nobody will use them or they will stop insuring the car, driving people to a smaller pool of insurance companies that are able to charge higher rates.

I think the body shop doing the work is going to be a little surprised when I show up to pick up my car and start questioning the estimate "for my knowledge and curiosity".

 

[borski]

If it was no fault, your rates should be untouched.

 

[MHDave]

If it was no fault, your rates should be untouched.

I think the point was that as the claims and underwriting departments become more aware of the repair costs, there may be some future adjustments in premiums for this and other new car costs. I seem to recall rates varying quite a bit when the Model S had low availability and high prices on parts, when that manufacturer was prioritizing parts for manufacturing over repairs. But there's a lot more to setting premiums than cost of parts, much more on the driver, driving history, geographical area, ....

 

[HariK]

If it was no fault, your rates should be untouched.

Agreed. But I still think that will drive up insurance cost for Lucid in general when we renew

 

[Overcharged]

1 Glad you are ok
2 Seems kind of standard. My LC500 Convertible received a glancing blow from an 18 wheeler starting up from a red light, initial estimate from my carrier was appox $1800, final cost was about $7500
3 Insurance is pretty cheap on these cars so far, we should expect some increases when there is more real world data

 

[Slam08]

If it was no fault, your rates should be untouched.

Once insurance companies realize that Lucids are this expensive to repair the owners premiums will go up.

That’s what I would do if I ran an insurance company and saw this. We had to pay 11k for a bumper scratch! Do we insure anyone that has a Lucid? Take a closer look at their rates to make sure they are appropriate. And if anyone else calls with a Lucid raise the quoted rate. These are more expensive to repair than we thought.

 

[CLTGT]

Once insurance companies realize that Lucids are this expensive to repair the owners premiums will go up.

That’s what I would do if I ran an insurance company and saw this. We had to pay 11k for a bumper scratch! Do we insure anyone that has a Lucid? Take a closer look at their rates to make sure they are appropriate. And if anyone else calls with a Lucid raise the quoted rate. These are more expensive to repair than we thought.

This was my point. Sorry for the confusion. Cost to repair is a big factor according to my agent. We are also good friends as we both are into muscle/classic cars.

 

[Slam08]

Once my friend had a Mitsubishi lancer evo. He got a ridiculous deal from his insurance company because it showed up as a regular lancer in their system. Then he had a repair on it and they realized it was a basically a street legal race car (it didn’t even have AC, lol!) and raised his premiums.

 

[CLTGT]

When I was considering whether to buy my 16 year old son a four door or a two door version of the same model car, I called my insurance agent and asked him what the rates were for each as I had always heard a four door would be cheaper. He told me the two door was actually cheaper as the cost to repair (fewer parts I guess) was cheaper.