Insurance premium is getting out of control

[AZPure]

I wanted to share my recent insurance policy change to encourage fellow owners to shop around.

- At the time I leased my Lucid, I had state farm and my 6 month premium was ~$1000 which also covers my wife's '23 Audi Q5. Full coverage on both.
- 6 months later, SF raised it to $1320 for the same cars and coverage. I shopped around and found a policy through Progressive (which was also my home owners policy) for $1100, so i switched.
- 6 months later Progressive upped it to ~$1400. I was lazy and just paid it.
- Fast forward another 6 months, I just received the renewal notice and it's now ~$1600 for the 6 months.
- Keep in mind, we've had 0 tickets, 0 accidents, impeccable credit scores, etc...during this entire time. My wife is 32 and I'm 33.
- I shopped around to find an apples to apples policy and I landed at Geico (I had them years ago when I first started driving in PA and when I moved to AZ, they were not competitive.)
- For the same exact policy, my 6 month premium is *drum-roll* $768. That's for both the Lucid and the Audi with the exact same coverage as the $1600 policy.

I know this isn't a unique problem with Lucids and everyone should continuously shop around for the best price. But, like many others, I have been content and assumed I had the most competitive rate. I never thought I'd shave nearly a grand off of the 6 month premium. Maybe some of my fellow Lucid owners can find the same.

 

[jbawden]

Try having (2) teen drivers on your policy. Your 6 month premium is less than our per month costs. Granted it's CA and I have a few cars, but still, its crazy.

I'll add that the lowest premium is sometimes the lowest quality coverage, so we look for companies that will actually cover any losses. Not suggesting Geico is bad, just that low prices can have consequences.

 

[AZPure]

Try having (2) teen drivers on your policy. Your 6 month premium is less than our per month costs. Granted it's CA and I have a few cars, but still, its crazy.

Goodness gracious!!

 

[stratus]

I wanted to share my recent insurance policy change to encourage fellow owners to shop around.

- At the time I leased my Lucid, I had state farm and my 6 month premium was ~$1000 which also covers my wife's '23 Audi Q5. Full coverage on both.
- 6 months later, SF raised it to $1320 for the same cars and coverage. I shopped around and found a policy through Progressive (which was also my home owners policy) for $1100, so i switched.
- 6 months later Progressive upped it to ~$1400. I was lazy and just paid it.
- Fast forward another 6 months, I just received the renewal notice and it's now ~$1600 for the 6 months.
- Keep in mind, we've had 0 tickets, 0 accidents, impeccable credit scores, etc...during this entire time. My wife is 32 and I'm 33.
- I shopped around to find an apples to apples policy and I landed at Geico (I had them years ago when I first started driving in PA and when I moved to AZ, they were not competitive.)
- For the same exact policy, my 6 month premium is *drum-roll* $768. That's for both the Lucid and the Audi with the exact same coverage as the $1600 policy.

I know this isn't a unique problem with Lucids and everyone should continuously shop around for the best price. But, like many others, I have been content and assumed I had the most competitive rate. I never thought I'd shave nearly a grand off of the 6 month premium. Maybe some of my fellow Lucid owners can find the same.

I had the same experience with Geico; they have been fantastic .

 

[WildRide47]

I had the same experience with Geico; they have been fantastic .

To AZPure and Stratus, I recently posted about insurance rates a few days back. I know you are thrilled with your low insurance rates. But consider:

1. Will they cover what a Lucid certified shop will charge if your car is in an accident, or will they deny the charges and say you can get it repaired elsewhere for less at a non certified shop.

2. If your car is in an accident is your coverage agreed on coverage or cash coverage. Big difference. I have agreed upon coverage with PURE insurance company. If my 2022 AGT is considered totaled. they will pay me $75,800 and if my wife's 2023 BMW i4M50 is totaled they will pay $64,672. Cash value would be at least 20-25K less for my AGT.

Jbawden is correct. If your insurance company does not cover your losses or covers a lower amount or wants you to go to a cheaper non certified repair place, then the cheaper rate is not so fantastic as Stratus proclaims. The experience you had with Geico in the past may have been good with an ICE car, but a BEV is a whole different ballgame and many "great deal insurance companies' may balk at the cost of repairing a Lucid or give you aggravation you do not want.

Something to consider when you do your homework on what actual coverage you are getting or not getting for the bucks you pay.

 

[stratus]

To AZPure and Stratus, I recently posted about insurance rates a few days back. I know you are thrilled with your low insurance rates. But consider:

1. Will they cover what a Lucid certified shop will charge if your car is in an accident, or will they deny the charges and say you can get it repaired elsewhere for less at a non certified shop.

2. If your car is in an accident is your coverage agreed on coverage or cash coverage. Big difference. I have agreed upon coverage with PURE insurance company. If my 2022 AGT is considered totaled. they will pay me $75,800 and if my wife's 2023 BMW i4M50 is totaled they will pay $64,672. Cash value would be at least 20-25K less for my AGT.

Jbawden is correct. If your insurance company does not cover your losses or covers a lower amount or wants you to go to a cheaper non certified repair place, then the cheaper rate is not so fantastic as Stratus proclaims. The experience you had with Geico in the past may have been good with an ICE car, but a BEV is a whole different ballgame and many "great deal insurance companies' may balk at the cost of repairing a Lucid or give you aggravation you do not want.

Something to consider when you do your homework on what actual coverage you are getting or not getting for the bucks you pay.

Good point and certainly worth considering .

 

[HC_79]

Consider yourself lucky you don’t live in CA. I got a “Bargain” deal through GEICO of $1500 for 6 months just for the Lucid only.

Can’t even bundle it with home because Mercury (only ones who will insure in my area due to apparent fire risk) won’t even offer insurance for Lucid. When I shopped it around last September Progressive wouldn’t quote it any longer, Farmers wanted $4000 for 6 months, AllState $8000 and State Farm basically laughed and said “we’re not insuring that”

 

[AZPure]

To AZPure and Stratus, I recently posted about insurance rates a few days back. I know you are thrilled with your low insurance rates. But consider:

1. Will they cover what a Lucid certified shop will charge if your car is in an accident, or will they deny the charges and say you can get it repaired elsewhere for less at a non certified shop.

2. If your car is in an accident is your coverage agreed on coverage or cash coverage. Big difference. I have agreed upon coverage with PURE insurance company. If my 2022 AGT is considered totaled. they will pay me $75,800 and if my wife's 2023 BMW i4M50 is totaled they will pay $64,672. Cash value would be at least 20-25K less for my AGT.

Jbawden is correct. If your insurance company does not cover your losses or covers a lower amount or wants you to go to a cheaper non certified repair place, then the cheaper rate is not so fantastic as Stratus proclaims. The experience you had with Geico in the past may have been good with an ICE car, but a BEV is a whole different ballgame and many "great deal insurance companies' may balk at the cost of repairing a Lucid or give you aggravation you do not want.

Something to consider when you do your homework on what actual coverage you are getting or not getting for the bucks you pay.

Very good points, definitely some additional homework I can do. I can say that if my car is totaled and the value is less than what I owe on the lease, they will cover the difference (their version of Gap I guess).

 

[gavram]

1. Will they cover what a Lucid certified shop will charge if your car is in an accident, or will they deny the charges and say you can get it repaired elsewhere for less at a non certified shop.

I'd like to verify this for my coverage as well. Was this in your policy documents or did it require a phone call to verify?

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Consider yourself lucky you don’t live in CA. I got a “Bargain” deal through GEICO of $1500 for 6 months just for the Lucid only.

Can’t even bundle it with home because Mercury (only ones who will insure in my area due to apparent fire risk) won’t even offer insurance for Lucid. When I shopped it around last September Progressive wouldn’t quote it any longer, Farmers wanted $4000 for 6 months, AllState $8000 and State Farm basically laughed and said “we’re not insuring that”

I am in the same boat. I have Mercury for HO because I can't get anyone else in my area as I am too close to the mountains, and every year they keep jacking the HO rates .. GRRRR. Mercury always had the best auto rates for me, until I got my Model S. Prior to that I had BMW 7 series, 6 series and Audi A8 and never had insurance issues. They treated the Model S like an "exotic", same goes for the Lucid and Rivian. I fortunately got insurance with Connect by Amfam (Costco) before they stopped underwriting in California. My rates were initially pretty good, but have been creeping up every 6 months. I now pay $1250/6mo for both vehicles with one driver, no tickets, no accidents. Oh well. I tried shopping around for auto and had a similar experience. Crazy high rates, AAA was something like $7000 / 6mo for the two vehicles!!!!!

 

[HC_79]

I am in the same boat. I have Mercury for HO because I can't get anyone else in my area as I am too close to the mountains, and every year they keep jacking the HO rates .. GRRRR. Mercury always had the best auto rates for me, until I got my Model S. Prior to that I had BMW 7 series, 6 series and Audi A8 and never had insurance issues. They treated the Model S like an "exotic", same goes for the Lucid and Rivian. I fortunately got insurance with Connect by Amfam (Costco) before they stopped underwriting in California. My rates were initially pretty good, but have been creeping up every 6 months. I now pay $1250/6mo for both vehicles with one driver, no tickets, no accidents. Oh well. I tried shopping around for auto and had a similar experience. Crazy high rates, AAA was something like $7000 / 6mo for the two vehicles!!!!!

I had to record a video of my home and send it to Mercury as part of implementing the new policy. Naturally, when the deadline arrived, the sky was covered in smoke, so I was constantly trying to keep the sky out of the video, fearing that they would drop me next year. They even wanted a picture of the dog, lol! Time will tell…..

I’m dreading what GEICO is going to offer next. Probably $1700 minimum and like you, have no tickets or accidents. So frustrating!

 

[Amster]

The rates are crazy! Especially in CA. My renewal is up $1500 this year, making it around $9500 for the Lucid and two older cars with three drivers. I paid the first half, but I need to start looking around again next year. The rate last year went up based on accidents, but all of us have perfect driving records this year.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I had to record a video of my home and send it to Mercury as part of implementing the new policy. Naturally, when the deadline arrived, the sky was covered in smoke, so I was constantly trying to keep the sky out of the video, fearing that they would drop me next year. They even wanted a picture of the dog, lol! Time will tell…..

I’m dreading what GEICO is going to offer next. Probably $1700 minimum and like you, have no tickets or accidents. So frustrating!

Mercury used Google satellite view of my home to determine that I had "too many plants" near the home. They made me rip EVERYTHING out that was within 5 feet of the home even though everything was watered daily. I was pissed, but I couldn't fight it otherwise I would have been dropped. It now looks barren in front of home and I said F'it, I'm not planting or doing anything else ... HOA hasn't complained (yet).

I spoke to Connect a few months back regarding my auto policy and the agent said that they may start underwriting again in California in 2025. It's worth it to keep checking with them as well (assuming you have a Costco membership)

 

[HC_79]

Mercury used Google satellite view of my home to determine that I had "too many plants" near the home. They made me rip EVERYTHING out that was within 5 feet of the home even though everything was watered daily. I was pissed, but I couldn't fight it otherwise I would have been dropped. It now looks barren in front of home and I said F'it, I'm not planting or doing anything else ... HOA hasn't complained (yet).

I spoke to Connect a few months back regarding my auto policy and the agent said that they may start underwriting again in California in 2025. It's worth it to keep checking with them as well (assuming you have a Costco membership)

Damn! My HOA has a plant minimum requirement in the front and backyard. If your yard looks baron then your called out for it. I’d be screwed if Mercury told me to rip the plants up.

Hopefully more insurers start to come back to CA now the rules have changed. I’m taking @borski ‘s tip and going to look at Pure though

 

[WildRide47]

I'd like to verify this for my coverage as well. Was this in your policy documents or did it require a phone call to verify?

When I got into an accident. PURE insurance covered everything without question. Others on this forum when they got into an accident had problems with their insurance company. They stated that the cost of the certified Lucid shops was too high and they wanted them to go to a lower cost shop. Problem: Lucid will not ship parts to a non certified shop so many Lucid owners with "cheaper insurance premiums) had to cover the cost difference out of pocket which ran to thousands of dollars.

 

[AZPure]

When I got into an accident. PURE insurance covered everything without question. Others on this forum when they got into an accident had problems with their insurance company. They stated that the cost of the certified Lucid shops was too high and they wanted them to go to a lower cost shop. Problem: Lucid will not ship parts to a non certified shop so many Lucid owners with "cheaper insurance premiums) had to cover the cost difference out of pocket which ran to thousands of dollars.

I guess that’s the whole risk tolerance discussion. Obviously no one plans to get into an accident where they’re at fault and thus need the insurance. So we all must weigh the odds of that happening vs the cost for peace of mind.

For example, I decided to go without glass coverage in AZ because I would have needed to replace the windshield 2x per year to justify the added premium. I guess it’s possible but I didn’t see that as a likely scenario so I went without the coverage. I guess the same goes for better insurance. If I save 2-4k per year, what are the odds that I’ll have an at fault accident and need the coverage vs just over paying for insurance?

You truly don’t know until you let it play out.

 

[WildRide47]

I guess that’s the whole risk tolerance discussion. Obviously no one plans to get into an accident where they’re at fault and thus need the insurance. So we all must weigh the odds of that happening vs the cost for peace of mind.

For example, I decided to go without glass coverage in AZ because I would have needed to replace the windshield 2x per year to justify the added premium. I guess it’s possible but I didn’t see that as a likely scenario so I went without the coverage. I guess the same goes for better insurance. If I save 2-4k per year, what are the odds that I’ll have an at fault accident and need the coverage vs just over paying for insurance?

You truly don’t know until you let it play out.

Correct. If you don't have an accident, then you come out ahead paying the lower cost premiums. If you do have an accident, then you may not do so well.

So yes, it is up to each person to decide for themselves what their risk tolerance is.

 

[WildRide47]

Correct. If you don't have an accident, then you come out ahead paying the lower cost premiums. If you do have an accident, then you may not do so well.

So yes, it is up to each person to decide for themselves what their risk tolerance is.

The problem is that too many people think they have the proper coverage(when they do not) and then are angry and disappointed when they find out their coverage is not as good as they thought.