Insuring a 4 x 4 or heavy car may become more expensive

[cokey1970]

Saw this article on Whatcar.com which may be of interest to everyone...

A shake-up in how vehicles are categorised for insurance purposes could well mean that 4x4 drivers will pay more for their insurance. For the first time, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is taking into account how much a car weighs to determine its insurance group.

It's not environmental reasons that are driving the changes, though - instead, insurers reckon the heaviest models are the most likely to cause severe third party damage in collisions.

The ABI has increased the number of categories for motor insurance from 20 to 50, and most cars will fall into roughly equivalent categories as before. Now, though, the heaviest models will jump into much higher categories.

Research by AA Personal Loans has found that people planning to buy a 4x4 has halved between January and November last year.

http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=224382
Interesting reading!

 

[cokey1970]

Not sure if this is in the right subject heading.

 

[Lutz]

I have rarely read anything as absurd as linking insurance cost with vehicle weight. Surely, premiums based on accident rate, repair costs and crash performance including injury criteria should cover higher risks for larger cars adequately and more fairly, without the need to doubly penalise their owners with something that has, if anything, only a very indirect connection with cost.

Question is, will the insurance companies use kerbweight or GVW as their basis? I can see difficulty with using kerbweight as this is currently not normally documented with any accuracy anywhere and GVW would be unfair to those people who never have their car fully laden.

 

[MONKEY1]

April the first isn't for a few weeks. On a more serious note there is a correlation usually between car weight/size and cost of repair or replacement.

However there's loads of data and combinations that mean insurance is about risk and probability as we self insure our vehicles at work and use a big name purely as a front for administration purposes I can see that result that a heavy vehicle does to a smaller one for instance.

We load our insurance based on its insurance group which is provided to us based on a whole list of criteria.

I have downloaded our in house manual which gives you a good idea

"The factors used to calculate insurance costs are:

Damage and Parts Costs - The likely extent of damage to each car model and the cost of the parts involved in its repair. The lower these costs, the more likelihood there is of a lower group rating.

Repair Times - Longer repair times mean higher costs and the greater likelihood of a higher group rating. Different paint finishes on modern cars are an important factor, so these too are taken into account.

New Car Values - The prices of new cars are taken into account as they are often a good guide to the cost of replacement and repair.

Body Shells - The availability of body shells (the basic frame of the car) is taken into account in group ratings because they are essential for certain accidental damage repairs. (not now applied to us)

Performance - Acceleration and top speed are important factors we know very well, from claims statistics, that high performance cars often result in more frequent insurance claims.

Car Security - Security features fitted as standard equipment by motor manufacturers can help to reduce insurance claims costs. Such features include high security door locks, alarm/immobilisation systems, glass etching, coded audio equipment, locking devices for alloy wheels and visible VIN numbers.

Recommended Group Ratings

The group ratings are recommendations only. We will generally use these ratings as a key input to the underwriting process but will also take account of our own claims experience to guide pricing decisions."

mh

 

[laurieW]

I have just (yesterday), renewed my fully comp insurance on my Discovery and it is

 

[Lutz]

I quite understand, Monkey, but as you say, insurance premiums are already based on damage and parts cost, repair times, new car values, body shells, performance, car security and recommended group ratings. If there is a correlation between some or all of these factors and weight and then weight is added again as an further one then it would amount to doubling up of the burden. This is rather like the situation today where VAT is paid on petrol on which there fuel tax has already been paid.

 

[Timothy_374244492]

Get yourselves 4x4 pick up's and all the problems go away as they are classed as commercial vehicles.

Cheaper VED aswell!

 

[DavidW1]

Nice to see the prophets of doom are still alive and well, both in the media and amongst those who post in forums.

Personaly I don't give a flying fig, not sure exactly how heavy my 14 year old Isuzu is and nor are the revenue as it is an import but it only costs