The discounts being offered by property and casualty insurers to owners of hybrid vehicles may be a thing of the past. According to a new study, hybrid drivers drive farther, receive more traffic/speeding tickets and incur costlier claims than conventional car drivers.
The study was conducted by
Quality Planning is a unit of Insurance Services Office Inc., a closely held group of companies that provides data, analytics and other services. Quality Planning supplies tools and services that help auto insurers identify rating errors, recover lost premium, and minimize losses.
The study found that the cost to insurers of providing collision coverage for hybrids was 13% higher than for conventional vehicles. And the cost related to providing comprehensive coverage, which also includes the expense of non-collision-related damage, was 17% higher, noted Quality Planning.
Finally, Quality Planning reports that hybrid-vehicle owners who buy cars for non-commuting purposes drive an average of 25% more than non-hybrid drivers. Hybrid and non-hybrid car owners who listed their cars as commuter vehicles both drove about the same amount.
Some insurers discount hybrid owners up to 10% on their auto policies, said the company.
