Electric vehicle drivers face car insurance ‘nightmare’ with costs soaring to over £5,000 - 'madness!'
Some EV owners are seeing their premiums rise by more than 900 per cent
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Electric car owners are being warned of expensive car insurance charges, with some drivers already being charged more than £5,000 for one year of cover.
The vast majority of the largest car insurance companies offer electric car cover despite a handful of EV drivers seeing an enormous price hike.
According to one driver, nicknamed David, he was refused insurance from major brands like Aviva, Axa and Vitality, when cover for his Tesla Model Y was due to run out.
He highlighted how a forum for UK owners of Tesla vehicles saw renewal quotes ranging from a 60 per cent increase to 940 per cent, which would have seen the price jump from just £447 to £4,661.
WATCH NOW: Car insurance price rise warning
David himself saw his car insurance rocket from £1,200 to a staggering £4,500 with Direct Line, which increased to more than £5,000 with interest for paying monthly.
He said the only thing that had changed between July 2022 and 2023 was three additional penalty points on his driving licence.
This has led to many drivers questioning insurers over the decision to charge so much for the best-selling EV of 2022.
According to MoneySuperMarket, the price of car insurance for an EV in 2021 was £1,238 a year, although this dropped by £141 to £1,097 in 2022.
In comparison, fully comprehensive EV insurance policies for diesel cars cost around £1,119, while the average petrol car costs £1,087.
Another motorist, Alex Gerlis, was refused from getting a car insurance policy for his Smart EQ Forfour after being told John Lewis would no longer be insuring electric cars.
Speaking to the Guardian, he said the person on the phone “could not understand why he was making a fuss” about the policy change.
He added: “I can understand that premiums might go up but to have a blanket ‘no’ on insuring electric cars is incompatible with John Lewis’s claim to be environmentally friendly.
“It put its car insurance business out to tender but what it didn’t do is say that ‘environmental and climate action is important to us, so this must include electric vehicles.”
A spokesperson for John Lewis stated that the company's underwriter had temporarily paused new policies while analysing the “risks and costs entailed”.
Commenting on the chaos, GB News presenter Richard Tice branded the situation an “EV car insurance nightmare”.
The leader of the Reform Party added: “Premiums soaring, making EV ownership even more expensive.
“Another part of costly unaffordable madness of Net Zero,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling EV of last year
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According to Admiral, the average price for car insurance in August was £1,089, although some drivers, namely those aged between 17 and 18, will fork out almost £2,000 for cover.