OAI: Hybrid Owners Can Offset Car Insurance Prices with Discounts

Los Angeles, CA, April 21, 2012 --(PR.com)-- A new FAQ from quote-provider OnlineAutoInsurance.com is pointing out that hybrid and electric car owners may see higher coverage costs than their gas-only counterparts, but the company notes that a handful of insurance companies will offer discounts to hybrid owners, which may help offset these increased costs.

According to the site, consumers who run an auto insurance quotes comparison of prices for gasoline-only and hybrid versions of the same car will generally see higher rates for the hybrid version.

A premium analysis run by the site for a 2011 Highlander driven by a 30-year-old male in Southern California showed that, among eight companies, insurance was always cheaper for the gas-only car. The savings from having the gas-only version ranged from about 2 percent to about 26 percent, with the average gas-only premium being about 17 percent below the average hybrid premium.

Part of the reason for this is that hybrid versions are usually more expensive than gas-only versions, and in general that means they will cost more to insure for certain coverage types.

Another part of the reason is that people who drive hybrids often do so because they have a high annual mileage and want to save on gas. Since more time spent on the road means more chances to get into an accident, insurance rates might be higher.

A report released in Summer 2010 by Mitchell International suggested another reason premiums are higher: The repairs for hybrids are costlier on average because their owners tend to go back to the dealer for repairs rather than local repair shops, and factory-manufactured replacement parts were used over generic replacement parts at a signficantly higher rate.

Luckily, a few insurers offer discounts for having hybrids, though they are likely not enough on their own to offset the increased coverage costs that come with owning a hybrid vehicle.

In California, at least three insurers offer discounts for hybrid vehicle owners:

-- Farmers: 10 percent discount on major coverages
-- Travelers: up to a 10 percent discount on most major coverages
-- AAA: up to a 5 percent discount

Source: http://1.usa.gov/I8Tq2c

The Hartford also offers a 5 percent discount to drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Perhaps those smaller discounts coupled with savings on gas will still make the hybrid option worth car shoppers' while.

To learn more about this and other coverage issues, readers can head to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/ for access to informative resource pages and an easy to use quote-comparison generator.