I switched auto insurance providers today, away from Tesla Insurance to Progressive. It wasn't an easy choice, and I wanted Tesla Insurance to work, but there was just too much wrong with it for me.
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Tesla is my favorite company on earth. I drive a 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD vehicle with LFP batteries and see Tesla as a revolutionary company, leading the world toward EVs and autonomous transport. These are things that I think Tesla will dominate in and do very well.
However, there is one area that Tesla just couldn't seem to get right for me, and that was Tesla Auto Insurance. These were the primary issues for me:
- Insurance costs were rapidly increasing
- I couldn't drive past 11 PM without a severe penalty to my safety score, which impacted my monthly premium
- Tesla was exceptionally slow to resolve issues with Tesla Insurance
- Tesla Insurance growth has stalled, with no new states within the last couple of years.
Insurance Costs Were Rapidly Increasing
When I started Tesla insurance, my 95 safety score premium was around $70. This has increased over two years to the tune of around $120, which is over a 50% increase in cost.
The costs began to fluctuate and would go down some months - but overall, the trend has been sharply up.
Too Much Of A Penalty For Late Night Driving
In addition to this, the only way I could even pay the around $120 monthly premium was to limit my late night driving - that is, to only go out dancing and doing fun things I like once or twice a month, which was hampering my morale and social life.
When I went out a lot, my safety score was more around 90, instead of a 95, which made the premium around $140, which is double the amount from $70.
Tesla Was Slow To Adapt And Resolve Issues
It puzzled me that Tesla was so slow to adapt and make changes to their safety score metrics and listen to customer complaints. Tesla is a company that moves fast and innovates and listens to their customers, but for some reason, Tesla Insurance almost seems like another company entirely.
I saw on X over and over again the complaints of those who were getting dinged for late night driving, including me. Tesla reduced the penalty slightly and changed it from 10 PM to 11 PM as the starting hour when a penalty starts, but that wasn't good enough. There was still a severe penalty for even driving 10 minutes after 11 PM.
In addition to that, any kind of movement to turn the steering wheel beyond the gentlest of turns dinged my safety score. Anything other than light pressure on the breaks reduced my safety score. It was incredibly difficult to drive in a way that didn't ding my safety score.
Tesla Insurance also had no way to pay upfront and get a discount. It was always month to month.
Tesla Insurance Growth Stalled
There may be a reason for all of this and seeing that no new states have been added to Tesla Insurance for about two years, could mean that Tesla has simply put any growth in this on hold.
If that is true, I don't see Tesla Insurance growing, but instead shrinking as others get insurance from other companies for the same price or lower.
I Switched To Progressive
I switched to Progressive after they quoted me an amount that I was paying for a 96 safety score. A 96 safety score was incredibly difficult for me to achieve and required driving way too slowly and carefully, and it meant I had no social life.
I am paying $101/month for Progressive insurance, paying upfront for one year. I could have paid $115 month to month, but opted to save money. I can drive how I want and whenever I want without the stress of late night driving.
If there is one downside to me switching that could happen, it's Tesla finding a way to drastically reduce insurance costs back to where they were a couple of years ago. In that case, I would have overpaid for the next year of insurance.
I love Tesla the company and remain a big fan. But, a fan of Tesla Insurance, I am not.
Will I Ever Switch Back?
A pro of Tesla insurance is that everything is managed in the Tesla app, and it took just a few seconds to cancel my insurance.
Were Tesla to fix the issues with Tesla insurance that I've outlined here and show that it is indeed much cheaper - which it was in the beginning - then I will happily switch back.
If you want to see Tesla insurance improved and addressed, please forward this article to your friends and family and anyone you know that has a Tesla.
Do you have Tesla Insurance? Has it worked well for you? Or, do you use a different auto insurance?
Share this article with friends and family and on social media - or leave a comment below. You can view my most recent articles here for further reading. I am also on X/Twitter where I post more than just articles daily, as well as LinkedIn! Thank you so much for your support!
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Hi! I'm Jeremy Noel Johnson, and I am a Tesla investor and supporter and own a 2022 Model 3 RWD EV and I don't have range anxiety :). I enjoy bringing you breaking Tesla news as well as anything about Tesla or other EV companies I can find, like Aptera. Other interests of mine are AI, Tesla Energy and the Tesla Bot! You can follow me on X.COM or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow my Tesla and EV news coverage.
Image Credit: Tesla, Screenshot
Article Reference: Tesla
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