Insurance update

[rfernatt]

My car insurance (Westfield Insurance) just renewed for the year and I was curious to see what would happen with the smart's rating after they had a period of time to gather more loss data.

And, for the first time that I can remember, my insurance went down on the renewal with no changes. The symbol rating on the smart dropped from an 8 to a 6 and my annual premium dropped about $60. For comparison, my previous Honda Civic coupe was rated a 19 (my insurance went down about $300 after trading to the smart back in Sep).

So, it looks like the smart is doing fairly well in terms of insurance losses - at least in my area and with my company.

[AllBlackS42]

I have Westfield Insurance as well.

On an absolute basis, I can't say if it's cheap or expensive, but on a relative basis by far the smart fortwo is the cheapest to insure car on our policy. Surprisingly, the hybrid Camry is the most expensive for us to insure.

[Hestel]

Wow, Liberty Mutual here in NC told me the symbol rating on the Smart was a 12. Going to have to have a talk with them.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Hestel

Wow, Liberty Mutual here in NC told me the symbol rating on the Smart was a 12. Going to have to have a talk with them.

Is that the convertible? I have Liberty Mutual as well, and they told me the coupe was a 5 and the cabrio was a 10.

[Hestel]

Yep, it is the Cabrio. They told me 12, I have it written down as it's the same as my truck. I'm switching to USAA in two weeks anyway.

[2smartArizona]

Originally Posted by AllBlackS42

I have Westfield Insurance as well.

On an absolute basis, I can't say if it's cheap or expensive, but on a relative basis by far the smart fortwo is the cheapest to insure car on our policy. Surprisingly, the hybrid Camry is the most expensive for us to insure.

It doesn't surpise me that the Camry Hybrid has higher insurance, as any hybrid is very expensive to repair because of the different stuff under the hood. I shopped Prius insurance before attempting to buy one, and it was usually about 20% higher than my 325i wagon. I could not understand it either, but my insurance company said the extra costs of repair on hybrids were driving up the costs of the insurance. Never got one anyway.
I would like to see a reduction in the cost of smart insurance for myself too. At the time I configured I was quoted 489, then when I got the car is was down to 341, and if it goes down some more that would be great.

[John_H]

My USAA policy shows a symbol rating of 13 for my cabriolet (March policy renewal printed in February).

Are the symbol ratings not industry-wide?

[rfernatt]

Originally Posted by 2smartArizona

It doesn't surpise me that the Camry Hybrid has higher insurance, as any hybrid is very expensive to repair because of the different stuff under the hood. I shopped Prius insurance before attempting to buy one, and it was usually about 20% higher than my 325i wagon. I could not understand it either, but my insurance company said the extra costs of repair on hybrids were driving up the costs of the insurance. Never got one anyway.

I would definitely agree that insurance on a hybrid is more expensive due to repair costs. I was told the same thing on an AWD Subaru - more moving parts, more expensive to repair in a collision.

This same rationale may explain why smart insurance is cheaper - no body work. In your common low speed front/rear impact, the smart won't need body work and plastic panels are relatively cheap. Also, for those of us who have to worry about it - NO HAIL DAMAGE! I also detest parking lot dings/dents.

I'll say it again, the plastic, interchangeable body panels are part of the smart DNA and a reason I would choose the smart over competitors like the iQ, Yaris, Accent, etc.

[h20m0f0]

Honda's are #1 on the stolen car hot sheet

[unicycle]

I just phoned Geico and found out that the symbol rating for the smart is 7.