Advice required regarding insurance

[Earlydaws]

Hi,
I am looking at leasing a PHEV GXH4H and it would be through my business due to the benefits associated with this vehicle.

I have contacted our insurance broker for a quote for myself and my wife to be insured on the car and he has returned with a high-ish quote, he said that he has had difficulty placing the policy due to their being an issue with ownership of the batteries? I tried another broker who came up blank, is there anyone on here who is in a similar position and found an insurance company or broker that can source competitive business insurance quote or at least someone that isn't scared off by them?

I'm having a second test drive tomorrow and looking to place an order next week so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ozukus]

I would go to a direct insurer like Direct Line or Churchill Insurance.

At least that way you will be cutting out the middle man if any questions are asked, however I find it surprising that battery ownership even came up.

 

[Andy123]

I would go to a direct insurer like Direct Line or Churchill Insurance.

At least that way you will be cutting out the middle man if any questions are asked, however I find it surprising that battery ownership even came up.

It doesn't come up on Direct Line, interestingly (may do if it's already registered).

 

[MHS]

We are with Admiral and they had no issue with the car. We own our car, so I do assume we own the batteries. Is it different with a lease vehicle?

 

[Regulo]

I'm with Churchill, and there was no trouble at all in getting insurance. No mention of battery ownership, that sounds like a get-out to me.

BTW, I got my buildings and contents renewal quote from Churchill at £265, went through a comparison site and got a quote of £117 with - Churchill! So without telling them who had quoted on the comparison site, I phoned Churchill and they reduced it to £164. When I then told them it was their own quote online, they said the best thing to do was not renew my existing policy, but accept the online one. Are these people crazy, or what? Just shows how we can be ripped off, if we're not savvy.

 

[pheverish]

Company owned car insured with LV.

 

[maddogsetc]

No questions raised about batteries by anyone at quote stage but if you continue to find problems you might want to consider Mitsubishi's own insurance - that's what I went for.

 

[Stvtech]

Your broker had possibly been previously exposed to likes of Renault 100% EV's where you buy the car but have the option to lease the batteries, so they are never actually owned by you. Other manufacturers have followed a similar path.
In this situation, it would be difficult for an insurer to quote where parts of the vehicle are owned by two separate parties.

I am not aware that the batteries on an Outlander are available on any such 'lease' agreement, so to my way of thinking, it shouldn't even come up, and be treated just like any other hybrid.

 

[Goldfinger]

Isn't insurance included in the lease price?? :?

 

[bdbdbd]

My GX4h is leased to my business. I used go compare and got a quote from Zenith for business use for £211. My existing insurer Admiral matched that. At no time was there any difficulty or problem with insuring the PHEV.

 

[gazter76]

Esure, less than £300. No issue about the battery and that includes business cover (assuming not for hire /reward).

 

[nickthefish]

The battery issue is an important one. I have read that the battery life is around 3 years.
I am not sure why this would be an insurance issue however. I suppose if the batteries are written off in an accident it might be an argument between Mitsubishi and you as to who has to replace them.
I am the same as you and I put my PHEV through my company, and then registered for VAT, but I leased it instead of buying it. The batteries are guaranteed for 3 years which is as long as the lease lasts.
You get half the VAT back leasing and put all the leasing cost against your company, instead of a depreciation cost. You would I suppose depreciate your batteries over their life, for 3 years.
I have had no problem getting quotes, fully comp around £350, maybe just go to a better broker!
Nick

 

[Andy123]

Pretty sure the batteries are warranted for 5 years now (62,500 miles), same as the car, as of 1 Jan 2015.

 

[user 422]

LV fully comp with all the extras I needed was Under 200 for me...

 

[Earlydaws]

Hi Nick the Fish,

I too am going to be leasing the car through the business and tried another broker who couldn't come up with anything.

I have a current policy on the poole car which is a Toyota IQ so the Outlander would be a new policy, could you tell me who you used for your insurance as a comparison website was over £1000!

Thanks

 

[maby]

We're insured through the AA - have been for many years. When we took delivery of the Outlander last autumn, we went to them to change over and they had to refer it to their specialists because there was not enough experience of the car for it to go through their automated systems. They came back to us shortly later with a price that was lower than we had been paying on our elderly Prius - I don't have the paperwork readily to hand, but I seem to remember that we are paying around £260 per year for fully comprehensive insurance including commuting to multiple places of work.

 

[steelarts]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and am due to pick my new car up this Thursday so I'm doing the insurance thing at this moment, lol! My Pug 4007 is insured with Direct Line and has been for years. I read a couple of days ago that NFU Mutual are one of the best insurers around - note, not the cheapest - the best. As we know, cheapest does not equate to the best if you actually have to make a claim.

Anyway, NFU quoted around £325 and guess what? With the same £250 excess Direct Line come in at £175 UNTIL you add on no claims protection, recovery, motor legal, guaranteed car hire, etc. In other words all the things that come as standard with NFU. The DL price with the extras now comes in at £310, but because NFU Mutal automatically include 2 years (as opposed to everyone else 1 year) 'new car cover' I think I'm going with them as the extra premium is nowhere near the extra GAP insurance which will only be needed now in year 3 of the lease.

I've been with DL for years but I think on a new vehicle the NFU deal is hard to beat. Just my opinion .

 

[kano]

I'm looking to place an order for a GX3 in the next week or so, i picked the newest used one on Autotrader and used the reg number for the quote as the Direct Line drop down box didn't have the hybrid in it, the reg number found it for the used car though, i got a quote of £161 with an excess of £50.

 

[steelarts]

I'm looking to place an order for a GX3 in the next week or so, i picked the newest used one on Autotrader and used the reg number for the quote as the Direct Line drop down box didn't have the hybrid in it, the reg number found it for the used car though, i got a quote of £161 with an excess of £50.

Yes, it's great isn't it? BUT it doesn't give you any of the "peace of mind" extras. Ever had a knock and then had to hire your own car and then try to claim back from the third party if it was their fault? Or get your excess back from them? It's a real pain in the butt and time consuming, that's where "motor legal protection" steps in and does it all for you. Add "recovery", essential in my view if you don't have a spare tyre, and it starts mounting up. AND of course, you'll want to protect your hard earned NCB. Add these "extras" and I can virtually guarantee your £161 quote will be well over a £100 more.

These low quotes are fine but life's too short and if you have a prang you want it dealt with as painlessly and quickly as possible so the "extras" are really "essentials" if you want an easy life. But hey, it's a gamble, you may never have an accident and get away with low premiums. Perhaps I'm just too cautious but having had a couple of accidents in my long driving career, when/if it happens, you often find you get what you've paid for and if you pay the minimum they give you the very minimum in return and even being 'fully comp' doesn't necessarily give you the best service in my experience.

 

[kano]

That was for the legal cover added, i never bother with the hire car, we have 2 cars anyway, non protected no claims wouldn't change the cost due to a bump when the premium is only £161 and my breakdown cover is through the caravan club. One thing for people to try is to sign up to Quidco they will give me £50 cash back on the policy, i won't see the money for about 6 months, but £110 for a years cover with legal included has got to be good.