Action Line: Insurance rating of much-touted Prius changes - San Jose Mercury News
Action Line: Insurance rating of much-touted Prius changes - San Jose Mercury News By Dennis RockstrohQ I recently got the insurance renewal for my 2007 Prius from State Farm.
It said, “The claim experience on your make and model of vehicle has resulted in an increase to your liability rating group for bodily injury and/or property damage coverages.” What’s up with that?
I went to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Web site and looked up the most recent Prius accident data I could find (which is for 2004-2006 models), and it shows the Prius as being average or better than average for every category.
Did it used to be even better? Since the car hasn’t changed, have the drivers gotten worse?Joe Pallas
A I checked with an insurance source I know and he said it has to do with liability, which includes things like hitting a person or damaging another vehicle or property.
But, overall, he said, Prius drivers do pretty well.
He said that what triggers change is called the Liability Rating Group.
“The Liability Rating Group (LRG) distributes the automobile bodily injury and property damage liability premiums as our claim data indicates these dollars are spent by make, model and body style of vehicle (1998 and newer models),” he e-mailed me. “We estimate what the amount of the liability claims will be for a specific car. If we pay more than we estimate, then the LRG goes up. The Prius is still better than average, but it went up one level. This has nothing to do with the comprehensive or collision coverage. This means Prius divers have had more liability claims than they thought they would. Liability is the key word here. This is if you hit someone else or hit some type of vehicle or property.”
Read the entire article at Action Line: Insurance rating of much-touted Prius changes - San Jose Mercury News.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:31 am
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