Yidian Investigation｜Time-consuming and costly, why is it difficult to insure new energy trucks?
2024-08-17
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At present, many owners of new energy trucks are facing problems such as difficulty in purchasing insurance and high premiums.
Last month, Mr. Cao from Weifang bought a new energy truck, but encountered difficulties when buying compulsory traffic insurance. "The insurance company has been saying that it needs approval, but it has not been approved for a long time." He complained to the Financial Regulatory Bureau and the 3.15 hotline, and then he bought compulsory traffic insurance, but he still couldn't buy commercial insurance. There are many new energy truck owners like Mr. Cao who have difficulty in insurance. Mr. Li, a new energy truck dealer, said that since the end of July, many of his customers have had similar situations. "Several large insurance companies almost all refuse to insure commercial insurance for new energy trucks. Customers who bought new cars from me have to return the car because they can't get insurance." Mr. Li was very helpless.
"The country is vigorously promoting new energy vehicles, so why can't insurance keep up?" Mr. Cao was puzzled.
Buy a new car for 60,000 to 80,000
Buying insurance costs 16,000
Mr. Cao lives in Anqiu, Weifang. He just bought a new energy truck in July this year. When he went to the business outlet to purchase compulsory traffic insurance, he was unable to process it. "The insurance company kept saying that it needed approval, and it took a long time to complete the approval." Mr. Cao complained to the Financial Regulatory Bureau and the consumer hotline, and then successfully purchased compulsory traffic insurance on the same day, but commercial insurance was still not successfully purchased.
In fact, this is not the first time that such a thing has happened to him. His last new energy truck was driven for more than seven years and was insured by China People's Property Insurance Company. There was a problem when it was renewed for the last time last year. "I used to renew the insurance with one click, but suddenly I couldn't renew it last year. I went to the business outlet to ask, and the staff only said that new energy trucks are difficult to insure, and didn't say why." Mr. Cao had no choice but to spend an extra 300 yuan to buy compulsory traffic insurance from China Property Insurance through an insurance intermediary, and commercial insurance failed to be successfully insured. "The country supports the development of new energy vehicles, but why is it so difficult to insure?" Mr. Cao was very puzzled.
Mr. Li, a new energy truck dealer, told reporters that some insurance companies also underwrite commercial insurance for new energy trucks, but the premiums have increased significantly this year. He used the example of vans to explain to reporters, "Last year, the premiums for non-operating vehicles were 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, and for operating vehicles were 6,000 to 7,000 yuan. This year, they have basically reached more than 10,000 yuan." Mr. Li said that almost no drivers who bought new energy trucks from his store successfully insured commercial insurance themselves. Most of them sought help from insurance intermediaries, and the "surcharges" from insurance intermediaries ranged from 500 to 600 yuan.
"The current commercial insurance 'surcharge' changes every day. Today (August 13), the price I just inquired was 4,600 to 6,000 yuan." Mr. Li roughly calculated that if both compulsory traffic insurance and commercial insurance are handled by insurance intermediaries, the "surcharge" will generally reach more than 5,000 yuan, while the premium is generally around 10,000 yuan. With the "surcharge", new energy vehicle owners may have to pay around 16,000 yuan. "My new car is only 60,000 to 80,000 yuan, and the cost of insurance alone is almost catching up with 20% of the car price." Mr. Li said.
"Not only do we have to spend more money, but the companies that ultimately underwrite the insurance are mostly not large companies like PICC Property and Casualty Insurance, Pacific Insurance, and Ping An Insurance, but insurance companies like Bohai Property & Casualty Insurance, PICC Property and Casualty Insurance, and Yongan Insurance. Some commercial insurance is successfully purchased from other places." said Mr. Li.
Truck driver Master Yu mainly takes orders on a freight platform. Since he bought his truck last year, his new energy truck has traveled more than 80,000 kilometers. His truck is only insured with compulsory traffic insurance. "I want to buy commercial insurance, but I can't. I have no choice. I have been driving like this for a year." Soon, Master Yu will renew his insurance, and he is a little worried. "I will ask the insurance company tomorrow. I definitely hope to buy commercial insurance, so that I can feel more at ease."
It is difficult to insure new energy trucks
Leading to a sharp drop in sales
Why is it difficult to insure new energy trucks? What is the difficulty for consumers to buy compulsory traffic insurance? Can commercial insurance be purchased?
On August 14, the reporter visited several new energy truck dealers and learned that the new energy trucks they sold did face difficulties in insurance and high costs, which also affected the sales of new energy trucks to varying degrees.
A well-known new energy vehicle brand dealer said that the sales of new energy trucks in the first half of the year increased by 50% compared with the same period last year. After the problem of insurance difficulties occurred at the end of July, the sales of the store plummeted. "From the end of July to now, we have sold a total of 3 vehicles. Normally, we can sell 30 vehicles in the same period."
The dealer said that the first problem that car buyers encounter is usually the long wait for compulsory traffic insurance approval. "Two days ago, a customer just bought compulsory traffic insurance and waited 11 days for approval. Even the shortest wait time is two or three days."
In addition to the waiting period for approval of compulsory traffic insurance, commercial insurance is also expensive. "Since the second half of last year, premiums have continued to increase. They were originally 6,000 to 7,000 yuan, and later increased to 8,000 to 9,000 yuan. At first, customers thought it was acceptable, but now the premium has increased to more than 10,000 yuan." The dealer mentioned a recent example, "This month, a customer spent 80,000 yuan to buy a car and insured it for full commercial vehicle insurance, and the premium cost 16,700 yuan."
"In the eyes of customers, buying new energy vehicles is to save fuel, but now the fuel savings are all invested in insurance premiums, which is not cost-effective." Another dealer surnamed Liu said that if insurance cannot be obtained, banks will not lend money. If loans are not approved, most customers will choose to cancel their orders. He has canceled 17 orders this month because of insurance issues.
Liu, a new energy truck dealer, admitted that the difficulty in obtaining insurance has restricted the development of new energy trucks. With the popularity of new energy trucks in the market in the past two years, the market penetration rate of the car brands he distributes has risen from the initial 5% to about 20%, but now due to the difficulty in obtaining insurance, the penetration rate is difficult to continue to rise and is currently stagnant.
Insurance intermediary
High compensation ratio makes it difficult to get insurance
The reporter consulted the Weifang branch of a well-known insurance company as the owner of a new energy truck. The staff said that only compulsory traffic insurance can be purchased, and there is currently no commercial insurance underwriting plan that is suitable for new energy trucks.
Since insurance companies do not have an underwriting plan for commercial insurance of new energy trucks, why do some consumers apply for commercial insurance through "intermediaries"? On August 15, the reporter contacted an insurance intermediary by phone, who said, "We could buy commercial insurance before, but now we can't." The insurance intermediary believes that the high compensation rate of new energy trucks is the main reason for the current difficulty in insurance. "In the past, many drivers used non-operating vehicles as operating vehicles, which changed the nature of the vehicle's use, increased the accident rate, and the insurance company paid too much money. Gradually, the insurance company stopped doing (commercial insurance for new energy trucks)."
The reporter went to China Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. located on Taixiang Street, Beihai Road, Hanting District, several times to inquire about the car insurance business as a car owner, but was always unattended. After the reporter revealed his identity, the relevant staff did not give a clear answer.
The reporter also went to the Weifang Central Branch of China Pacific Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Deputy General Manager Tang Juan said that the company's insurance volume for new energy trucks has increased sharply recently, an increase of more than 200% compared with before.
When reporters asked about the long approval time for compulsory traffic insurance reported by owners of new energy trucks, Tang Juan said that staff need to verify customer information, submit insurance information, and enter it into the system. This is all normal operating procedures. Weifang Pacific Property Insurance has no other special requirements for the insurance of new energy trucks. As for the market feedback that commercial insurance premiums are expensive, Tang Juan explained that the company determines commercial premiums based on factors such as vehicle type, value, tonnage, nature of use, and compensation data for this type of vehicle, and calculates them within the discount range approved by the regulator. In comparison, operational vehicles have higher premiums than family cars. This is mainly because operational vehicles are relatively risky, and their premiums are also matched to their risks. Tang Juan said: "When customers come to buy insurance, we will insure what we should insure. It depends on whether the price (consumers) can accept it."
The reporter consulted Sunshine Property Insurance and Taiping Property Insurance in succession as a car owner, and the answer he got was that the vehicle needed to be inspected before it could be determined whether it could be insured and the specific insurance plan.
The reporter learned from the staff of the Weifang Supervision Branch of the State Administration of Financial Supervision that they have also received relevant feedback on the insurance situation of new energy trucks recently. The principle of compulsory traffic insurance is "insure as much as possible", and the principle of commercial insurance is "insure as much as possible". Regarding the specific situation, the Weifang Supervision Branch of the State Administration of Financial Supervision will give further response after learning more details.
How to solve the problem of difficulty in insuring new energy trucks? Qilu Evening News and Qilu One Point will continue to pay attention.
(Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point)
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