Based on an update from a senior ex-GEICO executive on LinkedIn, Allen Laben will now be joining Tesla’s Insurance team in the coming days, with an interesting focus.
Laben, who previously worked at GEICO as Director of Claims Specialty Operations will be taking on the role as Head of Insurance Partnerships at Tesla.
Reducing Costs
One of Laben’s goals is to “lower the total cost of Tesla ownership…”, which is a fairly lofty goal. Tesla’s have notoriously had extremely high repair costs, owing to the low availability of parts, and the tendency for third-party insurance services to total vehicles rather than try to repair them.
Laben intends to reduce these costs by partnering with insurance companies, teams across Tesla, and collision shops in the US and Canada.
Tesla Insurance
Tesla launched Tesla Insurance in 2019 in California and now offers insurance in various US states. In most states, the insurance premium is based on a user’s Safety Score, which uses vehicle metrics to determine how the vehicle was being driven. These metrics included Forward Collision Warnings, hard braking, aggressive turning, unsafe following distances, and harsh braking. They also include the rather controversial night-time driving policy, which Tesla has changed multiple times over the years.
In California, the Safety Score isn’t factored into the insurance rates. However, in other states as of 2021, Safety Score directly correlates to the insurance rates. A higher score results in lower rates, with rates changing month-to-month based on your score.
Tesla Insurance Expansion: Canada and Other States
Given Laben’s goals and words – it may seem that Tesla Insurance could eventually make its way to Canada. Today, navigating to Tesla’s Insurance page on its Canadian site provides a 404 error. Canadian owners are often subject to high rates, with few exemptions.
Having Tesla Insurance in Canada could make a big impact on Canadian Tesla ownership costs, which are driven higher by insurance costs. These same goals and words can also apply to other states – not every US state has access to Tesla Insurance just yet, but Tesla continues to expand.
