Cheap Car Insurance for Green Cars

First it was the Toyota Prius, a hybrid car that earned recognition from a host of celebrities and became the must-have car of the modern era. Then came huge investments in electric cars from national and local governments around the world as the need for fuel efficiency took on added importance with oil prices racing to $147 a barrel in July, 2008. Now, more than one in three motorists says they would buy a hybrid or electric car if buying a new car.

With Brits becoming more environmentally conscious a host of incentives have been established to help drivers reduce their carbon footprint and to encourage them to drive green cars. From tax reductions to freedom from congestion charges, green cars have become about more than reducing emissions – they are also about reducing the strain on your wallet. However, one area of motoring has remained seemingly unaffected by the revolution going on around it – the car insurance industry.

How has car insurance been affected by green cars?

Though the green cars with the lowest emissions are exempt from vehicle excise duty, there have been no such incentives introduced for eco-friendly vehicles in terms of car insurance.

In fact, when first introduced, green cars were actually slightly more expensive to insure than their conventional counterparts because of their unusual parts which could make repairs more difficult. However, over time, car insurers have recognised that the majority of green car drivers are conscious of how their driving style affects the environment. As such they are less likely to drive at fast speeds which increase fuel consumption, and are generally safer and more responsible on the road.

As a consequence it now costs roughly the same to insure a hybrid or electric car as it would a conventional vehicle. For example, an annual premium for a petrol Honda Jazz would cost £281 compared to £285 for the electric G-Wizz and £314 a year for the Honda Insight Hybrid.

There have been calls from some industry experts for insurance companies to remove tax charges for green car drivers in an effort to further encourage drivers to go green. However, there have been no signs of this concept being implemented so far.

What about green car insurance companies?

Several car insurance companies have started to brand themselves as green car insurance companies including the likes of The Green Car Insurance Company and Ibuyeco.

The key to these policies is that they don’t just cover hybrid and electric cars – although several of them do offer discounts if you are a green car driver. In fact, they are green policies because they offer programmes in which they effectively cover all of your vehicle’s harmful emissions through "carbon neutral schemes" – that is they make contributions towards environmental projects such as replenishing the rainforest to effectively "cover" for the pollution your car emits.

In order to secure this form of ethical car insurance, however, drivers will normally have to pay an additional premium. So it is questionable as to whether motorists are best paying extra to be part of one of these schemes or whether they should simply look for the cheapest car insurance deal they can find and then put their saved cash towards an environmental scheme of their own choice.

Can green cars help you save on car insurance?

As green cars and their technologies become more commonplace, they should start to offer insurance savings. The stumbling block now is that many repairers do not know how to deal with electric and hybrid cars. However, as they become the norm they will be easier to fix and their parts cheaper to replace.

Driving a green car makes a statement about the type of driver you are. Generally green cars also have less powerful engines meaning they are less likely to be driven at fast speeds. They are rarely modified too, and this will help you to earn a more cost-effective car insurance deal.

For a cheap car insurance deal however, you should still apply the same rules to driving a green car as you would a conventional car. This means focusing on the security of the vehicle; parking in a garage at night; driving safely to build up a no-claims discount; considering increasing a voluntary excess; and possibly even agreeing to a mileage limit cap. Shopping around with a comparison website is also sensible to compare the deals available.