Geico blames Cybertruck repairability for insurance cancellations as Progressive denies new coverage

Geico has come up with an explanation for Cybertruck owners' complaint that it is denying them insurance renewals. Citing the Cybertruck's weight and repair costs as reasons, Geico says that "some customers may have received notices stating that PPA insurance would not be renewed for this vehicle."

Geico still offers private passenger automobile (PPA) insurance for the Cybertruck, though, while those owners who don't qualify can always resort to its commercial vehicle policies.

GEICO has coverage available nationwide for the Tesla Cybertruck... Because of its gross weight and potential challenges with parts availability for repair shops, some customers may have received notices stating that PPA insurance would not be renewed for this vehicle. However, policies for this vehicle have always been available through our commercial insurance division, and now remain available via PPA as well. GEICO will be reaching out to any customers who may have received a nonrenewal notice.

While quoting the Cybertruck's gross vehicle weight that ranges between 8,834 lb (4,007 kg) and 9,169 lb (4,159 kg) is a bit odd as an insurance cancellation reason, the repairability challenges aren't.

Geico cites the lack of Cybertruck parts availability as a pretext for the policy renewal cancellations, and the experience of rental giants with their EV fleet seems to confirm its observations.

Hertz recently initiated a fire sale of ts Model 3 fleet not only because it bought the cars at peak pricing, but also because it was hard to quickly repair them, and their insurance rates were through the roof.

According to research firm Gartner, by the time electric vehicle prices achieve parity with gas-powered cars, their repair costs and insurance premiums will have skyrocketed.

By 2027, the average cost of an EV body and battery serious accident repair will increase by 30%. As a result, vehicles suffering a collision may be more prone to a total write-off as the repair could cost more than its residual value. Equally, more expensive crash repairs may lead to more expensive insurance premiums or even the refusal of insurance companies to cover particular car models.

Besides the dearth of replacement parts in regular shops, some of the high EV repair costs come from the increased use of gigacasting during manufacturing, including for the Cybertruck.

As Tesla's chief engineer Lars Moravy explains at the 31:20 mark in the video below, the front and rear gigacast halves of the Cybertruck are used as crush cans with crumple zones built in. Shattering the Cybertruck's gigacast halves to protect passengers during a collision, though, results in an extremely high repair cost for insurers.

In the UK, companies refused to insure or slapped very high premiums on the Model Y as its gigacast rear was very pricey to repair or replace after an accident. Tesla had to redesign the piece and offer the Model Y's gigacast section to repair shops at cost together with replacement tutorials, in order to mitigate the insurers' revolt there.

Something similar might be behind Geico's claims about the Cybertruck's repair costs as a reason for denying insurance renewal. Other US insurers seem to have caught on, too, as one potential Progressive customer found out. Coming from Geico, they got a new Cybertruck insurance policy rejection letter by Progressive.

Even when Geico takes Cybertruck PPA insurance, though, the premiums are rather prohibitive, with one owner saying they were quoted $3,185 for a six-month coverage period.

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