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The consulting firm Fact&Figures expects a sharp increase in car insurance premiums for certain vehicles in 2023: SUVs, electric cars and hybrid vehicles.
Par MoneyVox,
Expensive vehicles, over-equipped in terms of electronics, and spare parts whose prices soar: here is the explosive cocktail at the origin of a potential explosion of car insurance premiums for some vehicles. More specifically, SUVs, hybrid vehicles and electric cars are affected. What should the growing number of owners of these vehicles expect?
The increase in the number of SUVs in the car fleet is a problem for insurers
According to insurance consultancy Fact&Figures (F&F), 42% of new vehicles registered in 2021 were SUVs. A very large proportion, to which must be added electric and hybrid vehicles, which are also very popular. However, the increase in the representation of these vehicles in the French car fleet poses a major problem for insurers: repairs are costing them more and more.
In question ? Over-equipped vehicles, in which electronics are omnipresent, and which are therefore more expensive to repair. This risk, insurers therefore have no choice but to pass it on to their policyholders. If the average increase estimated by the firm Fact & Figures should be 3 to 5% over 2023, this increase should be done with “a stronger intensity” for SUVs and hybrid or electric vehicles, compared to traditional sedans and city cars.
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Spare parts are getting more and more expensive.
The prices of spare parts needed to repair damaged vehicles are constantly rising, necessarily impacting the budget of insurance companies… and therefore that of motorists through their car insurance contributions. For example, the price of windshields has increased by 8% between 2021 and 2022. A price also boosted by increasingly large windshields, and sometimes supplemented by panoramic glass, which is particularly costly when replacing.
The price of left-hand front mirrors on the driver’s side also jumped by 7.7% over the same period… and 11% for SUVs! Same story for bumpers, with +6.8% on average, all vehicle categories combined, but +10.5% for SUVs alone. Associated with the increase in the cost of labour, these increases in the price of spare parts explain the need for insurers to change the pricing of their auto insurance contracts.
Does the solution lie in second-hand spare parts?
To overcome the problem of the cost of new spare parts, insurance companies can sometimes resort to the use of reused parts. In other words: used spare parts. Bumpers, rear-view mirrors, bodywork… this possibility makes it possible to reduce the cost of repairing a vehicle, but is still underused according to France Assureurs, and would represent “only 3% of the parts replaced within the framework of claims covered by insurers”, with nevertheless strong differences according to the age of the vehicle, this figure climbing up to 20% for vehicles over 15 years old.
However, this option is more virtuous, particularly in terms of ecology and environmental issues. However, it is still not enough to stem the problem of the cost of repairs encountered by insurance companies. The comparator Assurland thus expects an increase ranging from 2.5 to 3% for car insurance contributions in 2023: “The price of spare parts shows an average increase of 10% against 2.2% in 2021 and that of repairs 3.5% over the last twelve months”.