Recently, when some new energy car owners renewed their insurance, they found that the premium in the new year did not fall but rose, and the price was like buying stocks, one price a day.
On December 14, 2021, the China Insurance Industry Association issued the Exclusive Clauses for Commercial Insurance of New Energy Vehicles of the China Insurance Industry Association (trial implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the "Exclusive Clauses"). On December 27, the Shanghai Insurance Exchange officially launched the new energy vehicle insurance trading platform, and the first batch of new energy vehicle exclusive insurance products of 12 property insurance companies, including PICC Property & Casualty, Ping An Property & Casualty, and CPIC Property & Casualty, were listed.
It is reported that the "Exclusive Clauses" released this time are divided into the "Model Clauses for Commercial Insurance of New Energy Vehicles of the China Insurance Industry Association (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Model Clauses") and the "Model Clauses of the China Insurance Industry Association for Accident Injury Insurance of New Energy Vehicle Drivers and Passengers (Trial)". After the rate of the new energy vehicle commercial insurance model clause is switched, all newly insured and renewed new energy vehicles, including plug-in hybrid (including range extender) vehicles, pure electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, are uniformly insured by the Model Clauses for New Energy Vehicles (Trial) and no longer apply to the Model Clauses for Motor Vehicle Commercial Insurance of the China Insurance Industry Association (2020 Edition).
Premiums for high-end electric vehicles have risen significantly
Although the "New Energy Vehicle Commercial Insurance Benchmark Pure Risk Premium Table (Trial)" released by the China Association of Actuaries shows that the benchmark premium is basically flat, there are still many car owners who buy high-end new energy vehicles, especially Tesla owners, who complain that after the exclusive terms of new energy vehicle insurance landed, the premium increase was very obvious, and the premium was increased by several thousand yuan a day later.
Two months ago, Ms. Zhong in Beijing ordered a Tesla Model Y. On December 29, 2021, Ms. Chung mentioned the new car as she wished, but she was not happy to learn that the premium had just been raised. "Sales told me that the premium of Model Y a few days ago was still more than 7,000 yuan, and today it rose to 11,000, consulted several insurance companies, and the quotations were more than 10,000, which was not much different." Just a few days later, the premium rose by more than 4,000, which made people feel unbalanced, and they bought insurance for the fuel costs saved in a year. Ms. Zhong complained to reporters.
Another Tesla veteran car director, after reading the "Exclusive Terms", said that the terms are obviously more targeted, and it seems to be a larger scope than the original car damage insurance protection. However, many of the "Exclusive Terms" are additional risks, and there are many optional clauses, among which there are also many "routines". Now the coverage of fuel vehicle insurance is relatively complete, and the quotation of each family is similar. For car owners who have not been insured for many years, the current insurance price is very reasonable, and car owners can generally accept it. He said.
According to the "New Energy Vehicle Commercial Insurance Benchmark Pure Risk Premium Table (Trial)", the new energy vehicle benchmark premium = benchmark pure risk premium / (1 - additional expense rate), the additional cost rate of new energy vehicle insurance has dropped from 25% of traditional fuel vehicles to 15%, the benchmark premium has declined slightly compared with the current comprehensive reform, the overall decline of the three insurance and vehicle damage insurance has decreased by 0.8%, and the proportion of overall premium increase policies has increased from 18.3% in the previous round of testing to 20.7%.
Some industry experts estimate that nearly 80% of new energy vehicles use exclusive terms to insure car damage insurance and three insurances, and under the same conditions, the premium is flat or declining. At the same time, the price of cars below 250,000 yuan does not increase.
However, at present, the price of all Tesla models is more than 250,000 yuan, and the reporter found that after the implementation of the "Exclusive Terms", Tesla owners reacted particularly strongly to the increase in insurance prices. Taking Model Y as an example, the premium has risen by up to more than 6,000 yuan. The reporter saw in a new energy car owner forum that some car owners suspected that the premium had risen too much, and asked whether they could not go to the car damage insurance, but immediately some netizens reminded that the car damage insurance may face greater risks. Because Tesla and other high-end models use all-aluminum bodies, so the maintenance cost is high, in case of accidental accidents, you need to bear the maintenance costs yourself, which will be a lot of expenses.
There are many additional clauses to the Model Clauses
In fact, the research of relevant institutions on the exclusive insurance of new energy vehicles has lasted for many years, and the "Exclusive Clauses" have not been promulgated due to the huge difference between new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, the limited accumulation of relevant vehicle loss data, and the difficulty of determining the rate. However, with the rapid growth of new energy vehicle ownership, car owners' calls for the introduction of the "Exclusive Clause" are increasingly loud, which has obviously risen to the level of people's livelihood issues.
The reporter learned that there are many highlights in the "Model Clauses" released this time. First of all, in the main insurance liability, it clearly includes the loss of the body, battery and energy storage system, motor and drive system, other control systems and all other equipment at the factory, as long as it does not fall within the scope of exemption from the insurer's liability, the insurer is responsible for compensation in accordance with the insurance contract. In the causes of loss, it was deliberately emphasized that fires and burnings caused by accidents could also be compensated.
According to incomplete statistics, there have been more than 250 new energy vehicle fire accidents in the past three years, which are roughly divided into three situations: charging process, driving and parking. As can be seen from the main insurance liability of the exclusive clause, in the event of an accident, the liability for fire and combustion is already included. However, it should be noted that the Model Clauses point out in the exemption of liability that the vehicle "has its own quality defects" and "losses caused by external grid failures during charging" are not covered by the main insurance compensation.
New energy vehicle insurance includes 3 main insurances and 13 additional insurances
Secondly, 13 additional insurances were introduced in the Model Clauses, including additional external grid fault loss insurance, additional self-use charging pile loss insurance, and additional self-use charging pile liability insurance.
If the new energy vehicle market wants to maintain rapid growth, it is necessary to take a multi-pronged approach to protecting the rights and interests of car owners. After the new version of the "Provisions on the Responsibility for Repair and Replacement of Household Automobile Products" released this year, the relevant provisions of new energy vehicles were added to the insurance, so that the purchase and use of new energy vehicles were guaranteed from the legal level and commercial aspects, which greatly reduced the worries of car owners when buying cars.
The auto insurance reform has raised new issues for the industry
Nio Motors, which adheres to the high-end route, explained the impact of the implementation of the "Exclusive Clauses" at the NIO Day held on December 27 last year. The relevant person in charge of Weilai Automobile said that although the implementation of the situation is different in various places, the premium adjustment of Weilai models is not large overall, and Weilai Automobile will continue to pay attention to subsequent price changes. At the same time, he introduced that the pricing of WEILAI Automobile's "Service Worry-free Package" remains unchanged, and at the same time includes the corresponding protection content of the three additional insurances (external grid fault loss insurance, self-use charging pile loss insurance and self-use charging pile liability insurance) added to the "Exclusive Clauses".
The relevant person in charge of WM Automobile said in an interview with reporters: "In the case of flat or declining premiums, users have a service guarantee that is more suitable for new energy models, which is a good thing for users, and it is undoubtedly a promotion for the development of the new energy automobile industry." After the relevant terms and conditions were introduced, WM has begun to assist users to enjoy the protection of the policy for the first time. ”
According to the operation of the insurance industry in the first four months of 2021 released by the website of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the growth rate of motor insurance premiums fell by 6.86% year-on-year, accounting for 50.16%. Previously, there were media reports that as of the end of May 2021, the comprehensive cost ratio of auto insurance in the industry has risen to 99.5%, a new high in recent years, and it is only one step away from the industry loss. Industry insiders expect that with the gradual decline in premiums, the expansion of the scope of compensation, and the rise of insurance compensation rates, it will be more difficult for insurance companies to make profits through car insurance in the future.
Zhou Wei, head of the secretariat of the Auto Finance Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said bluntly that although the proportion of auto insurance revenue in the property insurance income of insurance companies is relatively large, in fact, the profits brought by auto insurance income to insurance companies are not high.
"From the perspective of the comprehensive reform trend of automobile insurance, the insurance rate of new energy vehicles will gradually decrease, but the actual situation is that the amount of compensation for new energy vehicles is not low, so in the future, insurance companies will choose brands to cooperate, and brands with too high compensation amounts may not be able to find insurance companies to underwrite." Zhou Wei said, "For car dealers, although the rebates they get after the reform have shrunk, they must also embrace the trend." First, the transformation to refined management, second, actively carry out business innovation, third, participate in the construction of new energy vehicle channels, and fourth, keep their own customer base. ”
Maintenance companies face great opportunities and challenges
The staff of a Tesla cooperative after-sales store told reporters that now insurance companies have significantly reduced the amount of fixed losses in order to reduce losses, so it is becoming more and more difficult for after-sales companies to make profits. The oem set a fixed price for accessories, but the insurance company's fixed loss amount was reduced, and the store profit margin was compressed. For example, the original price of a piece of paint is 1300 yuan, and now the loss can only be given 1100 yuan, spray a piece of paint will earn 200 yuan less, and the overall output value of the store has dropped significantly.
Wang Hao, CEO of Coppola Auto Consulting Services (Qingdao) Co., Ltd., said that the landing of the "Exclusive Terms" of new energy vehicle insurance can basically solve the problems of inaccurate and untargeted services of insurance companies. For independent maintenance enterprises, the biggest opportunity brought by new energy vehicle insurance is that relevant professional service agencies can intervene in the detection and maintenance services of new energy vehicles. In order to control the cost of compensation, insurance companies are bound to change the previous model of vehicle assembly "replacing repairs", and independent maintenance enterprises will obtain better business opportunities if they have the corresponding technical authorization and professional capabilities.
He said that from the perspective of revenue, the traditional car insurance premiums of various insurance companies have been difficult to increase, and with the rapid growth of new energy sales, new energy vehicle premiums have become the main driving force for increasing the scale of premiums. From the perspective of risk control and claims, due to the short development time of the new energy vehicle market, the accumulated amount of data is small, especially the data of private cars, focusing on long-term development, all insurance companies also need to grasp business data through business development, especially compensation data, to lay the foundation for future development. From the perspective of competition, the main engine factory will become the main competitor with the insurance company for premium (2C service) in the future, the insurance company has the insurance regulatory commission policy restrictions, the next main engine factory channel monopoly, user interception, data blockade, in fact, more embarrassing, need to take the initiative.
Wang Hao pointed out that it is worth noting that the introduction of the "Exclusive Clause" has provided an opportunity for OEMs to develop their own insurance products, which will be the trend of the times in the future. The role of the original distribution channel will be further weakened, and more will become the executor of the oem in the terminal links such as receiving customers and delivering vehicles.
For car owners, new energy vehicle insurance provides personalized additional insurance that is more suitable for actual use scenarios, such as charging pile loss insurance, charging pile liability insurance, power grid fault loss insurance, etc., fully taking into account the various situations and needs of new energy vehicles in use. However, it should be noted that additional insurance types need to be purchased additionally. In particular, the special clause of value-added services for new energy vehicles lists the service of road rescue, vehicle testing, driving agent, and inspection that provides more complete road rescue, vehicle testing, and inspection in traditional car insurance as additional insurance types that need to be purchased separately. These will increase the cost of guaranteed purchase for new energy vehicle users.
Whether the new energy used car market will be affected
This year, subsidies for new energy vehicles will decline, and the cost of captive insurance will rise, directly pushing up the cost of consumers to buy new energy vehicles. In this regard, Zhang Yanwei, chief operating officer of Tiantianpai Car, believes that in the short term, after the implementation of the exclusive terms of new energy vehicle insurance, it is indeed a new consideration for potential buyers who are waiting and seeing new energy vehicles, especially price-sensitive people. However, in the long run, the development of new energy vehicles is already the trend of the times, consumers are more concerned about the upgrading and iteration of new energy vehicle performance, such as intelligence, convenience, energy saving and other advantages of significant enhancement, which will offset the negative impact of rising premiums, coupled with the rise in scale, the zero ratio of new energy vehicles will also be expected to gradually decline, then the premium may also be reduced.
Zhang Yanwei further pointed out that according to the "2021 Annual Used Car Online Auction Data Report" released by Tiantian Auction Car, the transaction scale of new energy used cars last year was expanding rapidly, and the annual transaction volume of new energy used cars increased by 65% year-on-year. The replacement cycle of new energy vehicles is shorter than that of fuel vehicles, and 43.3% of new energy vehicles will be sold in less than 3 years, so the replacement cycle also means more active circulation for the second-hand car market. This time, the impact of the increase in the premium of new energy vehicles on the second-hand car market is minimal, and there will be a slight reduction in the transaction price within 3 to 6 months at most. Because new purchasing factors have emerged, affecting the decision of the crowd who are still waiting and watching new energy vehicles, resulting in delays or reductions in purchasing behavior, the price of second-hand cars may fluctuate slightly.
Text: Chen Meng Editor: Jiao Yue Layout: Li Peiyang