Owners of Range Rovers living in London are finding their vehicles are becoming uninsurable owing to a combination of sky-high premiums and a reduction in the number of firms willing to insure them.
According to the DVLA, in 2022 Range Rovers were the second most stolen cars in the UK, with over 5200 taken. A lot of them were stolen in London with the result that many insurers, hit by mounting claims, have either stopped insuring the cars or sharply increased premiums.
Land Rover itself no longer offers insurance for its models, its website informing customers that it ceased to do so on 1 November 2022. A spokesperson for the company said that it and insurance provider Verex had mutually agreed to end their partnership but that it is preparing to launch ‘an exciting new insurance proposition’.
Autocar was altered to the difficulties by reader Dan Adler. The investment specialist, who lives in North London, realised there was an issue when trying to insure his inbound Range Rover P440e Autobiography, which he ordered 12 months ago.
Adler, who through a broker already insures four vehicles, including a valuable classic car, said: “My insurance premium for them all has just increased from £4000 to £5000 but my broker has now also told me my current insurer is unwilling to insure the new Range Rover, while another would charge an additional £6000 for it, taking my total premium to £11,000. This has made my purchase impossible to contemplate.”
Brokers said Adler’s experience is not unique. Samuel Cise, director of Saxon Insurance, told of his problems trying to insure two Range Rovers registered to London addresses. “For one car we were quoted a £20,000 insurance premium while for another, worth £50,000, we were quoted £38,000,” he said. “Many insurers have pulled out of insuring London-based Range Rovers.”
A spokesman for another specialist broker, who did not wish to be identified, said that among prestige cars, Range Rovers are alone in being quoted very high insurance premiums or even none at all. “The reason is the model’s popularity with thieves,” he said. “With cars such as Volvo XC90s or Porsches there is no problem.”