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Progressive and State Farm, two of America’s largest auto insurers, are refusing to write policies in some cities for some older Hyundai and Kia models that are too easy to steal, the companies said.

According to multiple reports, the companies have stopped insuring these vehicles in the cities of Denver, Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri. The insurance companies did not tell CNN which cities or states were involved.

The Highway Casualty Data Institute released insurance claims data last September that verified the identity of various social media accounts. In the year 2015 to 2019 Hyundai and Kia models are twice as expensive as other vehicles of the same age. because of Many lacked some of the basic anti-theft technology included in most other vehicles of those years. Like HLDI.

Notably, these SUVs and cars don’t have electronic immobilizers, which connect to a computer chip inside the car and another key to make sure the key belongs to that vehicle. If the right key is not present, the immobilizer must do this – stop the car from moving.

Immobilizers were standard equipment on 96% of vehicles sold for the 2015-2019 model years, according to HLDI, but only 26% of Hyundais and Kias had them. At that time. Vehicles with push-button start systems have immobilizers instead of supporting metal keys that must be entered and turned, but not all models with rotary switches do.

It happened to steal these vehicles A social media trend in 2021, like HLDI, is when car thieves start posting videos of their theft and joy rides and how they steal the cars. In Wisconsin, where the crimes are most prevalent, claims for theft of Hyundais and Kias rose more than 30 times in 2019 dollars.

“State Farm has temporarily stopped writing new business for certain model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in some states because theft losses on these vehicles have increased significantly,” the insurer said in a statement to CNN. it is.”

Progressive is dropping warranties on these cars in some markets, spokesman Jeff Sibel said in an emailed statement.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen theft rates more than triple for certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles, and in some markets these vehicles are 20 times more expensive than other vehicles,” he wrote. “If we price our policies based on the amount of risk they represent, this explosion of theft in many cases makes it more challenging for us to insure these vehicles. In response, we have increased our rates in some geographic areas and limited our new insurance policies on some of these models.”

Progressive will continue to insure people who already have policies with the company, he said. Progressive is giving them advice on how to protect their vehicles from theft.

Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, said it’s rare for auto insurers to stop writing new policies on a particular make or model of vehicle.

“They generally want to expand their market share based on where they do business,” he said.

Hyundai and Kia operate as separate companies in the United States, but Hyundai Motor Group owns a large stake in Kia, and various Hyundai and Kia models share much of their engineering.

Engine immobilizers are standard on all Kia and Hyundai vehicles, the companies said in separate statements. Both automakers said they are developing safety software for non-stationary vehicles first. Kia says it has begun notifying owners of the software, which is available at no charge.. Hyundai says a free software update will be available next month.

Hyundai also said it is giving away free steering wheel locks to some police departments around the country to provide local residents with easily stolen Hyundai models. Hyundai dealers are also selling and installing safety equipment for the vehicles, the company said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the price of Hyundai’s safety kit.

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