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Nissan LEAF Flex insurance?

3K views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  Roger Bamforth 
#1 · (Edited)
Sure I've seen this before on here. My insurance last year covered me for the car and battery, I explained it all and they said it was fine. My renewal this year is SCARY.

So I take a trip to Go Compare and enter the vehicle registration and get some lovely quotes, about half the price of my current insurer. But can I be confident the automatic number-plate system will provide ediquat cover for Flex and the battery?

Any tips, recommended insurers and such? I thought it would be easier this year and certainly don't want to pay the renewal quote I've been given!


**** Edit 24th June 2014 ****

The only insurer I could find who would say they cover the car and battery and seemed to get "flex" was LV= so I'm now insured with them. Feel free to read on below to look at how long it took to get there, including many calls to Nissan and Nissan Insurance/Finance, none of whom could help.
 
#2 ·
Our Leaf Flex is insured with LV. The person I spoke with seemed to understand that both the car and battery needed insurance and told me both would be covered. I never double checked the fine print.

Saga also understood Flex plan and were not able to provide cover. They referred me to a specialist insurer with a "special" price.
 
#4 ·
They don't insure the shell for losses. We are leasing that part too. :)

Flex plan covers the battery though a warranty but not for theft or accidental damage.
 
#6 ·
I'll be interested to see how this pans out. I'm insured with Admiral and their website had both Leaf Acenta and Leaf Acenta Flex on it so I assumed they knew what "Flex" means. I thought the price was quite reasonable.

After I'd had the car for a few months I got a letter with the small print about the battery rental from Nissan which includes a clause more or less saying "if it's wrecked we'll want £5000, so make sure it's insured".

I've kept meaning to write to Admiral to confirm that the battery is conered but haven't yet got round to it. Maybe I should.
 
#8 ·
I bought the whole car on hire purchase.. presumed my insurance with Direct Line covers damage and theft of any part of the vehicle including the battery, the gap insurance covers the difference between what they payout and replacement vehicle. IMO leasing the whole car is better than leasing the battery separately because at any point I can decide to purchase my car outright where as you can never do that on a Flex plan.. also I'm not limited by mileage or have to renew the lease every 1,2 or 3 years.
In the UK the climate should ensure we never loose more than 20% capacity before 100,000 or 10 years is up.. when does the flex rental actually do you any good i.e. replace old for new?
 
#10 ·
So far I've got online quotes using the reg where possible. When called to check with the Alianz and the AA (who happen to use the Alianz) they don't cover the battery so say to reduce the car value by the battery value and get insured elsewhere...

But they can't say where.

Tweeted the Nissan LEAF UK team to see if they can help. Insurance runs out tonight. Might have left this a bit tight!
 
#11 ·
Decided to just call Nissan customer services direct.

They spoke to the EV team at Nissan.

They said they've never heard of this requirement and didn't know of any insurers to recommend, asked where I'd heard you had to insure the battery "separately".

Explained not so much "separate" but had to be fully insured either alone or as part of overall insurance for its correct value and insurance companies I've spoken to don't cover the battery as a stand alone item, in fact they seem to want to exclude it entirely.

Transferred to Nissan finance to see if they can help, waited for a while and gave up to go get a cup of tea... this could take a while (and a fair bit of stress).
 
#12 ·
Called Nissan's dedicated EV helpline as the insurance didn't seem to be getting any answer.

They told me to call a "dedicated" RCI finance number.

They said Nissan should know, they don't know, they only do the finance and not the insurance side of things but they will look into this, they're going to call me back.

No work getting done today!
 
#13 ·
Called LV= or whatever it is Liverpool Victoria call themselves these days.

They confirmed on the phone they WILL cover both car and battery. Music to the ears of @andrew*debbie perhaps.

I'd love to make a list of companies that say "yes", however I don't want to look like I or Speak EV endorse anyone in case they turn out "bad" in a claim.
 
#15 ·
This is interesting as been involved in an accident recently. Insurance wasn't tragic with CIS (co-op) £320 a year for 2 of us, when I mentioned the battery they said it would be covered as part of the vehicle contents of up to £5k. They said I didn't need any specialist cover, I got a letter too to confirm it!
 
#17 ·
The odd thing is this (would appear to be) contractual only. My CAR is insured, driving without insurance is an offence, but driving without your battery insured? Probably not. Most insurers PROBABLY don't know about this and will just fix it/replace it as if it's all one and the same.

There are clauses in the contract which do say you MUST inform the insurer the battery is owned by RCI and we lease it.

If you have a damaged battery, you must get it repaired to "Nissan dealer standards" and if you have a total loss you have to tell RCI (and other actions after that I wont go through).

It's overly complex if you ask me.
 
#18 ·
The issue is not that the battery isn't insured - it is the complication is had its own value and a separate party with an insurable interest.

As it stsnds, if your car is unrepairable, the price paid out us what THEY deem the value of the car is, not car+battery.

This means if the battery isn't yours any cash settlement will not cover the value RCI place on it. The car will deprecate faster than the battery, so standard policies will be seriously deficient.
 
#19 ·
The issue is not that the battery isn't insured - it is the complication is had its own value and a separate party with an insurable interest.

As it stsnds, if your car is unrepairable, the price paid out us what THEY deem the value of the car is, not car+battery.

This means if the battery isn't yours any cash settlement will not cover the value RCI place on it. The car will deprecate faster than the battery, so standard policies will be seriously deficient.
Additionally if you don't tell the insurer your car and battery are owned by different people or have different ownership models they could, in theory, invalidate your insurance as you haven't given them full and accurate information.

Most people I'm sure will carry on regardless in blissful ignorance, but it is none the less a potential minefield.
 
#22 ·
You've possibly asked the wrong question? Yes, your insurance 'covers the battery' as it does the boot lid and wheels - however the question to ask are:

(a) Have you noted the insurable interest of RCI Finance, and their value will be met in full in case of total loss?

(b) In the case of total loss, will your settlement figure be based on market value PLUS the battery cost, or the former figure alone?

It is the definition of 'cover' that needs to be clarified.
 
#24 ·
Treasure the letter very carefully as it may be very important should the unthinkable happen. As you can appreciate, the insurable interest of a third party isn't 'normal' and if there's room for them to misunderstand, they will.

The RAC confirmed only the market value would be paid, it was up to me to pay off the battery from the settlement figure THEY calculated - my stated values were inconsequential.
 
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