You Could Be Denied Insurance Coverage in Indiana if You Drive These Vehicles
Major insurance companies are denying coverage for folks who drive certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
Last year, we shared some news with you about why certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles are being stolen so frequently. The "Kia Boys" viral videos sparked a lot of concern for drivers of these vehicles. This viral trend goes back to a defect linked to Kias and Hyundais made in 2015 and up. These vehicles don't have an engine immobilizer, an electronic security device that makes it hard to start a vehicle without a key. According to Fox 9:
If you strip the ignition column, there's a piece that pops off and you can stick a USB drive, a knife, or something like that. Well, think about how many people charge their cell phones in their cars. The exact part they need to steal that car is featured in most people's cars.
Kia and Hyundai have both responded to this defect, and now engine immobilizers are now standard on all Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Both companies are developing security software for vehicles that were not originally equipped with an immobilizer. Still, many who drive these vehicles not only have to worry about the possibility of their vehicle being stolen, now they might have to worry about getting insurance coverage as well.
Insurance Companies Denying Coverage on Certain Kia and Hyundai Vehicles
Due to the rise in thefts of Kia and Hyundai cars — specifically, many of the 2011 to 2021 models including Kia Souls and Sorentos and Hyundai Tucsons and Elantras, some big-name insurance companies have announced that they're taking action on the increased theft numbers of these two automobile companies...by not writing new policies in certain cities.
According to CNN, State Farm and Progressive have stopped writing policies in some cities on Hyundai and Kia models. While neither company has said which cities specifically, two confirmed include Denver, Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri. Here are statements made by both insurance companies via CNN:
State Farm:
"State Farm has temporarily stopped writing new business in some states for certain model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles because theft losses for these vehicles have increased dramatically. This is a serious problem impacting our customers and the entire auto insurance industry."
Progressive:
Given that we price our policies based on the level of risk they represent, this explosive increase in thefts in many cases makes these vehicles extremely challenging for us to insure. In response, in some geographic areas we have increased our rates and limited our sale of new insurance policies on some of these models.
It's unclear, at this moment, if any other insurance companies have or will follow suit with denying policies for drivers of these vehicles. If you do drive any of the Kia and Hyundai vehicles involved in this matter, it would be wise to check with your insurance agency to make sure that you can still be covered or if you need to go through another company to gain coverage.
(H/T- CNN)
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