Hi, this is Graham Hill. I'm the author of Electric Cars - The Truth Revealed and, as I said in many of these podcasts in the past, if you want to get a copy of that book, then it's an eBook which you can buy and download it by going to grahamhilltraining.com and paying just a few pounds. If you pay the upsell to get the training that will be coming out later in 2024, you can get it for just a few pounds which will be a lot cheaper than when we actually release it for several hundreds. So I hope you found the podcasts all about insurance and electric cars of interest. I haven't covered everything that's in the book, but I think I've covered most of the more important and relevant things when it comes to electric cars and insurance. There are a few other bits and pieces that we've included in the book that would be very, very useful to know. So it's still useful to get a copy of the book, because there are certain types of insurance products that I'll be talking about in the book. So it's useful to get the book especially if you are considering buying an electric car or you are already driving one.
What I want to do with this podcast is really just to summarize the subjects that we've covered in this series. So in the first one we talked about the need to check your insurance before you even order the car. Electric car insurance has been going up and up and up and if you've got any points on your license, especially if they're for speeding, and you're considering an electric car that has got a 0 to 60 time that is close to Formula 1 acceleration speeds, then you're likely to find it very, very expensive. People are talking in terms of thousands of pounds for their electric car insurance, even at renewal time if drivers have added three points to their license in the meantime, they're seeing the insurance cost skyrocket. So, as I’ve explained in the podcast, check your insurance beforehand. I've explained that in the first video and what you need to do. In the second video I covered off things that you need to incorporate into the policy. So there are things that you need to check to ensure that they’re included in the policy within the terms and conditions. So there are several items, one of which is quite frightening because they may be actually moving it from one area of insurance cover to another. You'll understand what I mean when you listen or watch the podcast. So it's very, very important to go through that podcast and make sure you've covered it off.
I've also spoken about taking an electric car through a flood. One myth-busting podcast was suggesting that it's okay to drive an electric car through a flood. You should always avoid driving through a flood irrespective of whether it's a petrol, diesel or electric car. I explain the reasons why and what could go wrong if you drive through a flood and how it can affect an insurance payout as a result of some accidental damage caused as a result of you driving through the flood and it's easy enough to do because you can't see underneath the surface of the water. So on the next one, specifically regarding electric cars, we've spoken about minor accidents that people have had, like slight dents and scratches to the battery casing after the car has accidentally driven over a pavement or over some rough ground resulting in the insurance company writing the car off rather than replace the damaged battery pack. I explained how you need to protect yourself in the event that this could happen with additional insurance. Especially if it happens soon after you buy the car. All explained in this section.
On the fifth podcast we discuss the implications of over the air updates and why you need to check for any mention of over-the-air updates in your policy. If you make a claim and you haven't done certain things regarding over-the-air updates the claim could be declined. In one example explained in the podcast Tesla introduced Polish into the list of languages available on the touchscreen. These updates can be done over the air without the need to return to the dealership. We warn that even if you notify the insurer about the update you could end up with an increased premium.
The next one, number six, we spoke about insurance products and IPT, which is Insurance Premium Tax, similar to VAT, but there are 2 rates depending on whether you took out the insurance via the dealer or via the Internet or broker. With a couple of exceptions there's two different rates that can be used and I explained when you're likely to be paying the higher rate. Very few people know about this and it can save you 8% on your insurance costs. So you need to know about this, not just the 8%, but how you can reduce the cost of insurance products even more than that if you do what I suggest. Insurance products include things like GAP insurance, warranty extension insurance, car insurance, alloy scuffing insurance these sorts of things that you need to have as a protection if you're taking out any form of finance, or even if you're not taking out the finance these products can be quite useful.
The next one is all about timing. There are certain times when you should be taking out your car insurance to get the lowest rate. I explain when to start getting quotes for the car and when to save the quotes in order to achieve the best premium. Most people tend to leave it to the last minute. That's the wrong thing to do. You can save about 40% of the cost of your insurance just by getting the timing right. So we cover that off in podcast number seven. In number eight, we talk about something that few people are aware of. It applies to warranties as well as insurance and can affect all cars, not just electric. It’s called betterment and can be very expensive as you end up paying a portion of the repair or replacement cost. This can be particularly expensive if the electric car battery is involved. You therefore need to check your policy for betterment clauses. So that's one you really must look at because if something goes wrong you could be in for a very hefty unexpected bill.
I then talk about free insurance. In podcast number nine we talk about the free insurance that could be given when buying a new car. It's a convenience really for the dealer so that they can get your car registered when you're ready to pick the car up. They have a simple procedure in place with an insurer who will issue a covernote allowing the dealer to seamlessly register the car. However, this convenience carries with it a number of dangers making it something I don’t recommend. I explain what you need to be very wary of when it comes to the free insurance. It's normally five or seven days. You might save yourself a few pounds by taking the free insurance but that saving can be very, very costly. I wrote a story for the Telegraph about free insurance and they published it. One of their readers said I was absolutely spot on after suffering a bad experience relating to the free insurance. I tell the story. When it comes to taking the free insurance I explain why I don’t recommend it.
And in the last one, the one before this, I talk about legal protection insurance. You can get it for a relatively small amount of money. You need to check all your different sources of potential legal protection and make sure you're covered for all eventualities. Everything you need to have covered in the event you have any problems with your electric car. These are new to the market. We don't know enough about electric cars yet and what happens over time and you may end up finding yourself in court or addressing a problem that requires some legal advice followed by some expensive legal action if you have a case. If you've taken out finance on the car you've got access to the free Financial Ombudsman Service, but he's not a legal entity. He's there to be an intermediary. If you need legal advice, then you need it from someone who's a proper lawyer and qualified as a lawyer. So therefore, you need to have this type of insurance. I've got an insurance policy that I've been using for many, many years. I've used it on occasions and it's been absolutely superb. So I tell you about that, and that it's a very small amount of money per annum, well worth the cost. So that's it. That wraps up the things I wanted to talk about regarding insurance.
Bear in mind, insurance is just one of about 50 different topics that we cover in the book and there's over 250 questions that we've prepared that will be answered in the book and through our soon to be launched chatbot. The chatbot will be available via our various partner companies consisting of, for example tyre distributors, tyre manufacturers, driving schools, breakdown services, insurance companies, windscreen repairers etc., there are all sorts of different companies that are associated with the EV industry, and they'll be installing this chatbot on their website. If you are a supplier and you are interested in taking part, go to grahamhilltraining.com/chatbot and you will be able to make an inquiry on there regarding how it can work and the likely costs and benefits. The fact is that we need more and more information out there to the general public if they are to transition to electric in the sort of numbers that we need them to. We'll be placing a logo on participant’s homepage to show that the public has access to all this information on a page of yours and they can use it to access any information on EV’s. If you're a seller of products that are related to the electric car industry, then you can have a page installed on your website. You can collect names and email addresses so that you can keep in contact with anybody that's made inquiries via your landing page. The information will include new additions and new developments in the EV industry. So that's it for now. If you want to download a copy of the book visit grahamhilltraining.com
We're going through a number of updates at the moment. So if you buy a book at the moment, you will receive a free updated version tomorrow. We're going through all the updates at the moment with the new version coming out in due course during 2024. You'll get the very latest version and then there'll be a new version coming out in 2025. But that'll be a little bit further down the line. So we'll make sure you've got all the up to date information that you need if you're going down that transition from petrol or diesel through to electric. We will also be sending out regular podcasts so make sure you are registered by going to grahamhilltraining.com/podcast or subscribing and following via the podcast distribution chanel you found this on.
I hope you found this electrifying and of interest and I hope it's opened your eyes to some of the questions that could be asked. It isn't all about range. It isn't all about affordability, which I'm going to be talking about in future podcasts, because I don't think there's enough being done to get the message across that electric cars are already affordable. You can actually spend less on an electric car than on a petrol or diesel car in certain circumstances, and these are the things you need to know. So we'll be putting that out on the podcast in due course. I hope you found this interesting. I'm all done. Thanks for listening and watching if you’re on YouTube. I'll catch you on the next podcast. We're going to be doing lots more, not just restricting it to this insurance set of podcasts. Bye for now.