Electric Car Chat

A clear guide to EV insurance extras—and which to skip

• Graham Hill • Season 2 • Episode 12

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Sticker shock doesn’t just happen on the forecourt—it shows up in the extras you’re offered at the last minute. We unpack the maze of car insurance add‑ons for electric vehicles and sort the meaningful protections from the padded upsells, bringing real‑world context to GAP options, extended warranties, and why windscreens with sensors can turn a “simple” crack into a budget‑busting repair. Along the way, we share the three questions that cut through the noise so you can buy with confidence.

You’ll hear how depreciation and finance terms change the case for GAP, what a good EV warranty must cover (power electronics, onboard charging, BMS and labour rates), and how breakdown policies treat running out of charge, recurring 12‑volt issues and distance limits to EV‑competent garages. We weigh the maths on alloy and tyre insurance for heavier, high‑torque EVs, compare SMART repair cover to paying per fix, and reveal the costly traps around glass claims—recalibration, excess hikes, and lease return rules that reject “legal” chip repairs within the wiper sweep.

We also dive into paint and interior protection versus independent detailers and DIY ceramics, key protection overlaps with home or breakdown insurance, and the fine print on excess protection, legal expenses, personal accident, and European travel cover. Then we zoom into EV‑specific products: home charger insurance and installation disclosure, cable theft and trip‑hazard liability, early‑lease safeguards, and when a service pack beats pay‑as‑you‑go for software checks, brake inspections and battery coolant. To cap it off, we flag the higher Insurance Premium Tax often applied to dealer‑sold add‑ons so you can compare direct alternatives on a true like‑for‑like basis.

If you’re buying or leasing an EV soon, this guide helps you spend where it matters and skip what doesn’t. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s car‑shopping, and leave a quick review telling us the one add‑on you’d keep—and the one you’d drop.

To buy a copy of Electric Cars - The Truth Revealed visit grahamhilltraining.com. Buy the current copy and receive the totally updated version in early 2026. If you are interested in sponsoring this podcast or would be interested in working together please visit grahamhilltraining.com/contact


Hi, I’m Graham Hill, author of Electric Cars – The Truth Revealed. In today’s episode of Electric Car Chat, we’re going to take a deep dive into the extra insurance products and add-ons that you’re often offered when buying a new or used car. 

These can range from very useful protections to products that duplicate cover you may already have, or that simply aren’t worth the money. My aim is to help you understand each product so you can make an informed decision, particularly when it comes to electric vehicles where some of the risks and costs are very different from petrol and diesel cars.

Let’s start with GAP insurance, which stands for Guaranteed Asset Protection. This is one of the most common add-ons and it covers the difference between what your car insurer will pay, if your car is written off, and what you originally paid or still owe. 

There are three types of GAP insurance. Return to Invoice GAP pays the difference between the insurance payout and the original purchase price of the car. Finance GAP pays off any outstanding finance if your insurance payout doesn’t clear the debt. Particularly useful if you have the vehicle on a lease. And Replacement GAP covers the difference so that you can buy a brand-new equivalent car, even if the price has increased since you bought yours. 

GAP insurance can be particularly relevant for electric vehicles because some models can depreciate steeply in the first few years. But you need to check whether it’s necessary in your circumstances and also whether your finance agreement already offers a degree of protection. For example some insurance policies will replace your written off car with the cost of a new replacement during say the first 12 months. I’ve produced a complete podcast on GAP insurance so please go back through the episodes for a more detailed explanation.

Another product you’ll often be offered is an extended warranty. This kicks in when the manufacturer’s warranty expires and can give you peace of mind. But with electric vehicles it’s crucial to check what’s actually covered. You need to ask whether it includes expensive items like the electronics, the charging system, the battery management system and even the infotainment touchscreen. Some warranties exclude these. You also need to check claim limits and whether labour rates at electric vehicle-specialist garages are included. Extended warranties can be valuable, but the exclusions are just as important as the inclusions. I’ll talk more about warranties in a future podcast.

Breakdown cover is another common add-on. Most new cars come with some cover, but electric vehicle drivers should look carefully at the details. Not all breakdown policies cover running out of charge, for example. Some will tow you to the nearest charger, while others exclude it entirely. A handful of companies can offer mobile charging that can give you a top-up on the roadside from their specialist charging vans, but this is far from universal. 

You should also check if the cover has callout limits, especially if the same fault keeps happening, like a recurring 12-volt battery problem. Some providers will refuse further assistance after a certain number of callouts or more likely they will start to charge you for the callout if you’ve reached or exceeded the maximum callouts on that fault. Distance restrictions are another issue: some breakdown policies will only tow you to the nearest approved garage, which might not even have EV expertise.

Let’s talk about alloy wheel and tyre insurance. Kerbing an alloy or hitting a pothole is easily done, and repairing or replacing tyres and alloys on electric vehicles can be costly because they’re often larger, wider, and designed to handle the extra weight and torque, that’s acceleration to you and me. 

This type of insurance can cover the cost of repairs or replacements, but you need to weigh up the premium against how often you think you’ll realistically need it. If you lease your car you’ll be charged for damaged alloys when you hand the car back at the end of the agreement, so you need to consider the likely charge at the end of the contract versus the insurance cost.

When it comes to tyre cover check the policy for limitations. If you take out a 12 month policy you will often be charged per tyre but you could be restricted to say 3 to 5 puncture repairs and one replacement tyre during the 12 months. That’s one replacement tyre per tyre covered. Check also for malicious damage repair or replacement. These policies don’t usually cover the replacement of worn tyres. 

If your car is on contract hire or lease you will normally have the option to include full maintenance which can include tyre cover but not normally alloy repairs. The tyre cover within the full maintenance will include tyre replacement due to wear and tear along with puncture repairs but not accidental damage caused through say a collision or hitting a pothole. Check for restrictions. Also check the terms regarding tyre replacement, make sure that you can replace EV tyres with EV tyres not the same size standard tyres.

SMART insurance, which stands for Small and Medium Area Repair Technology, covers minor scratches, dents, or scuffs to the bodywork or interior. These might not be serious enough to claim on your main policy, but they can cost you money if you’re returning a leased car. SMART insurance can be handy to keep your car looking good, but again, consider whether you’d be better off just paying for the odd repair yourself and check for restrictions on the dimensions of the damage and number of claims a year. There are a number of mobile SMART repairers that can repair damage at the side of the road without it costing you a fortune.

Glass cover is something many people assume is included, and often it is. But with electric vehicles, windscreens can cost thousands to replace because the vehicles often contain cameras, sensors and heating elements, some of which need re-calibration. Some insurers are considering moving windscreen claims from separate glass cover to general accident cover, which means a much higher excess and possibly an impact on your no-claims discount. Always check how your glass is covered.

With the cost of replacing a windscreen in an electric car, including the recalibration of sensors and cameras, around £2,400, if you have a leased car and there is a chip in the eyeline, normally described as the sweep of the windscreen wipers, you may be offered a repair by the screen replacement fitters. They will normally carry this out without you being charged an excess and the repair will prevent cracking and will be perfectly legal. But your lease contract may say different and won’t accept repairs within the eyeline leaving you with a hefty bill to pay after the car has been returned. 

Had you paid the £100 or so excess and had the windscreen replaced you could have saved a fortune because of course you can’t make an insurance claim once the car has been returned to the leasing company.

You could call the finance company’s customer services and send a picture over with a ruler below the chip and ask if they would accept a repair rather than a windscreen replacement. Make sure that you get their agreement in writing. Finally, on this subject, a windscreen replacement claim is still a claim so when you take out a new car policy and they ask if you have had any insurance claims over the last, say 5 years, you must declare any windscreen replacements. If you don’t your insurance could be invalidated. The insurance company may ask for details of claims over the last 5 years, excluding glass replacements but if they don’t exclude glass then make sure that you declare any claims. 

Paint protection is another product dealers love to push. It’s basically a sealant applied to the paint to help keep it shiny and make it easier to clean. While it can be useful, dealers often charge a lot more than independent detailers, who can do the same or better job for less. Or, given some new products available with stunning results you could do it yourself. 

Along with paint protection some will offer interior protection which could be especially useful in electric cars if the driver and passengers are likely to spend more time in the car eating and drinking whilst waiting for the car to charge. Whether you have cloth, leather or leather look seats a protective coating could avoid staining which could cost a substantial amount to repair or replace. This is particularly important if the car is leased. Repairing or replacing badly damaged seats in electric cars with heating, cooling and even massage modes can be very expensive.

Key protection insurance covers the cost of replacing lost or stolen keys, including smart keys and keyless entry cards, which can cost hundreds of pounds to replace. It can also include specialist locksmith services if you can’t get into your car. 

Keyless cards that are often suppled with electric cars may look as though they should be cheaper to replace but, in practice, may cost more than a remote control which can cost several hundreds of pounds as more anti-theft circuitry is included. But before buying, check whether you already have key cover through your home insurance or breakdown cover. 

If you lease your car and you damage, lose or as one of my old customers experienced – their dog decided to chew the remote, you are required to return the car with all the keys supplied with the car. If you return the car with just one key, you will be charged for the missing key. So given the high cost it may be worth the small cost of KeyCover. This can be a small add-on to your car insurance or a stand-alone policy. 

Next on the list is Excess Protection Insurance which reimburses your excess if you have to make a claim. It sounds great, but you need to consider the cost of the premium against how likely you are to claim. If you rarely make claims, it might not be worth it. This could be a stand alone product or it could be included in other products such as GAP insurance and legal protection. So check if it’s included elsewhere.

Legal expenses, personal accident and PPI cover are also commonly offered. Legal cover helps with costs if you need to pursue or defend a claim, which I’ve explained in a separate podcast. Personal accident cover pays out compensation in the event of serious injury or death. Personal accident may also cover finance repayments. 

If you’re planning to take your electric car abroad, European travel cover is worth looking at. It is not compulsory to have European travel cover, just 3rd party cover whilst traveling in Europe. Most insurance policies will include this basic level of cover, some include fully comp at all times whilst others will include full European travel cover. Most insurers will provide European travel cover for an extra one-off payment or you can arrange separately to your car policy. You’ll need to check which countries are covered, how many days you’re insured for, and whether roadside assistance is included. Other areas to look out for are repatriation of your car back to the UK if it can’t be repaired, overnight accommodation if the car breaks down and tow and repair costs if the car can’t be repaired at the roadside. 

Unlike ICE cars, electric cars are unlikely to be repaired on the roadside as many engineers are not allowed to work on electric cars unless the car is isolated by someone qualified to do so. So, the car will probably need to be transported to an authorised dealer. Charging networks abroad can be patchy, so you need to know you’ll get proper support if you break down or run out of charge.

PPI, or Payment Protection Insurance, has a bad name because of past mis-selling, but variations of the product still exist. These products cover your finance or lease payments if you lose your job or become ill. For electric vehicle leasing, you might also see early lease termination cover, which helps if you need to return the car early due to illness, redundancy, or other life changes. Always read the exclusions carefully. Most, if not all policies won’t cover voluntary termination, only forced circumstances.

There are also some electric vehicle specific insurance products that are worth knowing about. Home charger cover is one. This ensures your wallbox charger is insured for damage, theft, or breakdown. Sometimes it’s included in your car insurance, sometimes in your home insurance, and sometimes it’s a standalone policy. Check to see if you’re covered. You may find that your home insurance covers your charger but ONLY if yo have told the insurance company that you’ve now got a charger fitted. Also, in the event that the charger breaks down you may have to show that the charger is approved and fitted by a qualified electrician. 

Charging cable cover is another — cables are expensive and can be stolen, damaged, or cause injury if someone trips over them. Battery protection insurance is less common but can cover you for accidental damage, fire, or flood beyond what’s included in the manufacturer’s warranty or your standard Fully Comp insurance.

Service pack is an addon often offered by main dealers and used car dealers. They can vary quite a lot. From covering just labour involved to service the car with you paying for the parts, through to labour and parts covered by the service schedule. It is generally much cheaper to service electric cars than ICE cars with very few moving parts. There is no engine coolant but there is coolant surrounding the battery that needs to be checked, with regenerative braking there is less wear on discs and pads but they still have to be checked. On the other hand software updates need to be checked and battery condition will checked in the future. Think very carefully before taking out a service pack. 

So those are the main add-ons you’ll come across. Some, like GAP insurance, glass cover, and charger protection, can be really valuable, especially with the higher costs involved in electric vehicles. Others might be unnecessary or duplicated elsewhere. My advice is always to ask yourself three questions: Do I really need it? Is it already covered elsewhere? And what are the exclusions? If you can answer those honestly, you’ll know whether the product is worth buying.

That’s it for today’s episode. I hope this breakdown of add-on insurance products helps you make smarter choices when buying your next electric car. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and check out my book Electric Cars – The Truth Revealed for more detailed insights into electric vehicle ownership by going to grahamhilltraining.com. Buy the book now and you’ll receive the totally rewritten book, when launched next year, free of charge. I’ve been Graham Hill and I’ll continue making a ruckus, Catch you on the next one, bye for now!