3+ years producing insurance and personal finance content
Main architect of the Insurify Quality Score
Courtney’s deep personal finance knowledge extends beyond insurance to credit cards, consumer lending, and banking. She thrives on creating actionable content.
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Tesla, originally Tesla Motors, started in 2003, and while the company is almost as famous as its CEO, Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were the original founders. They named the company after inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla.[1]
Tesla has gained notoriety for its electric cars. Because it also offers insurance policies, it’s a potential first choice for insuring your Tesla vehicle. Here’s what you need to know about Tesla auto insurance and whether it’s right for you.
Quick Facts
Tesla car insurance launched in 2019 but isn’t available in every state.
Tesla uses a telematics-based program to determine premiums in certain states.
Insuring a Tesla costs between $388 and $423 a month on average, according to Insurify data.
What is Tesla auto insurance?
Tesla entered the insurance industry in 2019, starting off in California.[2] Since then, it expanded to other areas and offers comprehensive coverage and claim management for Tesla owners in 12 states:[3]
Arizona
California
Colorado
Illinois
Maryland
Minnesota
Nevada
Ohio
Oregon
Texas
Utah
Virginia
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How does Tesla auto insurance work?
Tesla auto insurance uses a practice called real-time driving behavior in all states where it offers insurance, except California. Unlike other telematics-based programs, Tesla doesn’t require an additional device installed in your vehicle. Instead, it collects information using features that are already part of the vehicle.
Tesla determines auto insurance premiums based on your vehicle, driving behavior, address, mileage, coverage levels, and the vehicle’s Safety Score. The Safety Score is a mileage-weighted average determined by your driving behavior over 30 days.[3]
Tesla pros and cons
Pros
Premiums based on driving behavior and mileage instead of traditional factors
Potentially lower premiums for Tesla drivers
Telematics program integrates seamlessly with Tesla app
Cons
Limited discounts are available and vary by state
Available in only 12 states
Telematics program not available in California
Average cost of Tesla auto insurance
Insuring a Tesla costs between $388 and $423 a month on average, depending on the model. However, Tesla’s insurance policies are a relatively new product, so limited information is available. The best way to determine your Tesla auto insurance price is to get a quote or use a quote-comparison tool to see multiple quotes side by side.
Tesla car insurance coverage
Tesla car insurance offers limited additional coverage options, which may give pause to drivers who want extra protection for their electric vehicles. Furthermore, Tesla offers more than one optional add-on only in California. In other states, only gap coverage is available.
Here are the options California Tesla owners have for additional coverage with a Tesla insurance policy:[4]
Total loss deductible waiver: This coverage compensates you for the physical damage deductible if your vehicle is a total loss.
Collision deductible buyback: This covers the collision deductible if an at-fault uninsured or underinsured driver damages your vehicle.
The following coverage is available in all states where Tesla offers insurance:
Gap insurance: This Tesla car insurance option pays the gap between the actual cash value of your vehicle at the time of the incident and what you still owe on the vehicle. It’s subject to policy terms.
One advantage to having Tesla insurance over other insurance policies is that it offers an autonomous vehicle protection package with every policy. That includes coverage for damage to your wall charger, electronic key replacement, and cyber identity fraud. But it may not be perfect for everyone. If you want to work for a ridesharing service, you won’t receive coverage. Tesla doesn’t offer insurance for any type of driving where your vehicle needs commercial car insurance.
How to get a Tesla car insurance quote
You can request a quote for Tesla car insurance for a new Tesla before delivery. For all other customers, there’s no formal quote process.[2] Instead, you purchase insurance through the Tesla app and can cancel or change coverage anytime by contacting Tesla directly at 1 (844) 34-TESLA.[3]
Important Information
You can insure other vehicles with Tesla insurance, but only if you own a Tesla that you’ve insured through Tesla insurance. If you’re a current policyholder, you can add non-Tesla vehicles to your Tesla policy.[5]
Tesla car insurance discounts
When shopping for any car insurance, you should always look for discounts, and Tesla is no exception. It offers a few discounts that could bring your price down, and the company gives some discounts to all Tesla owners automatically, such as anti-theft device discounts and airbag discounts, since all Tesla cars are equipped with both.
Some of the discounts Tesla offers vary by state, so you may be eligible for the following, depending on where you live:[4]
Multi-car discount: If you have more than one Tesla, you’ll receive a discount.
Good student discount: This is only available in California. If you’re a full-time college student with good grades, you may qualify.
Group discount: If the Tesla owner is a Tesla employee, you can contact the insurer to add this discount to your policy.
Autopilot discount: Tesla will automatically apply this discount for Teslas with autonomous driving equipped.
Elite driver discount: If you don’t have any violations or at-fault accidents in the past five years, Tesla will automatically apply this discount.
Tesla insurance bundling options
Unfortunately, you can’t bundle insurance with Tesla since it only sells car insurance. But you can insure multiple cars with Tesla — they don’t even have to be Tesla cars — and you’ll receive a discount on your insurance. How much of a discount will depend on how Tesla rates you as a driver and may depend on the state you live in and whether you’re insuring two or more Teslas or other non-Tesla vehicles as well.
Tesla car insurance doesn’t have third-party customer satisfaction ratings from organizations like J.D. Power, but the car company’s strength as a business seems to be on relatively solid ground.
For instance, Moody’s Investor Research recently upgraded Tesla’s credit rating to Baa3, which is an improvement over where the company’s corporate debt was. Its credit outlook is now considered stable. The Moody’s reportstated that it expects “Tesla will remain one of the foremost manufacturers of battery electric vehicles with an expanding global presence and very high profitability.”
Tesla customer reviews
Unfortunately, because third-party companies haven’t reviewed Tesla’s customer service, you’re left to read customer reviews. And you won’t find many reviews on Tesla’s car insurance but rather, reviews on the car itself. Most Tesla customers seem to be annoyed about customer service, citing late or canceled deliveries and difficulties getting repairs for mechanical issues.
Tesla ratings
Third-party companies often rate insurance companies. Poor performance doesn’t necessarily mean a company is the worst, and high grades don’t always translate to a great customer experience for everyone. Still, these ratings can often tell you something about a company and help customers determine whether they want to work with them.
A.M. Best: A (Excellent)
Better Business Bureau: Not rated
Standard & Poor’s: BBB
Moody’s: Baa3
Tesla vs. other car insurance companies
Here’s how Tesla’s car insurance product stacks up against competitors.
Insurance Company
Liability Only
Full Coverage
A.M. Best
Insurify Quality Score
The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 criteria to objectively rate insurance companies on a one-to-five scale. The Insurify editorial team researches insurer data to determine the final scores.
Tesla
N/A
N/A
A (Excellent)
N/A
GEICO
$125
$178
A++ (Superior)
4.3
Liberty Mutual
$198
$284
A (Excellent)
3.8
Progressive
$161
$238
A+ (Superior)
4.0
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
Insurify uses an in-house, proprietary method to rate and review the best car insurance companies. The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 crucial criteria, including average premiums, customer satisfaction, discounts, third-party ratings, and more, to calculate a final score for a company.
Criteria are weighted by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings. With the IQ Score, Insurify is able to provide quantitative ratings for drivers to better compare car insurance companies and make informed decisions to meet their coverage needs.
Tesla vs. GEICO
GEICO, a long-established brand with a solid reputation, offers policyholders various coverage options, such as liability coverage, comprehensive coverage, collision coverage, medical coverage, and uninsured motorist coverage.
The main differences between Tesla and GEICO are that Tesla specializes in Teslas and nothing else, although it does insure non-Teslas. GEICO, unlike Tesla, also offers other types of insurance, including homeowners and pet insurance.
GEICO’s average liability-only rates are $125 a month, and the insurer had solid customer satisfaction ratings in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Auto Insurance Study.[6]
Tesla vs. Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual offers comprehensive, liability, and collision coverages. It has add-on coverages, such as better car replacement and accident forgiveness. If there’s a type of insurance, Liberty Mutual probably has it.
Comparatively, Tesla doesn’t have many of those add-ons and has fewer discounts than Liberty Mutual.
Liberty Mutual’s premiums are an average of $198 a month for liability-only coverage.
In any case, you could make arguments for going with Liberty Mutual instead of Tesla. If you use Liberty Mutual for your homeowners insurance, your other cars, or your pet, you may want to see if you can bundle your car insurance with your current insurance policy and get a lower rate.
Tesla vs. Progressive
Progressive offers liability, comprehensive, collision, personal injury protection (PIP), medical payments, and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages.
While Tesla has poor customer service reviews on Trustpilot, Progressive has slightly below-average J.D. Power ratings in multiple regions.[6] However, Progressive may still be a better option for insurance because of its various discounts and coverage options. Plus, customers can get a quote before they purchase a policy and use its telematics program, Snapshot, to potentially save on their premiums.
How to file an auto insurance claim with Tesla
An insurance claim is a request for financial compensation when you experience a loss with your vehicle, such as damage or theft. If you need to file an insurance claim with Tesla, here’s how:[7]
Use the Tesla app to report your incident. You can call customer service, but Tesla suggests that you use its app, which will guide you through the information you need to report an incident and file a claim. Tap “Account,” then “Insurance,” then “Manage,” and then “Claims.”
Submit the claim. Submit your claim in the Tesla app from the scene, or as soon as possible, so all the information is fresh. Send any photos you have to Tesla, showing any damage. If your car was stolen, you’ll want to submit the police report you filed.
Wait for next steps. You can contact Tesla’s rental car reservation service to request a rental car if your car is undrivable during the claims process. Meanwhile, an adjuster will review your claim and contact you with the results.
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Tesla insurance FAQs
You may have questions if you’re considering Tesla car insurance. Here are the answers to common queries about Tesla’s insurance product.
Is Tesla legitimate?
Yes. Despite Elon Musk’s somewhat controversial reputation, the actual company is very legitimate and generally has a very good reputation. Some recent class action lawsuits — including one involving investment fraud, one about privacy, and another about antitrust issues — haven’t helped its overall reputation though.
Is Tesla car insurance worth it?
It may be. Only you can decide that. If you own a Tesla and like the insurance premiums it offers and what the policy covers — and you feel it beats the competition — you’ll probably think it’s worth it. Tesla claims that its insurance is generally 20% cheaper than other policies, but again, you’ll want to compare policies for yourself.
What is the average cost of Tesla car insurance?
The average cost of a Tesla car insurance policy depends on the model, but rates of $388 to $423 a month are normal, according to Insurify data.
Who should get Tesla insurance?
Drivers with one or more Teslas should consider getting insurance from Tesla. While it likely won’t be difficult to get quotes from other insurers — and some of them may have better rates — you may find that it’s easier and less expensive to have your insurance policy with the company that makes your cars.
Is Tesla good at paying claims?
Yes. Tesla has an A.M. Best rating of an A, which means that it has an excellent chance to meet its ongoing insurance obligations.
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist who has written personal finance articles for most of his career and for numerous publications, including U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Bankrate, CNNMoney.com and Forbes.com. He is also the author of several books, including “C.C. Pyle’s Amazing Foot Race” and “Washed Away,” and writes a classic TV blog called “The TV Professor.”
3+ years producing insurance and personal finance content
Main architect of the Insurify Quality Score
Courtney’s deep personal finance knowledge extends beyond insurance to credit cards, consumer lending, and banking. She thrives on creating actionable content.
