Insurer to give hybrid owners a 10% break

The Tribune writer Jim Mateja reports that Travelers Insurance will give hybrid owners a 10% break. Greg Toczydlowski, senior VP for Travelers, is spearheading this initiative. He says he got his idea from pumping gas when another customer pulled in with a gas/electric hybrid. The customer filled his tank and left; the insurance man was still pumping gas into his SUV.

So here's the idea: research hybrid owners to determine whether they should qualify for different insurance rates. According to Toczydlowski,

"We did some research into hybrid owners, how they drive and how they use their vehicles and found they are lower risk, very responsible motorists in the 40- to 60-year-old age bracket," he said, people who generally don't speed or get into or cause accidents."

This initiative is a superb example of how the market can work for the consumer and hopefully, my insurance company will follow suit (I own a hybrid, so this is of particular interest to my wallet). Unfortunately, it probably won't in Massachusetts. The state regulators will never let insurance go to the market place, and owners in the state will continue to pay some of the highest insurance rates in the country, along with our fellow citizens in the Garden State.

This might inspire the automobile companies to step it up in hybrid vehicle production. Maybe we will see some jobs come back. Let's hope so.