Some Insurance Companies in St. Louis Refusing to Cover Kias and Hyundais Due to Theft
Due to significant increases in theft, major insurance companies such as State Farm and Progressive are refusing coverage to many Hyundai and Kia owners.
The massive jump in thefts — from 273 to 3,958 in St. Louis, representing an increase of 1,450% — is being blamed on a TikTok video showing exactly how to break into and drive off in many 2011-21 models of the South Korean-made vehicles using just a screwdriver and a USB charging cable.
Current Hyundai and Kia owners are experiencing huge increases in renewal premiums.
When Kia and Hyundai owners in the St. Louis area apply for a quote online, Progressive automatically issues a denial message: Based on the vehicle’s make and model, and high theft rates in the area, the company is unable to offer a policy. The same message is displayed for drivers in other areas of the country, where theft rates are high, according to Jeff Sibel, spokesperson for Progressive.
When Kia and Hyundai owners in the St. Louis area apply for a quote online, Progressive automatically issues a denial message: Based on the vehicle’s make and model, and high theft rates in the area, the company is unable to offer a policy. The same message is displayed for drivers in other areas of the country, where theft rates are high, according to Jeff Sibel, spokesperson for Progressive.
“I’ve been in this industry for 15-plus years. It’s hard to call a precedent for this,” Michael Barry, spokesperson for Insurance Information Institute, an organization that teaches consumer education, said this.
Some cities are now suing manufacturers for making it too easy to steal their cars. Yes, really.
Related: Who You Gonna Call (When the Cops Aren’t Allowed to Help You)?
Seattle is not focusing on increasing police presence in high theft areas or getting prosecutors to give maximum sentences to thieves. Instead, Seattle is suing Kia Hyundai and Kia for failing to make their products theft-proof.
Seattle City filed a lawsuit against automakers Kia Hyundai They claimed they did not install immobilizers to their vehicles, and thus disregarded public safety in order for them to be profitable. Those cars quickly became Easy targets for thievesAccording to the lawsuit, this caused a burden on law enforcement officials and other city officials and resulted in the city spending an unknown amount of money. Seattle’s lawsuit may not be the first against the automakers—other cities’ attorneys general has said they would consider suing the automakers—but it’s the largest so far.
Similar claims were made by other cities in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington. In the lawsuit, Seattle’s city attorneys allege that Kia and Hyundai knowingly refused to install immobilizers on their cars sold in the U.S. between 2011 and 2021 to boost profits. In 2015, 96% vehicles sold by other manufacturers had immobilizers. However, only 26% Hyundai and Kia vehicles were equipped. Hyundai and Kia’s vehicles were sold in other markets during that time period with the immobilizers because they were mandatory, but not in the U.S.
The “public safety issue” Kia and Hyundai made stealing cars too easy for kids, and they then had to chase them down by the police. Anyone should not sympathize with someone who is killed while committing an offense, except lefties who are looking to make a quick buck.
I don’t want to belabor the point. The information regarding the absence of immobilizers was not classified as national security. In 2014, I was thinking about buying a Kia. I heard about the deficiency back then — not that it influenced my decision not to buy one. But the suit is presupposing that someone wouldn’t buy a vehicle solely because of the lack of an immobilizer.
That’s a hard sell to a jury.
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