Geico confirmed to The Register that, despite rumors on social media over the weekend (or perhaps because of them), the US insurance firm is most definitely not canceling coverage on Tesla Cybertrucks.
The rumor appears rooted in a post on X this weekend from a user who claimed they had eight cars, a Cybertruck among them, "with amazing record," but that they weren't going to be a Geico customer anymore after the Musk-mobile insurance snub.
In a screenshot of the X post shared on Reddit (the original appears to have been deleted), a picture of an alleged letter from Geico states that the Cybertruck "doesn't meet our underwriting guidelines," and as such would have coverage terminated.
When asked about the veracity of the X post, Geico was succinct in its response to us: "GEICO has coverage available nationwide for the Tesla Cybertruck."
That, naturally, means one of two things: Either the original post, from an X user with little footprint on the platform and a four-month old account made the whole thing up, or there's more to the story.
It's not usually the latter, but it looks like that's the case this time.
When pushed for more detail, The Register was told that, yes - there were plans to scrap coverage on Cybertrucks, but it was never a blanket policy.
Concerned over the Cybertruck's gross weight (a measurement of the vehicle fully loaded with cargo and passengers) and the difficulty of repair shops in acquiring replacement parts, Geico planned to force Cybertruck owners on a case-by-case basis to switch from private passenger automobile (PPA) to commercial vehicle insurance if they wanted to keep their coverage.
Some customers have already received letters about the proposed change, potentially including the original poster that triggered the PR kerfuffle. Geico intends to reach out to all Cybertruck owners to clarify the plan, which, as we understand now, has been abandoned. Cybertruck PPA coverage is still available, we're told, and will continue to be offered.
Insuring the Cybertruck is, frankly, a big ask based on its track record after less than a year on roads.
Since delivering the first steel-plated behemoths in November 2023, Tesla has issued five safety recalls for the Cybertruck for everything from faulty windshield wipers, to malfunctioning backup cameras. Owners have reported plenty of quality issues with the vehicle as well, like rust forming on the supposedly "stainless steel" vehicle, and complete Cybertruck failure after going through a car wash.
"Lucky" Cybertruck early adopters also recently started getting Tesla Full Self Driving, raising more concerns for insurers: US regulators have accused Tesla of not including sufficient driver attentiveness controls in its vehicles, leading to a company-wide recall of around 2 million vehicles (via an over-the-air software patch) late last year to correct FSD software.
In the few days, FSD has been available for the Cybertruck, multiple owners have posted videos and writeups of Cybertrucks turning into traffic, running over medians, and generally acting unsafe - plenty of reasons not to insure the thing.
Whether Geico's decision to abandon forcing Cybertruck owners onto commercial insurance will change once this all blows over remains to be seen, but we'll definitely hear about it from grumpy Tesla fans if so. ®
Source: The register