Travelers has announced plans to implement a 10 percent discount on auto insurance for hybrid vehicle owners in the United States beginning in February 2006.
Travelers, part of the St. Paul Travelers company, is the first auto insurance company to begin implementing a discount for hybrid owners nationwide.
"Our preliminary research indicates that hybrid owners tend to fall into the preferred insured category, and at Travelers, lower risk drivers are rewarded with lower premiums," said Greg Toczydlowski, senior vice president of product management for Travelers.
"Additionally, hybrid vehicle sales have at least doubled every year since the first car was offered in the U.S. in 1999. This trend shows no signs of slowing, and Travelers intends to serve this growing market with innovative products to meet the changing needs of our customers."
There are almost 350,000 hybrid vehicles registered in the U.S. with most in California, followed by Virginia, Washington and Florida.
Los Angeles tops the list for most hybrids by city, followed by San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York.
According to Travelers, hybrid owners are typically married, age 41-60 with both genders represented equally.
Until recently, hybrid ownership was confined to people attracted to new technologies and the environmentally conscious. Rising gas prices over the past few years, however, have fueled interest in the cars among consumers and analysts predict the number of registered hybrid vehicles will almost double again in 2006.
Governments at all levels provide tax breaks for hybrid owners and some localities offer other incentives, such as access to high occupancy vehicle lanes.
