Tesla has hired 20-year insurance veteran Allen Laben as its head of strategic insurance partnerships, where he will work with carriers and collision shops to bring down the cost of insuring its cars.
The electric car manufacturer appointed Laben, most recently director of claims specialty operations for Geico and a veteran there of almost two decades, to the position as of April, he said in a post on LinkedIn.
Laben said his goal is to make Tesla vehicles “easy and economical” to insure.
“By partnering with insurance companies, teams across Tesla, and collision shops in the USA and Canada, we’ll lower the total cost of Tesla ownership and accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,.” Laben said in the post.
“High insurance premiums on electric vehicles will slow this transition. That’s where the ‘insurance partnerships’ part of the job comes in,” he added. “Through better communication, processes, and partnerships, we will reduce repair costs and lower insurance prices across the industry.”
Tesla Insurance Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Tesla Inc., closed on its acquisition of Balboa Insurance Co. from BA Insurance Group effective Jan. 21. Balboa was an inactive California insurance company that was licensed to operate in 49 states.
As part of the deal, Tesla Insurance also acquired Balboa subsidiaries, Meritplan Insurance Co. and Phoenix-based Newport Insurance Co. All companies changed their names to Tesla Insurance Co. in the first quarter of the year.
Tesla Insurance already had a presence in Texas, Illinois, Arizona and Ohio, with plans to expand into Oregon and Virginia, as it proceeds with its plan to offer private passenger automobile technology in most of the United States by the end of this year.