ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company has begun charging on an average 15 per cent more premium for insuring diesel cars compared to petrol driven vehicles.”On an average the loading is about 15 per cent over petrol cars,” ICICI Lombard VP (motor) Amitabh Jain told reporters here today.

Loading is an amount an insurance company adds to the basic premium to cover the expense of securing and maintaining the business.
However, the loading is not even for all models of diesel cars and it depends on age and model.

“Despite this our motor insurance premium remains competitive,” Jain said.
He said companies have started mapping new characteristics and behaviours for motor insurance facing steep losses in motor policy claims.

“It is observed that diesel cars run more than petrol cars and thus expose to higher risk,” ICICI Lombard Head Customer Service Sanjay Datta said.

In the near future, other characteristics like drivers age and regional behaviour would be considered on claims in alculating premium by the insurance companies.