Tesla hires former GEICO exec

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Allen Laben, who was most recently director of claims specialty operations at GEICO, announced on LinkedIn that he accepted a new role as head of insurance partnerships at Tesla in April. 

"Here's my goal in this role: Make Tesla vehicles easy and economical to insure," he writes in the post. "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 was at GEICO for nearly 20 years in various leadership roles including director of liability claims and director of claims applications, process and systems. 

Consumer demand for electrical vehicles (EV) has gone down, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Electric Vehicle Consideration Study. Only 24% of shoppers say they are "very likely" to consider purchasing an EV, down from 26% a year ago.

"Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy," Laben writes. "High insurance premiums on electrical vehicles will slow this transition. That's where the 'insurance partnerships' part of the job comes in. Through better communication, processes and partnerships, we will reduce repair costs and lower insurance prices across the industry."