Classic car insurance

[Jeremy Hedges]

I am getting reasy to buy a ,67 435hp car, and I would like to know who is a good classic car insurance company? Also the car is now a project, but I still will have 30K invested.(it is a numbers matching w/tank sticker)
Any information would be great.
Thanks
Jeremy Hedges
#31711
Arkansas

[Tom Freeman]

Re: Classic car insurance

I have three cars with Hagerty and have been very happy with them.

tom...




Hagerty Insurance

[Larry S.]

Re: Classic car insurance

You may have a hard time insuring a project car.But make sure you purchase AGREED VALUE coverage

[Tom B.]

Re: Classic car insurance

I have been researching this topic lately too as I realize that regular insurance is woefully inadequate on the wife's origional owner '81. The problem is finding a company that will insure my projects or cars in storage. Hagerty will do this and seem to have the most flexible use policies. They will write comp only on cars being "activly restored" or in storage and don't have the dreaded "unattended clause" that some have. Agreed Value is the only way to go and they will supply references in your area that you can talk to.

Tom

[Lenn #40977]

Re: Classic car insurance

Hagerty...After review of the many threads on this forum this past year, I finally succombed and signed up with them this week.

[Tom D.]

Hagerty - 800 922 4050

Been very happy also. Had to change the value on my 66 - Got lots of attention and no real problem increasing the "stated value".

Tom
4889

[Tom S.]

Re: Hagerty - 800 922 4050

I use Hagerty and am very satisfied, I have not had a claim, but they are very good to deal with and in my opinion very reasonable. I would use them again.

Tom

[Gordon Peterson #4961]

Re: Classic car insurance

I'll add my name to this list - Hagerty. The most pleasant insurance company I've ever dealt with. One of the things you'll agree upon is the number of miles you expect to drive in a year. I had no idea what it should be, so I offered a number. When I had almost met that number after only a few months, I called them up to explain. We discussed the situation. Their final comment was, "Don't worry about it, we want you to enjoy your car".

Pete

[Len Rayca]

Re: Classic car insurance

You may want to check out Grundy also, they have no restictions on mileage.

[Harold M.]

Re: Classic car insurance

I had two cars with American Collectors Insurance, a `62 340 and a `67 390. Now when I want insure my newest car a`69 430 for an agreed value they say no way they will only insure it for the price that I paid no matter if I can buy another at that price or not.So you guys have been a big help, and I hope I have helped a few of you steer clear of ACI.

[George J.]

Beware!!!

Gentlemen,

when I cantacted Hagerty they informed me that they would not insure my car if it was driven to work or short trips to local stores. Their reasoning was that they could not control employees in the parking lot of my business or others at a store. I drive all my cars and if you do also you better make sure your insurance company allows the type of driving you do, including where you drive it to. George 31887

[Jack W.]

Re: Beware!!!

well I would not call it a "beware" - to be sure, if you shop around for Collector car insurance, you will immediately come to know, duiring the application process (so you really should not be "caught of guard") that there are companies that will only insure "non-daily driver" cars, like Hagerty, Grundy, etc. (I went with Hagerty, very satisfied) and they are able to charge a correspondingly low premium; and then there are standard auto insurers that will insure your old vette like any other car in your daily driver fleet - you can often add your vette to you existing policy that covers your 2000 Suburban, for instance, if that is your fancy, and get charged the appropriate premium reflecting your use fo the vette. If I used my 65 as a daily or quite frequent driver, I would face one challenging issue: how to get insurance for it that covered my use and also gave me agreed value coverage - am not aware of standard auto policies providing coverage on that basis, but then again I never looked for it either.

[Terry D.]

Re: Beware!!!

This topic has been discussed several times on this board and it boils down to the type of insurance you want. Most companies, Hagerty, Grundy etc. don't expect you to leave your car anywhere. This is how they keep the premiums down. If you want to be able to drive your car and stop along the way to shop or go into a muesum you better check with the insurer to find out if the car is covered when unattended. One of the few classic car insurers who do cover your car at reasonable rates is Sneed, they will be higher the Hagerty, but you are getting more coverage. I know there will be those who argue that the Hagerty policy doesn't state this or that, but I know when you call and ask them if your car is covered while you stop at a store, the answer is NO. This surprised me because I have insured antique boats with them and they cover them when they are unattended. I just don't want to be the one who finds out my car isn't covered after the fact. I drive my car more than just Sunday afternoons. Just my 2 cents.

Terry

[Jack W.]

Re: Beware!!!

Terry - Hagerty "covers me" if I stop at a store while out driving my C2, assuming I am not engaged in some sort of daily-driver or cross-country use of my car in violation of the representations I made in my application. It is not "only if stolen from your locked garage which is actively patrolled by armed men" insurance. I am not sure if you base your advice on actual experience with a loss of this type which Hagerty/CNA refused to cover, if not, then, with all due respect, this is mis-information. There is no clause in my Haggerty-produced insurance policy (they write on CNA paper) that would support a denial of coverage on the basis you urge. I was not on the phone call between you and the Hagerty rep however, so I do not dispute your advice of that conversation, only the truth of the matter. As Hagerty notes on their web-site, the insured vehicle must be stored in a locked garage when not in use, I would suggest that yout stop at the gas station or burger joint or shop while out in your car is occurring while you car is "in use". Hagerty also notes that their coverage is intended as follows: "Vehicles insured on our program must be used on a limited basis consistent with the operation of something valuable, such as club functions, exhibitions, organized meets, tours, and limited pleasure driving." "Tours" and "limited pleasure driving" would accommodate a stop at a store/motel/brothel while in the course of the permitted activity, I would suggest that the brothel stop might give rise to other issues with da wife, however.

I only play with mid-year corvettes and still have a lot to learn; insurance, on the other hand, is essentially what I do for a living - specifically insurance coverage law in the property-casualty context (that includes auto). Since we seem to be focusing on the "are you covered for a theft loss while parked at a store/motel/brothel" question again, perhaps it would be most helpful if anyone out there who has actually HAD such a loss would speak up and provide details on how it was covered (or not covered!) by their classic car insurer. Then we might have something to be concerned about.

ps - I am sure Sneed is a fine insurance agency too.

[Dave F.]

Please share claim experience

Jack - you bring up an excellent point by asking those who have had a loss to tell us all what were the points of contention etc. when trying to recover from a total loss. Does it boil down to the "luck of the draw" regarding how nice the agent is that we deal with, regardless of the insurer? Or the actual written definition of "permitted activities"? We all seem to understand the differences in stated value versus agreed value coverage, so it seems the main focus is what the fine print contains and how it applies to the way we use our cars. Beyond all of this is - do we have an opportunity to modify the insurers written policies to suit our uses, or take what is offered and modify driving preferences? A clearing house providing comparative spread sheets for classic car insurance would be nice to offer as a reference here, but I don't know of any right now. Does anyone know if this subject has been covered in one of the enthusiast's magazines?