Collector Car Insurance, Who to use and how much? Options

[TravisNeff]

Brian, I found that State Farm is pretty high. My 72 with full coverage, nothing special is about $90 per month. Clean record, and old. Two cars on the policy, no limited use. Gotta change that...

[jd74914]

Good choice going withh Hagerty. Though I don't know how their claims department works, haven't needed to use it, and hopefully noone will ever need to find out (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

We have a '71 911E Targa insured with Hagerty for about $18,000
Insurance is about $150 a year.
No mileage restrictions.
Obviously insurance doesn't cover track time, but it does cover to the track, from the track and in the parking lot.

[Gint]

Howard!

Question for ya.

The Grundy guy was on My Classis Car once and stated that there are different types of "agreed value" policies. Something like 19a, or 19b, or c... you get the idea. He said only one of those was true "agreed value". I can't remember all of the details. My question is not specific to Grundy, but do you know in general what this means? Or is it even a correct statement? I've been curious about this for some time and I'll have to get a new policy for my car as soon as I go to haul the tub back. I've already got over $25k in the thing including purchase price.

[anthony]

Howard, can you clear up some questions on Hagerty restrictions? Here's what they say on their web site:

QUOTE

Usage. Hagerty covers vehicles that are used on an occasional basis -- e.g. club functions, exhibitions, organized meets, tours and limited pleasure driving. Storage. Collector vehicles must be stored in a fully enclosed, locked garage when not in use.

The question is what constitutes "limited pleasure driving". In my opinion that is any driving that is not commuting to work. Typically that means taking a drive on the weekend or in the evening after work. Going out to dinner with a friend. Going wine tasting in Napa. Driving up highway 1 to the beach. Going to a Porsche event (swap meet, breakfast, WCC, etc.). It also could be looking for an excuse to drive the 914 and driving to Starbucks for a latte on a Sunday morning. Is my interpretation too broad for pleasure driving?

The other question I have is regarding storage. What if I drive to the WCC and my car is stolen or vandalized while parked in the hotel parking lot? Am I screwed or does Hagerty see multi-day car club events as okay in their book. What if I want to take a Porsche to Tahoe for a long weekend? Am I in violation of the storage requirement by staying over night somewhere?

[Tom73]

Anthony,
I may be able to help on some of those questions as I had the same ones for my Vette and asked Haggery. I was told specificly that going to multi-day car events/shows were okay. I was concerned about the car being in a hotel parking lot overnight going to and from the event and while at the event. They told me that there was not problem with that. I guess the key is that there is a car event at the other end of the trip (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

They also said that if I wanted to use the Vette to go out to dinner, that it would be okay. (Some collector policies have a rule that anytime the car is out of the garage that you must be with the car. You want to avoid those if you can.)

Best thing to do is just call Haggerty and talk to them about your concerns.

tom...

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

QUOTE (Travis Neff @ Mar 8 2005, 12:41 PM)

Brian, I found that State Farm is pretty high. My 72 with full coverage, nothing special is about $90 per month. Clean record, and old. Two cars on the policy, no limited use. Gotta change that...

Yes, I'm in the same boat.

My Hagerty quote seems a bit higher than the other's here but my car falls into the "modified/hot rod" category with all the modifications and upgrades. I figure better to be honest up front and pay a bit more than to lose out if anything really bad happens. Plus, I'll still save a boat-load over State Farm.

I know the car isn't "valued" at what I have into but I would like realistic compensation if anything bad ever happened. A typical $4,500.00 check for a total loss would cause me to go postal.

It is sad that AZ has such high insurance rates. When I moved to Arizona from Overland Park, Kansas (Kansas City, MO suburb) our State Farm rates DOUBLED. Big problem with non licensed drivers driving with no insurance in this state. Those of us with resposibility get to pay extra to cover ourselves against those with no resposibility. The insurance company wins regardless.

[TravisNeff]

Insurance companies do win, they are the largest financial institutions in the world believe it or not. I agree with being honest up front, it would suck if they denied your claim after paying them for years in premium just on the fact that you left some loose ends.

[Howard]

Disclaimer: These are guidelines. You must read the policy (PITA, I know) for actual terms. This is further complicated by having policies that are state specific to comply with 50 different insurance departments (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif)

Intent is the big thing here. They intend to insure a car that is of collectible value and infrequently driven. You better have a pretty good story if you get clobbered in rush hour traffic, but the burden of proof is on them. I have never had a claim denied on a classic car policy for these restrictions, but that is not to say it can't happen.

The good news is that these are all 'car' people and share your enthusiasm. There is nothing in these policies that restricts coverage if you decide to drive across country to or for an event.

Assuming here that you are over 25, have a good driving record, and the 914 is not your primary transportation, most of these companies will insure you. But to repeat, the best way (not necessarily the cheapest) is to have it on your regular car insurance policy. But make sure your agent or company knows the facts as to its value and usage. The insurance cost is an insignificant number compared to the care and feeding of these little darlings, so don't skimp.

As to values. The normal terminology with collectible cars is "Actual Cash Value not to exceed $XXXX", the stated amount. Again, I have never had a problem with this, but if you don't state a value going in, expect the worst. Use common sense. Keep receipts, have good quality pictures, and be prepared to justify your numbers.

There are too many 'what if' scenarios to be answered in a forum like this. Talk to your agent!

[Tom73]

QUOTE (Howard @ Mar 8 2005, 05:35 PM)

The normal terminology with collectible cars is "Actual Cash Value not to exceed $XXXX", the stated amount. Again, I have never had a problem with this, but if you don't state a value going in, expect the worst.

My impression was that stated value was one of the last things you wanted. You stated a value, then the ins co used that to set your rate. But for a total loss they would then start at that value and then deduct things like wear and tear, depreciation, etc, etc.

I was under the impression was that what was best was an "agreed" value. You set a price and the ins co then agrees to that price. If you have a total loss that is the amount you get.

tom...

[Seagrave]

I've had good service from Hagerty, they seem like they are actually interested in cars (in addition to making a profit) and there is nothing wrong with that. However, based on what I've seen on this board lately about values, I'm about to up my valuation. Right now I'm paying a little over $100 for $10K.

[VegasRacer]

QUOTE (Hi_Fi_Guy @ Mar 8 2005, 03:59 PM)

When I moved to Arizona from Overland Park, Kansas (Kansas City, MO suburb) our State Farm rates DOUBLED.

thread hijack

I also grew up in Overland Park before I moved to Vegas.
Shawnee Mission West High School class of '74.

/ hijack.