I am banging my head against the wall . Finishing a a restoration of a LE bumble bee and want to change insurane from liabilty to full coverage.

All the collector car companies will not cover the car if you drive it to work (not even occasionally).

Regular companies will not do a aggreed value on older cars. I am afraid if I get into a wreck they'll give me $500. for my old car.

I am thinking of just continuing liability only and taking my chances.

How do you insure your 914?

I'm with Grange. I didn't have any trouble getting them to accept an agreed value because our other cars are also insured with them. Same when I was with State Farm. Just keep checking around.

Sneed.

Two words: State Farm.

Collector car insurance runs around $100/yr, full covereage (inculding zero deductable glass). Car cannot be the primary vehicle, and should be kept to moderately low milage per year, but there are no limitations on where or when you can drive. Daily driver? No. Occasional sunny dar car to work, sure.

-Josh2

age or storage limitations?

21, must be garaged etc?

I wouldn't know about age limits, I'm past that particular demographic, but I can look into it. Storage? They prefer garage, but it's okay for the occasional night at the curb. Won't void the insurance or anything. Oh... age of the car? I think it's 25 years. All 914's qualify... They require photographs of the car to establish condition and value before issuing the policy...

-Josh2

I have to check on this as I have had mine insured as a regular car for about $400 per year with State farm. Could always stand to put another $300 in my pocket.

I had no trouble getting stated value insurance through State Farm. Since we have both our daily drivers and homeowner's through them, it was quick and painless (and cheap!). I had to provide photos, and it's supposed to be under 3000 miles per year.

i could always have it under my dad's name? im 20.... i hear most collector/classic insurance has an age min of 25...

I am almost done with the transition from regular insurance to classic for my stock '73. About 120 bones a year, I can drive it like 2000 miles which is plenty for me.

I went with American Collectors, they seem alright so far...

Hopefully you DON'T have a stated value policy.

They are very unfavorable towards the insureds, and are NOT what most insureds think they are. Most insureds don't know what a stated value policy is, and think they are getting something they are not.

If you do have a stated value policy, you will be in for a rude surprise if your car gets seriously damaged or stolen.

What you want is an agreed value policy, right? Where's Howard, isn't he a insurance guru?

I have an agreed value policy with Haggerty for $9000, costs me $177 a year and a limit of 3500 miles.

i tune the carbs all the way to california and back. that's what i would tell them for the collector plates too.

i looked into the cheaper insurance. no errands, limited milage, and a few other restrictions...i stayed with the full coverage. what you can do to save money is, see if you can get storage insurance if you put your car away for the winter. mine drops to $8 a month or so. allstate will let me drive the car occasionally with no penalty. i just give allstate a call and i'm good to go.

k

Maybe what you need to do is pay the money and get the car appraised? I personally have an agreed dollar amount from Haggerty and pay $125/yr. But, I can't drive it to work.

This question seems to come up on a regular basis, so here is my opinion. I have been a insurance broker in CA for over 40 years. Generic insurance advice is like generic legal or medical advice. Nice conversation, but don’t bet your life on it. And each state has slightly different rules. Having said all that,

While you can get coverage thru an 800# or the web, the best advise is to seek the services of a local agent. If you like your agent, great, if not, find one you do, even if he writes for the same company you currently have. That way if something goes wrong, you can hunt him down and kill him. It costs you nothing to get his service. In fact, it will usually save you money. You buy insurance once in a while; we buy it for our clients every day. We either get good at it or go out of business.

Collector or Standard? Most regular companies offer a very low rate for ‘extra’ cars. Insurance companies may be pretty dumb, but they have figured out you can only drive one car at a time. Maybe not as low as collector policies, but you are dealing with your ‘friend’, and no silly limitations.

Claims. Again, generic advice. Your policy probably uses the term ‘actual cash value’. That’s what you will get (plus tax and license in most states) if the car becomes a total loss. Stated and agreed value really mean the same thing, and are there to protect the insurance company. Read it as ‘actual cash value NOT TO EXCEED’ the indicated amount. It does not mean you will get that amount.

Depending on the situation, the company will probably ‘total’ your car if the estimated damages exceed 60% of the actual cash value. In that case, they buy the car from you and own the salvage rights. You can, of course, offer to buy the salvage.

Determining actual cash value is pretty simple. The company looks for cars of LIKE KIND AND QUALTY and makes you an offer. You should do the same, and if you don’t like their offer, present your numbers AFTER YOU GET THEIR OFFER. 95% of the time this works, and if not, you can refuse their offer and go to arbitration.

Keeping receipts is a good idea, but the amount you have invested in your car means little. A good example is my V8 car. I paid $9500 then found out it needed a $2500 engine rebuild. The PO gave me over $27,000 in receipts. I have seen comparable cars selling for $12,000, and that’s about the most I could get if it were totaled.

You probably won’t get compensated for the amount of time and money you have invested in your baby when you sell it, and don’t expect to do any better when you crash it.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one, this is just mine.

And what a mighty fine asshole you are....

Yeah I just got hagerty lasy week. They are a bit weird. Lots of paper work!!! Agreed value of 35k so I am happy.

Grundy was even weirder. They would not insure a sports car unless I also had another classic car.


I made sure not to mention autox. Which honestly is what I got the car for.

I have AAA, and I have a stated value policy on my 67 Mustang, and it's regular insurance, not collector. They made me come in and have it photographed. They did say that I would have to base the stated value on actual market values, and stating it too high would just make my insurance cost more. But they did allow me to pick the number, and I won't have any trouble backing it up if they question it. I hope that day never comes though.

i have full insurance with allstate now but am going over to heritage america. seems like no problem with agreed value (yet) and mileage is variable. quote was $104.00 and conditions were
1 garage
2nd car for every licensed driver at the adress
this is what they have told me so far. friend has vintage chevy with them for years and tells me they have never checked on the milage. will post again when i switch over. may be different on the west coast.

I attempted the collector car route and just decided it won't work for me. Most of the agents I spoke with flat out stated, the car will NOT be insured while engaged in a high speed activity. This include autocrossing, which really isn't high speed. If you do have an accident while AXing, no collision or liability, it just isn't worth it to save a few bucks.

Thanks for the State Farm tip, going to try them out. Progressive just treated the 914 add on like another car.

I use the Hartford...no problem with agreed value .....unlimited mileage and reasonable for my 73 2.0 ....They also insure my other two cars.

This is not just a car collector policy thing, as far as I know there is NO insurance policy that will cover your car while doing these things. YMMV what that is what I found while shopping around.

'74 2.0L insured with Hagerty with an agreed price. Cost is about $125 per year with roadside towing. No hassle at all. Can't be primary vehicle (had to send them the VIN's of my other cars), but no mileage limits.

They can even deny your claim if you are street racing or timed rallying, but absolutely assume you are on your own when the car is on the track or A/X parking lot.

Again: State Farm.

Best thing about State Farm, I'm fully covered at an Autox. And I have it in writting. A letter from my agent confirming coverage at autox events. No, it does not extend to DE's and TT's. That's okay, I know when I go to the track, I pays my money, I takes my chances. But it's to know that State Farm will cover me at any autox event.

Question for Howard: Is this letter worth the paper it's written on?

-Josh2

That is not what they told me three years ago. I guess I need to ask again.

I think the key here is to be VERY specific. Bring with you a copy of the rules. Garold, you run SCCA events, so bring the Solo Rules. And specifically point out the description of Solo events in the rule book. It is specifically worded to avoid insuance killers like "high speed" and "race".

The selected quotes from the SCCA Solo Rules:

SR 1.1

A Solo Event is any event (where an event is considered to be an entire program of competitions) in which one automobile at a time is timed over a clearly defined course, with elapsed time and appropriate penalties for course deviations being the determining factor for awards. This shall not preclude the running of more than one car at a time, provided they are separated on course by adequate time and distance to eliminate any possibility of a passing situation.

And

SR 1.4

A Category II Solo Event is non-speed driving skill contest such as, but not limited to, autocrosses and slaloms. These events are run on short course that emphasize the driver's ability and the car's handling and agility. Competition licenses are not required, and hazards to spectators, participants, and property do not exceed those encountered in normal, legal highway driving. ...

Of course, all agents are different, but I doubt they would issue me that letter unless it was okay to do so. I did make sure that they had a very clear understanding of what an autox event was.

-Josh2

I know this is against our nature, but stop and ask for directions.
Read the 'exclusions' section of your policy. It will probably contain words like 'prearranged speed contest' or similar. BTW, there's lots of other shit in there, too. If you carry passengers for hire, rent your car out, etc.

The letter? Even if the policy won't cover the damage, your agent may be personally on the hook.

Each policy, each state have different wording. READ YOUR POLICY AND CALL YOUR AGENT OR COMPANY FOR QUESTIONS, BUT REMEMBER THE ACTUAL WORDING OF THE POLICY TAKES PRECEDENCE.
No matter what you read on the internet

some good info here - and thanks to Howard for the professional advice! I am going to be finishing the V8 race car and was just trying to figure out how I was going to insure it against theft and cruises to the Ruby's on Fridays, so this was quite helpful to me as well! I know on the track I am SOL, but was worried about what to do if the car gets stolen or hit on the street.