Collectors Car Insurance

I have Grundy right now

Why did you leave Hagerty?

I've used Hagerty for many of my antique motorbikes.  Never had to file a claim though.

@NeenahSpeedster posted:

Why did you leave Hagerty?

No reason. I think I had sold the car at the time and it was a bit before I needed another policy.
-=theron

I have USAA insurance for everything else and they require American Collectors Insurance for my replicas.  They were cheaper than Hagerty and use agreed value. I totaled a 2000 BMW M Roadster. Got the check in a week. No hassle.

I was happy with Hagerty but I never filed a claim.

i was disappointed in my hagerty experience...even in the quote process...their price was ridiculous ....i finally got AAA to up my "what care is worth " amount which is still not  what my opinion is....so for now i will stay with them since they are my go to since i was 15 & 1/2   ... i get the senior... multicar...loyalty...etc discount...until things change with present leadership...ALL insurance is off the scale INSANE...not much "we the fleas" can do about it sadly

Mine is insured with Safeco through @Marty Grzynkowicz.

The primary value of insurance is not how they handle the claim when your fender has a scratch. It's not even how they handle a claim where your car is totaled.

Its primary value is how they handle a claim where your personal liability exposure is scarily high. I can buy a new car, but I really like living in my house. Having a good company and a good agent in your corner is invaluable. A good agent is worth their weight in gold when a difficult claim rolls around.

Marty is a good agent.

Actually this is timely & helpful thread.. I probably need to isolate the TT-r and the Vert from the policy with kids... so I'll be checking in with all recommended companies.

I too have Grundy for the Speedster.  Hagerty seems to be much more expensive.  If the cost was similar I might want to go with Hagerty since they are based here in Michigan.

I have never had to file a claim.

When I was shopping for the Speedster and Coupe I found Hagerty to be competitively priced and when I filed the claim on the Speedster their service was excellent.

Hagerty is good.

Heacock Classic, less $ and more coverage then Hagerty

I've had Hagerty since 2005 for the Spyder. I've had 3 claims.

Claim #1 was a red-light rear end, to the tune of $6500. Complete repaint and clamshell damage. No problem.(Spring 2006)

Claim #2 was parked under a street light in a restaurant lot. Hit and run, left turn signal and LF nose area, more like a tire rub. $1600, paid no problem.(Fall 2010 or after, I don't remember exactly)

Claim #3 was a total loss on my Spyder. I bought it back for a few thousand and got a new car. Then my wife and I built it again using the same running gear. Absolutely no problem. They sent an adjuster to my house in a couple days after the wreck, as I had the car towed there.(Spring 2016)

I have had nothing but good experiences with them. I also had my Cayman S covered by them for the 4 years I had it.(no claims)

I'll bet it cost more than some others to insure with them. I simply don't care. Good insurance is worth it when it comes to claim performance. I have 20 years of experience, guys. Real world vs. internet gossip/anecdote BS.

Edited to add dates to claims.

@DannyP Thanks much.  That was the kind of information I (and probably other) were looking for.  I have had collectors car insurance for many years, but I have never had a claim.
-=theron

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Again, probably not what you're asking about, but I'm with Stan.

The only reason I'm interested in insurance (other than to meet state requirements) is to cover the $2 million liability lawsuit and to have someone who I can count on to maybe stand by my lawyer in court.

Anything else is small potatoes I will hash out as required.

I guess I've been very lucky, but there's been virtually nothing to hash out for over 35 years. Our old '88 Accord used to get a lot of cracked windshields for some reason, but that's been it.

All of our coverage, including the umbrella policy is California AAA. We explained carefully upfront just exactly what this '1969 VW' is and asked if they would cover it. They said, yes, but it's not a '69 VW, it's a 'kit car' (the language they use on the policy for such things). They explained the settlement is like any other car — based on comparable value, not for a VW, but for whatever these cars are currently bringing.

So, I guess as long as BaT keeps selling VS's for the prices they're bringing, I'll do OK if someone cracks my fiberglass.

There are no strings. I can drive it anywhere as often as I want, except the wrong way down a one-way street.

And apparently, as long as I'm wearing clothes and behaving myself.

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I'm gonna call BS on you, @Sacto Mitch.

So you're only interested in liability protection? OK, so if you get a total loss on your Speedster you're not interested in getting made whole?

@Sacto Mitch posted:

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Again, probably not what you're asking about, but I'm with Stan.

The only reason I'm interested in insurance (other than to meet state requirements) is to cover the $2 million liability lawsuit and to have someone who I can count on to maybe stand by my lawyer in court.

Anything else is small potatoes I will hash out as required.

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I had a long phone call with Danny, who obviously knows all of this and has his car properly insured — but for the sake of people who might be looking at coverage down the road, I’m going to flesh out why I said what I did regarding liability coverage.

We all know what these cars sell for— we talk about it a lot. The replacement value of replica is significantly less than $100,000 even if it’s a total loss. That’s a lot of money to me, but it's the maximum exposure the insurance company has regarding collision coverage. However, in today’s highly litigious society, a liability claim can run into the millions of dollars.

Most states have shared liability laws for motor vehicle accidents. If someone dies in a collision with my car, even if they are “at fault” (in my mind), their family will invariably sue me anyway. Simply being sued gives everybody (me and the insurance company both) some significant liability exposure. Just defending myself (if the costs fall to me) can easily exceed the cost of replacing the car.

I was involved in an accident with some very, very scary liability exposure, and it’s not something I want to go through without a solid company standing behind me.

As a result, the liability coverage has come to be much more important than the collision or comprehensive coverage to me. Obviously, I want a company that will honor all sides of their policy exposure: liability, comprehensive, collision… but for me (and apparently Mitch), the liability coverage is BY FAR the greatest factor in deciding. I have the maximum liability coverage offered, as well as a $1 million umbrella overlaying all of it. I take liability exposure very seriously. I feel like everybody should.

If a company is very restrictive, won’t write the policy detailing what the vehicle actually IS in clear language, what the coverage is actually for, or exhibits any other sign of being weasely, I would be pretty nervous that they wouldn’t be standing beside me in the event of a catastrophic liability claim, which is the kind that could ruin me forever.

These cars are difficult to properly title, register, and insure (doubly so if using a VW S/N and registering as a 196X VW Beetle), and there are a lot of policies written in such a way that they would give some wiggle room for the company to deny coverage in the event of a huge claim. They could say that the car is not, in point of fact a 196X VW, and deny coverage for the drunk pedestrian wearing a black jacket and dark blue jeans walking down the unlit road at midnight. Or, they might say that the coverage was for “display and show”, and deny liability because the car was on the road after dark. It might not be likely, but I really want to know I’ve got coverage if I hit and kill the drunk guy walking in the road.

Insurance has two sides: the comp/collision side, (which pays me for my car’s damage), and the liability coverage (which pays someone else for whatever loss they may suffer as the result of an accident).

Of the two, the liability coverage as far, far more important to me. I can’t speak for anybody else.

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Yeah, Danny, what Stan said.

He's made this argument before, and I look at the big picture the same way.

I'm not dissing Hagerty or any other individual company or the whole idea of an agreed value policy. I'm just thinking the most I might lose with my current policy (compared to Hagerty) in the case of a collision claim is maybe $10K — and probably not even that. Sure, I don't want to give that up, but that's not going to ruin my life. And it's not the main reason I'm carrying insurance. Nor is how low I can get my premiums.

And while I do hear good things about Hagerty's ease of claim settlement, personally, I have no experience with them, while my wife and I have both been dealing with AAA for most of our adult lives. We've always found them easy to reach and reasonable to work with. If there's a problem "with the computer", the local agents have always stuck by us to get it worked out.

They have a large local staff. There are lots of actual offices with real people you can walk in and talk to. I always like to have a face I can hold a pitchfork and burning torch up to.

Not saying there's a right or wrong way to do this, just mentioning another approach that isn't often discussed here when the subject comes up.

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I hear you both. I think where it gets a little gray and muddy is how a replica is represented or misrepresented, sometimes by the owner.

Mine is insured with Hagerty as a 1956 Pxxxxxe 550 Spyder REPLICA. Photos on file etc. In other words, the car is insured as what it is. If you insure with Hagerty you'll need two things: one, a daily driver(and Hagerty wants to see proof of insurance) and two, a locked garage to keep it.

That's a lot different than a 19XX VW Beetle that looks like something completely different. That's where things can get real murky real fast.

Now, usage. Some companies are so restrictive that you can only use your classic/kit/replica to go to a car show or be in a parade. Yup, that's it. Hagerty allows limited pleasure use: take your wife to dinner, just drive it for the pure pleasure of it. You can even occasionally(very) drive it to work. You just can't use it as a daily driver. And a replica insured with Hagerty can't be your only car.

I've had no problems with collecting I think because Hagerty and I have a very clear and straight-up honest relationship.

This hobby has many different walks of life. There are guys scraping and scratching to own one, and there are guys who $100k is nothing. To some guys, if you couldn't rebuild or be made whole after an incident, owning and driving a replica would be all over.

Amen to all of that, @DannyP.

Interesting that you guys have the same issues going on over there. I had the impression from following the ratrod scene a few years back that it was like the wild west and you could do whatever you wanted. We've got similar situations happening here in Australia, where it's extremely difficult to get a replica built and legally registered. People have been known to misrepresent what they've got to get past the registration issues, ie. "It's just a VW with some extra bits on it" and then use the same registration certificate to get insurance. I wouldn't blame an insurance company from walking away from a claim if the car has been insured/registered under completely false pretences.

It also leads to situations where cars are onsold, and the new owners of said vehicles find themselves stuck with cars they can't register or insure. They front up to get paperwork issued and the certifier knows what they're looking at and won't have anything to do with it.

Also check out National Corvette Museum car insurance too.  I have 3 of my low mileage collectables with them but the catch is the car can't be a daily driver where you take the car shopping and stuff like that.  They do have riders for taking the car to work a few times per month too.

It's way more cost effective than some of the other collector car insurance companies out there and the ratings are good for payout based on what I've seen on the Corvette forums.  I've been with them for 3 years but have never filed a claim yet, knock on wood.

They insure based on agreed value.

https://ncminsurance.com/

It's the restrictions that give me pause. If there are restrictions on usage, there's a giant loophole for the company to deny coverage. If the policy restricts use, they'll probably pay for a scratch repair, but not for running over the drunk guy sleeping in the roadway.

$1000 claims don't bother insurance companies. It's the big ones they try to weasel out of -- and if you give them a reason to do it, they will.