Insurance revisited

Today is a beautiful sunny day in California. Before hitting the open road, for some reason I re read my insurance policy. To my dismay I found that I could not find any language allowing me to drive my car for pleasure to the coast, have lunch, and return home. A trip of about 75 miles. I called Hagerty and got a lot of vague language about "we would prefer, we would encourage, etc." Finally, I cornered the guy and he admitted that they would pay any claim I submitted but would then cancell my policy. I was stunned. Hagarty wants me to drive it for pleasure from the garage to the garage and not stop in between. I can go to car shows or car club events.

Help! What do you guys do and who do you insure with. I am going to make a change to allow me to use my baby.

Yep, this is me whining.

Go to State Farm. Move one car/truck to them as a primary, and then insure the Speedster under their custom/speciality policy. They will have an appraisor look at it (bring your receipts and stuff, and then insure it without a book of caveats.

Justin turned me onto this, and it's a great deal. Affordable too.

Gary:

I have all my other cars insured with state farm here in California, and they insured my new IM with no mileage limitations and for full replacement value. my cost is $566 a year, based on my lead foot and driving record in my other vehicles. For sure, try State Farm.

Good luck,

Oz

Gary,
I suggest you call Robert Leggio at Motorsport Insurance Services, INC. Phone #310-301-0333.

Our spyder policy is $324/year. We may drive it anywhere and everywhere we please so long as we have other insured cars (in our case thru State Farm) to drive. We have no limit on mileage. We have no Minimal Use Restrictions. The car must be stored in our garage of our primary residence but that is really the only odd thing about the policy.

As far as State Farm, well good luck. We've been with State Farm, same agent for over 15 years. He nearly fell off his chair laughing when we asked to insure the spyder. He did say that if the spyder had been built on a VW pan he would insure it.

Each State Farm agent is allowed a fair latitude with what they insure. Obviously my agent knows us too well...
angela

That's my issue with Hagerty. If you read the fine print it is the equivalent of loaning you an umbrella while the sun is shining, but telling you not to use it if it rains. You can drive the car, so long as you don't stop, park, commute, run an errand, or do anything with the Speedster that you could have done with your every day car instead. That's not insurance that's the illusion of insurance. Skip the collector car companies and go with insurance that actually applies when you need it.

I have State Farm..just like Jim said, better no hassle insurance and they do have a couple of weird quirks, but overall not much problem.

Yep, State Farm is the route I took. It was actually cheaper than Hagerty and you can enjoy your car. Only stipulations were to have the car appraised (which will be the stated value), car must not be primary, and it must be garaged. Hope this helps.

Hagerty has about the same restrictions as any Classic car specialty company has. You can go to a show and come home, you must keep it in a locked ( sometimes masonry ) garage, maybe, just maybe you can go out for a special night ( depends on the specific company ). if you stop at Walmart on the way to a show to pickup a coler and it sits unattended on the lot and gets damaged they will refuse the claim. Most cases the car must be attended the entire time. in exchange you get cheap insurance.

You can go the Geico, progressive, State Farm route, insure it like any daily driver, pay a good deal more and enjoy your car as you like. You pay to play, Pretty simple.

My Spedster is with Progressive. I can drive the wheels of of it if I wish but pay about $900 a year (one lead foot incident 6 months ago, made a significant impact on the rate ). I don't have to keep in garaged. if someone steals it I am covered. if I run it off of the road myself, I pay the damage. Not great but not many choices out there if you want to drive it daily.

Tony

Angela
I think the tube frame puts in the same risk class as a cobra replica; old guys with too much HP getting in serious trouble.
ed

I have to disagree with those advocating State Farm. I was insured with State Farm for years. Years ago, I bought a Fiat Spider Turbo (ok...stop laughing now - it was a great car). It was a legitimate, company manufactured car. But, it needed a lot of work, and a lot of modifications were made. Where I live (Minnesota), the state requires a vehicle examiner review any major modifications made to a car before it can be licensed/insured. All the work was professionally done (and quite well, too), and the inspector had no problems. He signed all my paperwork, and a license was issued. Did State Farm accept that? No, they did not. My agent almost herniated himself laughing at my request for insurance. The "modifications" made it uninsurable. We had a lengthy discussion, and I was told that while you might be able to slide a car past underwriting (maybe), the second you file a claim, they will do "post-claim underwriting" (meaning reexamine the policy and find a way to claim it never should have been issued) and refuse to pay it. Sure, they'll insure it sitting in your garage and not being driven. But, if you drive it and something happens, they will refuse to pay and then cancel your other policies. State Farm simply doesn't want to insure these cars.

The "collectible" insurers (Haggerty, etc.) will only issue policies that cover the car to and from events or shows. Very few companies will cover a car like this for everyday use. I looked far and wide, but I did find one (Liberty Mutual) that would issue a policy. I read the policy, and there don't appear to be any weak spots. But, then, I've never filed a claim either.

Food for thought.

Mike
I tried to send you an email and got rejected. Send me one, I have some questions for you.

Jimbo

Thank you, Angela!
I called Motorsports Insurance Services today for a quote. I have been with Hagerty for a year. Just received my renewal and was a bit upset with the increase(about 15%).
Motorsports will insure my speedster at full value ($26K) for $368.00 and that includes the $50.00 broker fee.
The agent and the paperwork state there are no restrictions regarding mileage and usage as long as it's not a primary car.
I didn't buy my car just to look at and take to shows. Thanks again for the tip. By the way, have you ever submitted a claim?
Terry

Terry,
Glad you got your insurance squared away in time for spring driving!

We have submitted a claim. Hope we don't ever have to and if we do let's hope all goes well...

angela

i looked at my odometer last night and discovered I am now uninsured (hit 2500mi) I called motor sports and spoke with Betsy and got the same quote as Terry. Thanks much Angela for the information. Now I can drive to Knotts and be insured.

Troy

I have AON insurance. aoncollectorcar.com/
Great customer service and policy. No mileage or driving restrictions. You do not need to have another car insured with AON. With same coverage rates, AON was $50/year higher than Haggerty with much better policy. I have two vehicles with State Farm of Illinois now and they refused to insure my 356.

Interesting mix of comments regarding State Farm which is my auto, classic bike, household & umbrella carrier. I was told if one of my vehicles was covered by another company, I would face a hundred buck extra premium on my umbrella. All in all, however, I rate the service as comprehensive and reasonable.

My Cabriolet is a stated value policy with a 7,500 mile per annum restriction. Due to the planned trip to Knotts next month, I realized I would exceed the limit and spoke to my underwriter. She said, "don't worry about it." The following week, I received a questionaire asking what the mileage was on my Ford F-150, which also has the 7,500 mile limit. Hmmmmmm. We'll see what happens.
John as in Hoss

I want to thank you all for your input. I was impressed by the comments on AON and Motorsports insurance companies. I tried AON first. After about 2 hours on the phone, they declined to insure me. In fact they were insulting. They infered that I must have some problem because I was shopping insurance. It was a long conversation and I won't bore you with the details but I won't be using AON. I now have a message in to Motorsports and will report the results.

I just want to insure the car so I can do more than look at it in the garage and go around the block.

Gary,
One hint. I spoke with the guy that runs the Motorsports agency yesterday and he made it clear that he cannot insure our cars if he is told that they will be "daily drivers". It is an automatic no so think about your response.
Troy

I live in Des Moines..corporate headquarters for State Farm. I insured my IM without any problem. Someone from corporate did review the policy so this local office was able to insure it.

The local branches many times don't want to hassle with it and they blame it on the "headquarters". This is abolutely horseshi*. They don't want to say "hey I'm to stinking lazy to go through the extra paper work and effort to insure it" and thats the facts.

Find a good one and he will call corporate and do the little extra work to insure it.

I don't think we should or could compare ourselves to a Cobra. The weakest engined Cobra has more hp then the best speedster... were not even in the same range. Of course there are a few exceptions, but that of course is what makes it a rule.

When insurance company's hear the term "daily driver" they figure that means its your MAIN driver. The correct terminology is "regularly driven" when you talk to the prospective insurance.

You want the freedom drive it when ever you want but not HAVE to drive it through the nasty salted roads, snow drifts, hail storms etc. You need to have another car with insurance on it that is your "daily driver."

The no maximum miles per year policy that we have lets us do all that because we have a mazda, jaguar and a truck that are our daily drivers. angela

Strange that AON would have you on the phone for 2 hours. I spoke with two agents and I told both that I was shopping around and was comparing policy coverage and rates. After they quoted, I told them that Haggerty was less expensive. They were well trained sales reps and did not budge on the price. They pointed out AON's hassle free 'flexible' mileage and driving policy was worth the difference. This means that you can drive the Speedster unlimited for pleasure driving and club events, etc. (3,000+ miles), but not as a daily driver. I asked if could take the Speedster to work on a nice sunny Friday and they answered 'yes'. An occaisional pleasure drive to work is covered. Can't do that with Haggerty! AON did not require photos of my Speedster, bill of sale or pressure to have my other cars insured with them. They provided multiple written estimates and quotes for me to chose from. AON's only requirement was for you to own another 'primary' daily driver vehicle and for the for the vehicle to be garage kept. I highly recommend them.

AON tops! Talked on the phone then filled out app on line. Simple--no mileage restrictions--no where I drive restrictions--full coverage, stated value. $258.00 a year. jkl

I now have a quote coming in from Motorsports. The fellow I spoke with was very nice. I think that there will be few restrictions. I will report when it is done. Thanks everyone

Concerning car insurance companies. Do NOT be overly influenced by refusal of one agent to cover your vehicle. Go call another agent from the same company. These guys are as different as night and day, EVEN REPRESENTING THE SAME COMPANY. I went through this with Allstate and with State Farm. I was refused by both. I was later insured by both companies. Found a better agent. Same vehicles. The time to read the policy is before you sign. Take it home and read it. Bring it back signed the next day.
With State Farm, I was 1000 miles from home with a brand new (2000 miles total) Ford F-250. It was arsoned and burned to a cinder (well, 55 gallons of gas on board probably helped). Less than a week later I had a check in hand for EVERYTHING, vehicle, custom graphics, aftermarket engine mods and all. Less a mileage fee. NO FEE HIKE - claim not caused by me.

It pays to ask and ask again. I had 2 bad experiences with Allstate on odd vehicles. First was my '41 Harley Flathead. No problem with insurance, $125. We seal the deal, I hve immediate insurance and 3 weeks later I get a bill for more than twice that. Seems Allstate does not underwrite their own motorcycle insurance so got the price wrong. I can cancell but till owe them for 3 weeks of coverage despite it being their mistake.
Second try, confirm insurance with them for my Speedster, no problem. Buy the car, give them a call, many questions and a few days later....no can do. No kit cars, period. They were nice enough to call around for me all day until they got me a decent quote from Progressive via another agency.
Tony

I feel your pain Tony. Similar experience with Allstate and a motorcycle years ago. State Farm and AAA has much better business practices. I've been through Corvettes, motorcycles, kit cars and, the worst of all, teen age drivers.