classic car insurance

[porschefan]

Hi all,

I'm the owner of a 1973 911.

I am probably going to get Haggerty Insurance. Can anyone give me some suggestions on other companies that treat their customers right?

I have heard stories of firms coming up with excuses to not pay the agreed upon value if the car was totaled or stolen. Is this common?

I also want to be able to drive this car and not just to the mechanics or club events. I think 5k -8k miles a year is more than enough for me.

What about track events? Will I have to get race track coverage ?

any help would be appreciated.

thank you

[RandyWebb]

What you need to do is contact the Insurance Commisioner in your state and get any ratings they have of insurers. e.g. in Oregon Amica is the best (excpet for ones for vets only) - does not mean they are perfect. I had a house ins. problem with them.

Some to really avoid are State Farm (committed fraud in California according to a Judge); Geico (donates to radar gun manfs.), etc....

[sithot]

I represent Hagerty, however, go direct. www.hagerty.com
Very pleasant and easy people to deal with. I have no complaints about service and they are always willing and eager to talk with you regarding any question you may have.
Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but and you should not have issues.

Good luck,

Tom

PS: I have 5 (or is it 7?) bikes and 2 Porsches with them and like I told my "other insurer" who covers my house and cars; I'm paying for one liability policy! Why? Because the only place that anyone rides 2 things at once is the Circus and those are horses!

The underwriter was not amused.... c'est la vie!

[Rico]

I have Hagerty on my 72T and 550 replica.
Price is great, easy to deal with.
However I have never had an accident, so
I cant say what there like on the claim side.

[tom dance]

I too have Haggerty. I cannot
say enough good words about them. Good price, good service. I had a headlight fall off last year (I know, stupid) but they payed the full estimate, no problem. I've been using them for over 15 years.

[RickS]

I had the same reservations about not being insured driving to the mechanic, pleasure drives, going to the store, out to dinner, etc. I had Haggarty - no complaints - but was very concerned about not being covered in anything other than a parade event or car show. Heavin forbid crashing during some spirited driving. I ended up going with Mutual of Enumclaw (tripple A rated) for stated value, with comp, collision, uninsured, etc - at the same rate as my other street cars. I have the peace of mind that I am fully covered for everything sans track events. The firm is located in Enumclaw, WA.

Perhaps Tom can dispell my reservations, point by point, because Haggartys rates are great - but great has to mean restrictions.

[Dane]

Hagerty for me as well. Paid up quickly and easily on a confluted claim I gave them in a totally unreasonable time frame. (my time frame not their's)

I have 3 cars insured with them now, no restrictions and as I rebuild, refurbish or modify the cars and need to change the agreed values they have been really good to me and extremely easy to deal with. (two minute phone calls and email some new jpegs has been all that is required)

They were my second collectors company. The difficulty of changing the agreed values (the other guys refused) on my cars is why I left the last company a couple of years ago.

[RandyWebb]

"I'm paying for one liability policy"

- Illegal in some states (Oregon). I checked into it when I had 3 Porsches and a MB SUV (all only driven by me). Be absolutely sure you are covered when driving. You don't want to lose your house, all cars, and almost all of your salary if a court finds you liable...

[gymmoe]

Try American Hobbyist Insurance at www.AmericanHobbyist.com or call them at 1 (800) 395-4835 they are located 2501 S.E. Aviation Way,Stuart,FL 34996

[sithot]

"I'm paying for one liability policy"

- Illegal in some states (Oregon).

Randy:

Hagerty's "underwriting" company is admitted into Oregon. I've done at least 2 quotes tonight using the agent's side of the site using Oregon as the home state for the vehicles.

You do, however, make good points and I highly recommend that all of you here do 2 things at your earliest convenience:
One: Check your UIM Coverage (unisured motorist)
Two: Get an Umbrella Policy to pick up where your other coverage runs out. This can be a major eye-opener in a law suit due to negligence or being found at fault in an accident or for that matter, your dog biting someone or somebody doing a slip and fall routine. (damn, it would seem that I don't have much faith in my fellow man)
UIM is cheap and for the peace of mind in knowing that if "dumb-ass" No Insurance Loser runs over me that I (or most likely scenario, my survivors) have something to fall back on.

http://www.hagerty.com/vehicle_features.asp

http://www.hagerty.com/vehicle_qualify.asp

The one "liability" referral applies to the vintage policy. My house, cars and other property are covered by the homeowners, car and an umbrella policy of a "standard company" (i.e. Allstate, Nationwide, State Farm, etc.)
(See the notes from the website URLs)

BTW, have you ever met an actuary? If not, I'm happy for you. They have this figured out to a fine science and don't believe for one minute that they planned on losing money.

It is assumed that owners of collector cars have a little more brain power, a lot more money and are less likely to be moral hazzards (shall I explain that one?) than the average kid on the street. Admittedly, they also don't insure anything new. Most have a minimum vehicle age requirement and do not expect a warm welcome if you have a bad driving record.

With respect to your questioning the legality of the contract here comes the news:

If ANY company's policy is admitted by the Insurance Commissioner/ SCC of any State it is sold in then it has certainly passed muster.

Trust me; Insurance Departments of every State are tight as a drum when it comes to scrutiny and compliance. It's a VERY big deal. I've been in this game for nearly 30 years and the regs./rules brought about by the financial blunders of several, shall we say, "large firms" have made keeping any license or filing a new policy form akin to getting a green card being from Iraq and active in the Taliban. They LOOK LONG AND HARD.
There are Continuing Education rules for Insurance, Compliance Rules, Client management issues regarding data, plus NASD/SEC rules and Compliance if you are a registered representative.

Am I worried? Not in the least. The rules are here to protect us all.

Now, about those horses, Randy. Can you ride 2 at a time? (and tell the truth)

Best,

Tom

Tom