DENIED by American Hobbyist Insurance!

"'62 Galaxie wagon"

Now you didn't put a visor on it did you?

 

The towing question was the second question I got asked. I'm sure they file that type of use into the "everyday" category instead of going to shows and whatnot, even after I explained the only times during the year I use the trailer is for towing crap to Bonneville. Whatever, I'm done with the collector car insurance stuff. I don't fit their profile of the type of client they want to insure, which is fine. I'll just find some other form of insurance that will hopefully give me at least something in the event of a total loss.

Here is the car:

 

Whats up Dano? I have used State Farm for all my insurance on my old cars. Right now I pay $52 a month for full coverage on my '56 pontiac, (which is my daily driver) and they have the value for a total loss set at about 8k. We came to an agreement based on its condition and the average cost of the car to purchase in that condition. I have had nothing but good experience with state farm. Even when I wrecked my 60 and it was a total loss they had a check for 13k in my hand within the week. No questions asked, no hasseling just good service. So if I were to recommend I would try state farm. BTW the Galaxy is looking killer.

Sam

 

Sam! Long time no see man! Thanks for the heads up on State Farm, they sound like they would be worth talking to from your comment and from what others have said.

 

Does anyone have their kids on there insurance? I need to get insurance on my truck and some of our other cars but all of these places wont let me drive them by myself. I'm 18 and i want to be able to drive my own cars to school and work but everyplace we've found will only let me drive them to shows. Anybody know of a good place that might be able to help?

 

A side note on how easy Grundy is to work with. I sent them an email last week asking for my Agreed Value to be increase to XX,XXX, over double what it currently is. I listed everything that I had done that increased the value, IE, new paint, new interior, new glass, new chrome, etc and within a day had a postive response that Big Olds is now covered for my requested increase in Agreed Value. Done deal no hassle.

 

I currently handle claim inspections as an independent appraiser for Grundy and Infinity Classic Collector. Before moving to Florida, I also have handled claims for Hagerty. I've been in insurance claims for over 20 years so I have some experience in this . Cars I've looked at this week included a '53 Juguar XK-120, a '63 VW Karman Ghia, a '66 Mustang, and a '63 Nova SS street machine.

First, Stated Value means that you say your car is worth 'X' amount of dollars. The premium is based off what you tell the agent. Consider this to be the limit of the policy. If you get a $10K policy on your Corvette and it's worth more, too bad. Here's your $10K check. If it's worth less in the eye's of the adjuster, now you have to justify your amount and hope they agree with you. This is the type of policy State Farm and Nationwide sell.

An Agreed Value policy is one that both the customer and insurance company have agreed on before hand as to the cars value. This usually involves having an appraisal done to document the value. This is also a maximum amount. But in the case of a total loss, there is no 'lesser' amount. And I have seen grossly under insured vehicles. Keep your policies current and have appraisals done at least every other year if not every year.

Now let's address mileage limitations. Hagerty and Grundy do not have mileage limitations. Some, such as Infinity, do have limitations. As already mentioned, limitations or not, these policies are not for daily drivers. I have only seen one claim denied over excessive mileage (an '87 Corvette conv. with 17,000 miles within the first six months of the policy purchase) and this was with Infinity.

There are ways around the limitations, provided you get with your agent before doing a Power Tour kind of trip. Call your agent and explain where the mileage will be coming from. I wouldn't take out a 1K mileage limit policy though if you are planning longer trips. The companies are just trying to make sure the cars are being used as intended by the policy. When you do take long trips, document where you're going.

Some companies will insure uncompleted, non running vehicles. A have a $5K policy on my Studebaker. When the cost exceed this amount, I take my receipts and some pictures to the agent and up the policy. When finished, I'll have an appraisal done to set a completed value.

A rolling project like Dr. Drano's can be a problem because of the prior damage. These are not restoration policies. With the damage to the left quarter panel, if the car was hit in the same area, where do you stop for the old damage? This effects cars with a 'natural' patina as well. If a old car has surface rust, and a panel needs to be replaced and possibly painted, what happens when the repaired area looks completely different than the rest (rust?) of the car? Does the insurance company owe to paint the rest of the car? (the answer is no) The basic problem is where do you start and where do you stop?

The driver's age is something I can see being a problem. The wording for most companies will either be '10 years of driving experience' or the driver must be '25 years old'. Obviously, this may be plus or minus a year, depending on the company. They look at this as a matter of maturity. Like it or not, it's a fact that the group with the highest loss rate is for those under 25 (followed closely by those over 65 ). This is why most car rental companies will not rent to someone under 25. If you have a standard insurance carrier such as State Farm dabbling in collector car insurance, they may look at someone who has been with them since they got their license and if the record is clean, they may take the chance.

I've never heard of a daily driver being too old. So many cars are lasting a lot longer that a '92 (in my mind anyway) can still be a good car. Heck, my '01 Ranger has 176K on it. I guess I better not brag about that when I put 'road' insurance on the Studebaker!

As for a '62 Ford wagon not being a collectable, or worth the $6K, a simple appraisal would detrmine how much the car is worth. As with any other car, condition will be important. If you have rusty rockers, floors and old collision damage, the car very well may be only worth $1500. Personally, I'd love a wagon. I doubt this was the problem. I'd guess it was more of a condition thing.

The quickest way to have your policy application turned down is by having a rollcage. Like any other car policy, racing is an exclusion. I know with Hagerty, it's a definite hot botton. I think it may be at Grundy too, but I'm not positive. Some companies specialize in competition cars, but all the names listed in this thread will run from that risk. Any even 'cloning' a race car might get the same response as the real thing even if the intensions are inocent.

I've seen collector cars with hitches, but I think the trailers were insured with the car. A friend has a '37 Ford with a small vintage teardrop camper that gets pulled behind it. Heck, Plymouth sold a trailer as an accessory on the Prowler and those are covered. Now if you are hauling a parts trailer or a car trailer to a show, this is not what the policy is intended for.

One last item is storage. I don't know of one collector car policy that doesn't require secure inside storage. This means there is a lock on the door. It means a carport is not good enough. I have one company that requires I get a picture of the garage where the car is stored when I look at one of their cars.

Remember, a policy is about risk. A collector car policy is typically a minimum risk type of policy (mature driver, minimal use, safely stored, etc.). Increasing the risk increases the premium or decreases the possibility of the car being insured.

I will say that the folks at Grundy, Infinity and Hagerty all try very hard to provide excellent customer service. Most are extremely happy. I do have reservations about a mainstream insurer settling a collector car policy because the same guy that looks at mom's minivan (not that I don't look at these myself) may not deal with these on a regular basis and my have no idea how to deal with these when necessary, especially when settling a total loss. But hey, your mileage may vary.

 

Excellent explanation!

 

Swifster, thanks! That's a really helpful insight into your world.

 

Reading this thread makes me believe in the PC-wussification going on in our country today.

For the record, all my stuff including house is with State Farm.My agent has known me for 10 years. Simple call and things get done.

 

The agents aren't the problem, it's the claims department. Your agent isn't writing the check.

 

Thats why I live in South Dakota, where folks are still reasonable and common sense based. Cliams department out here has been nothing more than fair.

 

Get This-
Think very, very carefully about who you insure through. I had an agreed value policy thru American Family for my '56 Chevy for $12K. My car was hit while PARKED. The entire left side was raked. The damage was estimated at $6500. Usually your insurance will pay for repair and abrogate with the damager's company. AF paid only for my tow bill (the car was undrivable) and left me on my own. I called everday to both insurance companys and the state insurance board (Colorado) for 3 months and got nowhere. I paid $12k out of pocket and was finally reimbursed $6500 from the offender's ins. company 6 months later. YOUR INSURANCE CARRIER DOES NOT COVER YOU. Insurance will seek to minimize their exposure to claim payout and that is all they will do. Don't be stupid enough to believe otherwise. I have filed all of one claim ever, have never been late on a payment, and have an exellent credit rating... No lawyer will take a case like this in my area unless they smell a lot of money coming or an outrageous fee upfront. Insurance pays politicians, and they write the legislation and you do not count. Don't take my word for it. Go to your county library and read the statutes. End of lecture.
Scott

 

Swifster, thanks for posting that info. Its very informative.