First off, by the way you make it sound, it's not done! (Ha Ha are they ever?) Secondly, I'm betting you are trying to deal with a "common" carrier, probably the same one you have your DD and house with. That's where your mistake is. Deal with a "speciality" carrier like J.C. Taylor, Hagerty, Heacock, etc. They deal with these situations on a daily basis.
Doesn't sound like they wont insure it; it sounds like they don't agree with your value estimate. Get a value you can agree on, and then finish the interior and update it. Or wait until it's finished and both parties agree on the value.
I ain't finished a classic insurance with State Farm is a joke,,,there are many insurance company's better quilified to write insurance for collector cars. HRP
I have had Hagerty for many years and several cars. Call them and talk to a rep. They have been most helpful to me. You can increase insurance as you complete the car. Their rates are fair, I feel.
Grundy put mine on comprehensive while I was building it. When you start to get $$$$ invested you still need to protect your investment for un-known disasters.
I had my '55 Chevy insured w/ State Farm, then found out when I went to insure my '46 Chevy w/ them they wouldn't do it because it wasn't finished to thier specs (no paint ragged interior0. That's when I learned that the money I'd paid them over the years for the '55 was wasted because it wasn't finished to their standards either. So I left them and now am insured through another insurance agent for all my cars for less than I spent W/ State Farm. The agent is local and known as "Elite Insurance Co"
Thanks for the guidance! I'm checked with Grundy and Hagerty. Hagerty was about $80 more that Grundy for the same plans. I'll probably go with Grundy. Thanks again!
Yep, Grundy for sure AND while you're at it have Grundy quote ALL YOUR CARS. I just saved almost $1,000 by switching my daily driver and '60 wagon, along with my '47 Olds, to one policy with Grundy. Don't know about you but that's a significant savings. BTW, I had my Olds insured with Grundy for many years before I got the interior installed.
Denise brings up a good point here. Grundy has recently started promoting their ability to cover your collector cars as well as your daily drivers, in fact (and I could be wrong) they may not write a new policy unless you include your daily drivers under their coverage. Give 'em a shout though as their rates have always seemed better than most of the other specialty car insurers.
Maybe maybe not. I had a restored Chevelle with them and I went to add my high boy Sport coupe and they sent me a registered letter saying that they would not insure it because it had no bumpers and the engine was not covered. I ended up eventually with Grundy and saved a some serious cash over the years. Thanks to Denise for recommending them. I have never had a claim with any of my collector cars so I can't speak to that. I was pissed when they refused coverage.
This is my experience also. Grundy was easy to work with, just some exterior photos and a short description to establish the "agreed value" while the build is ongoing. As I put more $ into the build, the policy agreed value gets raised on the same policy with just a small premium increase. Once the build is complete (if there is such a thing) a final agreed value will be established. Pretty damn easy.....
I had State Farm for all my rods/collector cars in the '80's-90's They were Agreed value&daily drivers,no problem even when I had a total(not my fault,so they collected from the other party) Now they would only go 12K agreed when I had a 17K appraisal,and said if I had a total loss,they would only pay NADA value even though it was agreed upon at 12K (NADA showed a 32 Ford P/U at $475 MSRP and Basically $8,000 for a driver condition) I went with Grundy!!! ...was with SF since 1970 on my cars,boats,and house
I didn't know State Farm would even write an Agreed Value policy. I think they are actually Stated Value which is very different. Think this has been covered in other threads. Did something change?
.......I'm glad you brought this up 'cause it's always puzzled me. How the heck does NADA come up with values for Hot Rods, Customs,etc. when there is such a wide range of equipment, build quality, etc., etc.? I guess I could understand a valuation on strictly original or meticulously restored vehicles as they could go by comps (like from recent Auctions) like real estate, but how do they come up with a value for Hot Rods? Is it by some arbitrary appraisal, 'cause every appraisal I've ever seen can change dramatically with the next appraiser.
Just call Grundy or Hagerty I've had both but Grundy was cheaper and had less restrictions. You didn't say how much you were trying to insure it for but it's usually better to go over 25k than under 25k too.
Look at my avatar. I got t-boned in the r r wheel just three weeks after I started driving it. They replaced the entire third member including all modifying and in two weeks I was back on the road and never raised my rates.
All that I can tell you is that they sent me a registered letter that I had to sign for and refused to insure this. It is possible that they have seen the light since then. The company was Collector Car Ins. I don't bull shit people. This actually happened to me. It ended up saving me money. I'm not one to shop around after I've settled on something. I had a car insured with them for over 15 years when this happened. When I first called about this car and asked for 20 gs insurance they balked at first until they saw the VIN which proved it was an original SS396 That will give you an idea how long ago it was. Needless to say I have had unfriendly dealings with them. Just my personal experience.
I too have Grundy and found it to be about $100 a year cheaper than Hagerty. I had heard about Grundy also insuring daily drivers so I called and got a quote from them. They were way higher than what I pay at Geico so I just kept my daily with Geico and my 27 with Grundy. I know some people have said Geico is expensive, but I have gotten quotes from 21st Century and Progressive, and both could not come close to Geico. When I called Progressive and told them what I was paying Geico, "Flo" told me to stay where I was. Don
Ha Ha! That's funny Don! I use to think Flo was hot but now that she's getting some miles on her well......
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