Hot Rods State Farm dropped me from their antique insurance

Insurance companies do that every time they want to increase profit. A bean counter looks for patterns as to where losses are occurring. I would guess that the current rage of rat rods and patina has started to show up in the computers. As we all know the build of RR's can be questionable, along with the driving styles of some of the operators. Then there are the "barn find" patina cars. Average people you can drag that car out of 10 or more years of storage and put it into service without doing any maintenance such as brakes. (Hey look! They still work!). Most of us on here know better and forget the general public has no clue.

I am no fan of insurance companies either. I have had threats of cancelling policy unless I paint my barns ect.
All insurance companies are paid to take risks. They are pretty good at figuring out the amount of risk they are willing to accept.
Seems the above similar comment was typed ahead of me by a few seconds.

 

Vicky, we will see what they say when I am done painting it.Bruce.

 

Shift Wizzard.I know the car looks like crap now but wait till you see it once its painted.Bruce.

 

49ratfink.Yes it had FULL coverage.Thanks Bruce.

 

If you need to see proof of why insurance companies don't want to pay for claims, just look on your policy and note almost the entire policy is a list of exclusions. The part listing whats covered is almost invisible in comparison.

 

The majority of issues all of us will have is the broker you use. I've had the same guy for well over 20 yrs, he's creative, economical, gives solid advice, not interested in his bottom line more than his client's. Rare, yes I know. Sometimes it's not worth the fight to find decent and affordable coverage, our stuff or anything lese for that matter, but I know I've saved a small fortune over these many years. AAA? A huge singlefinger salute to that company. As a restoration shop, any claims I've had to deal with from Hagerty or Grundy, fast pay, ZERO hassel, happy customers. That's where the best performance reports come from, claims. Mrs Highlander got totalled 10 years ago. She was ok for the most part, heartbroken over her car. Paid for and replaced in about 8 days. Brokers matter...

 

Years ago when I had State Farm auto/ home and it came time to cover my 37 Ford my agent informed me due to all the modifications they could not cover the car.
I hooked up with Grundy shortly after and have never looked back.Yes,you need a daily driver but there are no restrictions on mileage to" parades,shows,repair facilities etc" with your collector car.
I and all those I know with Grundy for any claim have been paid fairly and quickly, one of the reasons I've kept them for 20 plus years.
Shop around until you find a company which provides the service's you need.

 

Excellent points made by the HIGHLANDER, which I failed to mention, your broker
can make a world of difference.

 

A little OT but my insurance company for my business audits me every year. Sales, employees, blah blah. Did less work last year. Had fewer employees and they decided I owed them 6000 for some arbitrary reason. Been with them for 10 years. Nothing in my business had changed except number of employees and how much we make. Disputed it and was shut down. Never been late or missed an ever rising payment. Never made a claim. Assholes!!! The whole lot of em #heresa10poundbagofmiddlefingers #Fsmallbusinesses #greedybastards

And I know this isn't instagram.haha

 

Time to callout the fuckers, give us a name!

 

Grundy is great. They pay up and make sure you are happy with them.

 

While it may be noticed, I think that in comparison to the costs associated with Mustangs and Camaro's that lose control leaving a car event parking lot and crash the rat rod thing is small potato's. Do a youtube search and watch the carnage, it's kinda fun, in an odd way.

 

I've had State Farm for a number of years, My MN lake property, home in Wisconsin, etc. their rates were better then others and customer service is great, they are not a specialty car insurer, I'm staying with them!

 

Full coverage is only a couple hundred a year, not a big deal, and it covers theft and fire too. It's worth the cost IMO.

 

Grundy has been great...everyone I have dealt with treats you like a valued customer.
On the other hand State Farm are shit!
Here is my SF little story...I got rear ended on the 605 fwy here in LA by a SF insured driver. My back was hurting and I called his adjuster to inquire what I should do about my back and leg pain. The dude was an ass and said I must be an eggshell....lol.

I wasn't going to get an attorney up to then cause i just wanted some questions answered...
Long story short I got an attorney because of that prick and turned out I needed back surgery and sued their asses!
At the deposition they tried to cover their ass and said another car hit me and showed me pics of the car that hit me....it had minor paint scrapes! The car that hit me was jacked up...All along they fought me but in the end I got hooked up and I hope when they went back to listen to the phone call (phone call may be monitored...haha) they fired the adjusters ass on the spot...ahhhh...thanks State Farm!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

LOL I lived in a part of town where they dropped the entire part of town from Home owners. It was against state insurance code for them to do so but they found a loophole, they just excluded insurance on homes worth less than X dollars.

I can see their point, a car with bad paint can not be properly repaired if in an accident. But they should make allowances for a log time customer in good standing. We don't get it because we are not bean counters, and they don't get it because they are.

 

Howdy there Bruce.
I wasn't directing my comment at your car or any specific vehicle. I meant it to be general and about the very different perspectives of the two parties. The insurance co sees an old car, in this case with rough paint, and judges the balance of the car as most likely rough to the bone. "Junk" in their eyes. On the other hand, the car owner may have worked countless hours and built to a high standard but left the original paint for his own reasons, but it's his "Dream Car". It's natural for the owner to want to drive his dream car, that he has made road worthy, with insurance and paint later or not paint as he chooses. But an insurance company may have so little experience with old rods and such a narrow view about details, like paint for example, that they see nothing but trouble.

Imagine a pie chart of the total customers for a company like Hagerty. The section for driveable hot rods, 90% finished, is going to be a pretty big slice. Now the same demographic on State Farm's pie chart is going to be a thin slice, indeed. For some insurance companies, the slice might be off the radar completely. A good part of my original point was liability coverage should be easier to shop and find because insurance companies don't take a hard look at the cosmetic appearance. If you have a safety inspection sticker, they will take your money. BUT...... paying for coverage and getting service when you actually have a need may be a risky problem from a company with limited experience with old rod claims.

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding regarding your car, Bruce. Never let anything anyone says or posts steal your joy! Happy Highways, my friend.

 

Travelers .... were a small 4 person state of the art 1960's sign and fabrication shop. Have not changed anything in 10 years as far of scope of work and what we do. NOTHING! They can travelers their ass off a cliff.

 

State Farm just plain SUCKS. Back in the 60s a State Farm agent, after asking about and getting straight answers from me about tickets, etc. on my driving record (which wasn't the best) still made me a better price on liability insurance than I was paying elsewhere, so I agreed, signed up and paid my premium.
Before I could get to my agent for the ins. I already had ( he was in another town), and cancel ,I got a letter from State Farm canceling the policy and enclosing a refund check that was $15 LESS than what
I had paid barely a week before!
Went to the agent who sold me the policy and asked where was the other $15? Now remember this was early 60s and $15 was pretty near a day's take home pay back then. His reply? That was a non refundable fee for joining State Farm membership as a mutual company! Well, we had strong words, I can assure you!
Then years later, it was a State Farm policyholder, DUI, ran a stop sign, hit my wife broadside, luckily she was unhurt, but the car was a mess, hit so hard it cracked body filler on the OTHER SIDE of the car from a previous accident from before I bought the car used.
They (State Farm), paid to fix the damage where the car was hit, but refused to do anything about the hairline cracks in filler that had opened up when the car was hit. Only way I could go was to either accept as repaired or do without the car while I fought it in court. Needed the car, so I had to accept, but their adjuster got an earful! Told him if he ever walked the streets of town and saw me coming the other way he better cross the street before I saw him as he was about to get an ass whupping!
I've had Allstate from mid 60s on DD cars and trucks, my home and my rental houses, however they don't insure "commercial buildings" so they wouldn't insure my stand alone elsewhere shop and I've had Auto Owners for over 30 years on it. No claims on Auto Owners, but Allstate has always been fair on any claim.
For my hot rods I have Hagerty, agreed value with all sorts of coverage, had insurance on roadster while under construction, if something falls on them while in shop, or if damaged in a fire, or theft.
Only restrictions are no driving to work, but Hell I'm retired anyway,and I must have a daily driver. Also, if I'm in hometown, cars must be under lock and key in enclosed bldg. at night at bedtime. No restrictions on driving mileage or where I go.

 

My dad was an independent agent back in the day, so maybe I'm biased. Everybody sez ins. companies are crooks, but he came home every night regaling us with stories how everyone was trying to rip him off. A lot of people are crooks, too. Some of the stories were hilarious, because lots of people are fucking stupid in addition to being crooks. They'd have their brother in law "steal" their car, set it on fire etc. They didn't understand simple shit like that the insurance would cut a check to the lender, not the car owner, and that they were still responsible for the balance owed. A lot of people seem to think a vehicle accident should be sort of like winning the lottery. As with most things, getting the gubbmint and legislation involved just ruins everything. "Mandatory" insurance sounds good in theory, but a certain percentage will never carry insurance, no matter what the law says. The difference is, now the co. has to monitor this and keep track of deadbeats, send out registered letters stating "effective at 12:01 AM, your coverage will cease" etc. People sign up to get the cards, and make a payment or two and then quit. This is just extra BS and added on to everyone elses premium. Some people would come in weekly to make a payment on their premium. Big pita to deal with that nonsense.

 

That's why they say don't mess with dirty old men, cause we don't give a damn any more. LOL. Bruce.

 

Shift Wizzard.I wasn't going after you buddy. I was just making a statement. If I was a plain Joe walking down the street and saw my car coming .I would think man what a piece of junk. Paint really does make a big difference how a car looks.The car is wearing whats left of its orginal paint. I just wanted to have it insured while I was working on getting it ready for paint.So no offence between us O.K.? Thanks Bruce.

 

I just heard it through the grapevine from a state farm worker.They really have become picky here in Sevier Co. T.N. because of the big hit they took from the fires last Nov. up in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.Bruce..

 

My comment has nothing to do with crooks. Just loyalty! Give me the same coverage for the lowest price.

 

My car is a lot less-painted than Bruce's car. I have Hagerty through my insurance broker. The rep gave me a little trouble since I had what she called an unfinished car, being in primer. We went back and forth and she was more concerned if my car had a race motor... or not than the paint. In the end she wrote a policy through Hagerty for me.

 

Well, sorta. My point is, a lot of policyholders aren't too "loyal" specifically either. Everyone shops by price.

But I want a local agent, that I can sit down and talk to, and get to know them, and just as important they get to know me. Banks used to be the same way. Now everything is a faceless huge conglomerate that don't know anything about you, other than a scripted check the block computer algo program and talking to you from 12 states over, or outsourced to a bucket shop in Paki. "Your call is important to us." Sure.

 

Hell Bruce go get the car wrapped and keep working on it. Or flat black it and call it painted! Joe

 

Question for you guys with Haggerty insurance, is there a "garage" clause like there is with Grundy? A lot of guys here have mulitple cars, and don't garage all of them. Will Haggerty insure them if they are not garage kept?

 

Question for you guys with Haggerty insurance, is there a "garage" clause like there is with Grundy? A lot of guys here have mulitple cars, and don't garage all of them. Will Haggerty insure them if they are not garage kept?

My Hagerty policy states all vehicles must be in a locked garage. Except when in use of course. Joe

 

My agent and policy so stated this, yes. But a rep at a big swap meet told me that in some cases exceptions could be made if they "reviewed the site and determined security to be sufficient". For times when you are on a trip out of town where you will be gone overnight, they do ask that you take all possible security measures. I do take measures to disable when parked overnight out of town.
I know what you mean about multiple cars, as I have 4 vehicles, 2 of which are hot rods that do remain under lock and key in closed garages off site and a DD and a p'up at home under an open pole shed.