40 Coupe rollover, are you covered?

Cool Hand Lurker

Cool Hand Lurker

Well-known member
At the Rebers auction in Minnesota last weekend a buyer paid $21,000 for an original 1940 Ford Coupe, put it on his trailer, drove less than a mile and was in a crash. The coupe was totalled.
I checked with my insurance agent to see if I would be covered in a similar situation and was told that a newly acquired vehicle would be covered if it was otherwise insurable by the company. If it were an antique or collector vehicle it would have to be insured by another company they write for, like J.C. Taylor. Then that company usually does not pay off until the car is actually accepted for insurance and the policy is issued which could take a few weeks.
So it looks like if I buy an old Ford and put it on a trailer to take it home, it is not covered. At all. Has anybody found a way to avoid this situation?.
 
Oh man, that really sucks. I call my insurance co. before hand on lots of stuff, vehicle purchases, rental vehicles, driving over US border, etc. I have found in most cases they are much easier to deal with if they know before they are needed.
 
Yes, there is a slippery slope. First off, starting with the tow vehicle, just because the tow vehicle is fully insured doe NOT mean the trailer being towed is covered (other than liability) unless the insurance company has it specified in the policy. I think I pay like $20 annually per vehicle for this trailer towing coverage. Next comes the situation where the contents/cargo of that trailer is not covered under the tow vehicle's policy unless there is a special policy for that too. Now where the insurance company and you must come to an agreement on is when is something cargo and when is it a vehicle? Also, what is protocol if you were to purchase a vehicle during afterhours?

Where this could be a real interesting situation is technically that '40 Coupe is not legally the "Guy that had the accident"'s car yet until it is registered. He was towing it and so does his insurance company pay for the loss? Maybe another way to say this is, if I am towing someone else's vehicle on my trailer and there is an accident, my insurance company pays whomever the car is registered to, ...correct?
 
Hey, I might actually be able to help for once!

Similar situation here quite a while back, minus the crash thankfully.

When wife and I had decided we were definitely going to buy a Model A and even before we began looking around, I called Hagerty insurance and asked about this exact same scenario. Hagerty said they get this all the time and knew what to do. They issued a policy for me over the phone for a car that I had not even purchased yet, with the "blank spots" to be filled in via telephone call when we did find the car we were going to buy. They gave me a customer number and policy number before I even test drove my first Model A.

So, in essence, I had insurance way before I had a car.

As for charges, they did not charge my credit card until the day I called them with a VIN number of the car we agreed to buy. The car was insured before I even loaded it onto the trailer for the long trip home. And, I felt really relaxed the whole way home knowing-

A: Tow vehicle is covered by my existing insurance.
B: Trailer covered by my existing insurance PLUS the U-Haul insurance.
C: Car covered by Hagerty.

If buying a car at auction, they do pretty much the same thing. The person I spoke to at Hagerty said they do this all the time.

I sure hope that helps someone someday.
 
Thanks for the replies. My auto and homeowners insurance is with Horace Mann. They handle the J.C. Taylor business too but said Taylor would take a couple of weeks. Now is that the Taylor policy or is it my agent who is not familiar with their procedures? He does not handle a lot of collector car business so it would be understandable that he would not know.
I do have a couple of cars insured with American Collectors. I will have to check with them too.
 
Good news for me. I checked the American Collectors website and this is what they had to say:
Automatic Coverage for Newly Acquired Vehicles – Qualifying vehicles purchased during the policy term are automatically covered for 30 days for values up to $25,000.
 
When we bought the '28 Leatherback in April of this year I had to go to Michigan and trailer it home. I called JC Taylor I think it was 3 days before we went to get it and gave them the VIN number and started the insurance on it then. That way if anything happened on the way home with it on the trailer it was covered. I've got to give props to my wife and my dad. I didn't think about this and they both brought it up to me. I was a nervous wreck on the way home, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

-Neal-
 
First, read your policy. All policies are not the same, all states do not use the same policies, and there are some areas where you may not have the coverages that the boys here say you have..

Newly acquired vehicles ... check your policy ... are usually automatically covered by companies like Hagerty IF all your antique (over 25 yrs) cars are covered under THEIR policy. If you have a couple under a Hagerty policy and an antique "daily driver" covered under your regular, say, State Farm policy, you have a definite gray area and maybe no automatic coverage from either policy.

Trailers. Fun reading. See what it says about coverage with the trailer hitched to your car ... and figure out what happens if it's not hitched. (Park at the motel and unhitch your trailer to go get dinner, trailer drifts down the parking lot, hits someone's car. Coverage or not?)

Insurance coverage is very specific. What is covered is spelled out. Surprising how many agents really do not understand the finer points of the policies they sell you.
 
My insurance company is Hagerty, I called to see what In should do when I was going to go look at a car a possibly buy. They told me the same thing cool hand lurker said that the car was covered up to 30 days.
 
State Farm insurance for mine...called them before I moved it on the trailer from California. Sent photos by phone...did it before I left on the trip and all was good....but I would not have been covered if I hadn't made the call.
 
Ed Northrop said:
My insurance company is Hagerty, I called to see what In should do when I was going to go look at a car a possibly buy. They told me the same thing cool hand lurker said that the car was covered up to 30 days.
Click to expand...


I too called Hagerty when I bought my Tudor in April. They told me the same, that I was covered.

If I would of stayed with the previous insurance company, it would not have been covered until payment received and accepted. They were cheaper than Hagerty, but very difficult to work with to insure a new vehicle and annual renewal, so I switched. I never made on claim with the company.

Cost me about $50 more per year, but very happy with Hagerty.
 
"Another possible solution--use a third party transporter?"

Depending on an auto transporter to insure your car is most likely going to lead to some huge disappointments. It's the owner's responsibility to make sure he has adequate coverage ... even with the best-known "classic" car transporters.

Recently had a buddy buy/transport a collector car from the northeast to Florida. The car suffered considerable paint damage. Fortunately he had the good sense to arrange prior coverage with Hagerty.

The transporter (not the best) had insurance but they only offered less than 75% of the cost of repair. Hagerty immediately sent a check for the FULL amount for repairs by a top-notch shop chosen by my buddy ... and stated they would be responsible for recovering what they could from the transporter's insurer.

... "And PRAY they have kept their premium payments up to date." Know what you mean, but instead of praying, simply arrange for your own insurance.

(I'm always amazed that people spend so much on insurance and have no idea what they are buying.)
 
Good Thread

Good Thread ... :cool:


Was that the same auction that had the 32' Model B go for 29K ?

That is really sad to see any vehicle end up that way





Jim
 
"Was that the same auction that had the 32' Model B go for 29K ?"

YUP, that was the auction. Here is a list of the results
from their website, www.vanderbrinkauctions.com


Order Sold 3R 1934 Ford 5 window Coupe Survivor #4 $54,000.00

4R 1941 Ford Bus. Coupe Survivor #4 $14,000.00

5R 1940 Ford coupe Survivor #4 $21,000.00

2R 1932 Ford 2dr Sedan Model B #3 $29,000.00

9R 1936 Ford Roadster #4 $45,000.00

6R 1935 Ford Deluxe 2dr Sedan Survivor #4 $17,000.00

10R 1937 Ford Deluxe Coupe survivor #4 $25,000.00
br> 7R 1939 Ford Standard 2dr Sedan Survivor #4 13,000.00
br> 8R 1936 Ford Survivor #4 $21,000.00

11R 1946 Ford Deluxe Conv.–older restore #4 22,000.00

12R 1942 Ford 4 Dr Suicide Sedan Survivor #5 $5500.00

15R 1950 Ford Custom 2dr Sedan Older restore #3 $13,500.00

Lot Description CC Price 8R 1951 Ford Custom Survivor 64 miles #3 $21,000.00

34R 1924 Ford Model T Truck Project #5 $5500.00

Model T Roadster Body- restored painted $5000.00

13R 1913 Ford Model T Project #6 $2000.00

14R 1915 Ford Model T Project #5 $3700.00

300W 1957 Ford Skyliner Retractable Project #5 $8250.00

Ford Service Sign- framed and hand painted $1225.000

21R NOS 1932 Ford Fender $2500.00

22R NOS Ford Model A Fender 500.00

Vintage 1949 Ford Truck Poster $350.00

Vintage Dealership 1941 Ford Banner $550.00

McCulloch Chain Saws Sign $600.00

Single Sided Porcelain Ford Sign $1050.00

KR Wilson Carb Tester-Ford $650.00 Ford NOS Spark Plugs- Box $110.00

Ford Aftermarket Manifold with 2 carbs Model A $450.00 Hundreds of parts sold before and after cars to on-site bidders only
 
I too have Haggerty -- now -- after J.C. Taylor failed to pay off on a claim several years back, and after having had insurance with them for 20+ years. My advice to anyone with an antique car is to avoid J. C. Taylor at all costs! Great at taking premiums, terrible at paying claims.
 
I checked with my State Farm agent about trailers, antique autos, boats, bikes, etc. everything is covered! buy a Model A, Harley, boat or anything you will insure with the company; it's automatic the item is insured for 30 days although I'd never let it go that long berore contacting the agent. If I buy, rent or borrow a trailer it is covered from the moment it is hooked to the pickup! I've had State Farm for almost 50 years and my parents had them before me. I checked on Hagerty and Taylor several years ago -- they weren't even close to SF's service and cost. Why would you ever go anywhere else? I will say not all agents are the same, it pays to ask them a bunch of questions. E LaBrash
 
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