Classic Auto Insurance

flatheadfan said:
I am not trying to hijack this thread but a while back I was part of a discussion about old car insurance. The hypothetical situation is this, you have a "generally" restored car but it does have some engine modifications such as a later flathead with a couple of carbs and hydraulic brakes. Somehow you neglected to tell the insurance company about these modifications as you believed they are basically inconsequential.

Everything is going along great but you end up in an accident and the car is now inoperable. The insurance adjuster comes to see the car and sees the "modifications." The question is this... Can the insurance company refuse any payout because you "concealed" changes that altered the vehicle from its original condition?

Comments?

Tom
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At least with me, the car would be classified as, depending on the year, as a "modified" or a "hot rod/street rod" since its not totally original. I require a new apparaisal and detail sheet when improvements increase the value by $3k or more. I just had a client put in a 502 Ram Jet in his 50 Merc. Of course it increased the value by $15k so we adjusted it. I just put wheels and tires on my 40, and didnt do anything since it was under $3k, but know I still have coverage.
 
Well I went with Grundy as well. Easy to work with and reasonable.

Re: '...neglect to tell about modifications....' Well if it's actual neglect I'd make the correction ASAP. If it's intentional "neglect" in order to save a few $$$ on premiums, that's a different matter and only the person who does it can decide on how to resolve.

I have insurance to protect my property and I want to make sure it does just that. If I neglect to tell the insurance company about something I expect to be covered, I guess it'd be my loss, not theirs since they provide coverage based on the information I give them, and premiums are based on that information as well.

Full disclosure in order to have full coverage for my property is why I have insurance. Just MHO.
 
Nice thread guys. I am actually in the restoration process with an inoperable vehicle and will be getting insurance soon. I have never dealt with insurance as my mother in law has always done our policy as she works for the carrier. Thanks for the lesson.
 
I have found that like the old saying "the devil is in the details." Most of the well known antique companies seem to have good reputations but they have different fine print. Things to watch for are storage requirements, mileage restrictions, driver restrictions, modifications and others. Make sure the details match your situation.

As an example I had State Farm for many years because they would insure my three teenage sons. The antique only companies will not insure teenagers. When I retired I switched to Grundy because they had no mileage restrictions and had reduced rates for multiple cars. No longer have teenagers and have lots of driving time. They recognize that I can only drive one car at a time.
 
A couple of cautionary comments about a common practice:
It is a very bad idea to drop your old car insurance when you are not operating the vehicle (s), like during the winter. I know several guys that do that on the assumption that their home owners insurance will cover the vehicle (s) in the event of a fire or other loss causing event.
HOME OWNERS INSURANCE WILL NOT COVER ANY VEHICLE THAT NEEDS TO BE LICENSED. Home owners insurance will in most cases cover your lawn mower, garden tractor, golf cart, etc.
I know three guys that lost very expensive vehicles in fires with no coverage.
If you are working on a vehicle, as soon as it starts to take shape into a recognizable vehicle, insure it for fire, theft, etc.
DON'T ASSUME THAT THE SHOP THAT IS WORKING ON THE VEHICLE CARRIES INSURANCE TO PROTECT YOUR CAR. As a general rule if you look around the shop you will see a small sign saying... "Not Responsible for Fire or Theft".
Fortunately for me I found out about my friends loss which prompted me to ask my wife about our insurance.. I know my wife is a penny pincher of the first order (Irish) so after I asked her, which got me a vague answer that everything was under control, I checked with the insurance agent/carriers.. I found out that she was in the habit of dropping the insurance on the RV, antique cars and two boats during the winter months... I now take care of most of the vehicle/boat insurance.
In my state, California, the state now cancels the vehicle registration when the insurance carrier notifies the state that the coverage has been dropped.
 
You don't have to drop your coverage when you aren't using the vehicle...simply switch to "comprehensive" coverage only. The "Liability" portion of your policy is for when you are driving it and may cause damage to someone else. The comprehensive portion is the part about theft, vandalism, fire, etc.

Incidentally, I keep a high deductible on my collision coverage, because I figure if the damage is less than $1000 I'll probably fix it myself. I only need the insurance company to step in when it would be a more major collision of a few thousand or more. It saves a good amount on the policy.

On my comprehensive I keep a $0 deductible, because if someone steals my wheels or radio I don't want to get hit for the first $500 of it. And it doesn't add very much at all to the policy to do this.
 
blucar said:
Auto insurance just like any other insurance can be a big problem if you purchase same based on the assumption of a good price.
Generally speaking there is two types of auto insurance; Stated Value and Actual Cash Value (ACV).
Nope, "Agreed Value" policies is what Grundy and Hagerty offer.

Most policy's are written as ACV, the cheapest type. The purchaser "ASSUMES" ACV means the value of his car..WRONG.. When dealing with the average daily driver, if there is a claim, the payout by the carrier will be based on current "Blue Book" values, i.e. high book or low book depending on condition, mileage etc. If the carrier thinks the damage exceeds the "book value" they total the vehicle, usually paying LOW BOOK which could leave the owner owing money on a vehicle he no longer has.
What you have just described is a "Stated Value" policy, a person's everyday driver policy.

Don't be mislead into thinking that ACV will cover your $45,000 '34 conv when the Price Guide only says a #1 is worth $26,000.

Stated/Agreed Value on the other had has a premium based on the appraised and/or stated value of the vehicle.
Agreed Value ONLY, Stated value policies are daily driver policies.
If you have an agreed value policy you and the insurance company are "agreeing" at the time of binding the contract that the car will be insured for a certain amount. In the case of total loss the insurance company will pay you the full agreed on price. There is never a deductable involved or arguing about how much the car is worth.

If anyone has a policy that has a deductible you do not have an agreed value policy
In a stated value, like your daily driver, the insurance company is stating to you at the time of loss how much your car is worth.

Stated Value and Agreed Value are two way different types of policies.

The cost of the premium will be in proportion to the dollar amount of the policy.
Correct in an agreed value policy

I have had Hagerty for over ten years, insuring five cars ranging from a value of 65k to 15k, my policy is slightly over $1,000. I switched from the carrier I had for over 20 years because some of my cars are modified, some are dead stock.. The previous carrier hassled me every year about my modified cars. The modifications were only later model engines, hydraulic brakes and some speed equipment on my '36 Ford.
Hagerty wanted a statement of facts, two pix of each vehicle and an official appraised value on the cars over $50k.
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Hagery is an excellent company that offers Agreed Value policies for classic cars. I had them for almost 15 years with a couple of large claims that were paid without any issues BUT when I learn about Grundy approx 9 years ago and found they offered the exact same coverage for less cost I switched.

 
[FONT=&quot]I have AARP’s classic car insurance. They do my home and regular auto insurance as well. They’ve been very good with the one claim that I had and it did not affect my rates. Worth considering
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I would advise against J C Taylor. A friend of mine had extensive damage to his 57 Bird (trailer truck) and the adjuster Taylor had only ok'ed about $8,000 for repairs. The actual damage was at least twice that. Only when my friend threatened to get a lawyer involved did they come up with a reasonable settlement.

The old JC Taylor is no more. They were bought out sometime in the past by a company that insures RV's and motorcycles and didn't even know what a Thunderbird was at that time (about two years ago).

Needless to say, his new car is insured with some one else.
 
Has anybody had experience with American National Property and Casualty (Chrome)? They sent me an unsolicited quote at about 1/3 of what I am paying Hagerty, but there was no contract with it to see what the restriction are. They even know what coverage I presently have.
 
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