Classic Car Insurance

Tom from Drippin'

Tom from Drippin'

Senior Member
I currently have my three classic cars with J.C. Taylor. I've been with them for years with no problems (no claims either).
In obtaining an umbrella policy from the company that insures my daily drivers, they require that I insure my three classics with American Collectors.
I have never heard of American Collectors, and would like some input on this company from the forum.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
 
I have not heard of them. Could they be an off shoot of your daily driver insurance carrier?
 
seems like a very odd requirement and unreasonable. This is America. You should be able to get your insurance any where you want.
The classics and the dailies are unrelated to each other in any way
 
Sounds like it might be time to change primary insurance companies.


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reminds me of the tv commercial "they said I picked the wrong policy...No I picked the wrong company":D... I have an umbrella policy that covers 5 daily drivers + homeowners + my car hauler but my "fun cars" are insured by Hagerty (long time, no problems but also no claims).

TerryO
 
That sort of behaviour by a company is illegal here. I'd tell them I think they are engaging in unconscionable/unethical behaviour before going elsewhere.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea.
Don't you guys have an ombudsman or someone who can sort out companies like this?:eek:
 
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I have had the Farm Bureau of NC as my all around insurance company for years. I tried to get insurance for my classic cars with hagerty, and hit some road blocks. Basically they turned me down because my son was living at home for a while, and he had tickets on his record. He had his own car ,his own insurance policy and never drove my cars. But they said I was high risk. My last ticket was 1976. So after talking with my reg company. I found better coverage for less money. You will pay rates on an agreed value for your car. And with my regular company I get things that the hagerty classic car co. Don't offer any more like unlimited towing and rental car.
Any way do a little checking around, you might save money and get better coverage.
 
Synchro909 said:
That sort of behaviour by a company is illegal here. I'd tell them I think they are engaging in unconscionable behaviour before going elsewhere.
There are plenty of other fish in the sea.
Don't you guys have an ombudsman or someone who can sort out companies like this?:eek:
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well the BBB is a joke and a insurance company is a private company and can do what they want- dont like it? Then they say you can leave. My current car insurance requires I do my renters insurance through them also. But is saving me $700 a year VS my old insurance.:cool:
 
SeaSlugs said:
well the BBB is a joke and a insurance company is a private company and can do what they want- dont like it? Then they say you can leave. My current car insurance requires I do my renters insurance through them also. But is saving me $700 a year VS my old insurance.:cool:
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Every state has an insurance commissioner that all insurance company's have to answer to. Just lodge a complaint
 
I have had the Farm Bureau of NC as my all around insurance company for years. I tried to get insurance for my classic cars with hagerty, and hit some road blocks. Basically they turned me down because my son was living at home for a while, and he had tickets on his record. He had his own car ,his own insurance policy and never drove my cars. But they said I was high risk. My last ticket was 1976. So after talking with my reg company. I found better coverage for less money. You will pay rates on an agreed value for your car. And with my regular company I get things that the hagerty classic car co. Don't offer any more like unlimited towing and rental car.
Any way do a little checking around, you might save money and get better coverage.
Click to expand...

One reason I went with Hagerty is they were the only company that would insure my Shelby while it was undergoing restoration (3 years and I would have been very uneasy without insurance) plus they don't have a limit on mileage.

Terry O
 
Shop around.

I am in NJ. Had my auto with 21st century (Farmers co.), cars with Conden and Skelly, and an umbrella through Personal Umbrella.

Went to a local Farmer rep and switched auto Farmers and umbrella to farmers. They wanted my house to be with Farmers too, but I am in the 2 mile from shore huricane zone and only 4 companies write this area. So I was able to keep my house ins. They just needed to see my antique policy to add it to the Farmers umbrella. I am saving a few hundered dollars doing this.

Being in the 2 mile from shore gives some odd problems. I was quoted a $36,000 huricane deductible which was not good to me, so for like $100 more I got a $9000 deductible. Figured it best to stay with my current homeowners with a $1000 deductible. To be honest we have not had a major hurricane in this part of NJ since like 64 I think. But with the climate change who knows. Our weather patterns have changed a lot in the last few years.
 
I have two A's with Hagerty. However, my umbrella policy with Encompass will not extend to the A's. This seems to be a common occurrence among companies offering umbrella coverage.
 
I too was referred to American Collectors Insurance through USAA (USAA insures my daily drivers). Had them for a while (no claims) but discovered the same thing that Dick did: they were pricier and more restrictive than most other classic car insurance companies. I also got tire of every time that I called them up, the lady who answered the phone always seemed like I had just woken her up and that I was bothering her (one time even was a dog barking in the background!). She also had no clue about old cars.

.....so I too dumped them and also went with Hagerty. Hagerty has been great and their reps are car people too....so they know the deal. Had my car towed (via roll-back) one time to the police station to have the police verify the VIN number....and then towed back home. Hagerty covered it all and happily so...even called me back to make sure that everything was OK with how the towing company had handled my car and to verify that they had used the proper cotton padded tie-downs to secure the car on the roll back!

I too have both running and non-running Model A's insured with Hagerty. Hagerty also covers my Model A's when touring outside of the USA (like in Germany or the Netherlands for example).

Brad in Maryland
 
I learned a valuable lesson a month ago. I asked Liberty Mutual for a quote on my modern car, and they wanted my email to send the quote. The low lifes sold my email address to every spammer they could find, and now I'm getting crap all the time, where I never had any before.
No more email quotes for me.
 
Dunno squat about American Collectors, so sorry, can't help there. But I'll say this FWIW...I have an umbrella with State Farm - they require minimum underlying coverage on cars, house, etc but they don't care who carries it.
 
I've used American Collectors for years/decades. But, they are getting expensive especially as I down-size. I'm thinking about looking else where.

One mentioned about we being in America and being able to purchase insurance anywhere. Ahahahah. Try that with health insurance ! Its illegal to buy/sell across state lines.
 
seems like a very odd requirement and unreasonable. This is America. You should be able to get your insurance any where you want.
The classics and the dailies are unrelated to each other in any way
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exactly!

American collectors is in Cherry Hill NJ and is an offshoot of the old Condon and Skelly, when the partners broke up. Doubt the partners are still alive.

Was told by Farmers- my primary car insurance, that they use JC Taylor and the rates are higher through them, then going it alone, by adding antique auto insurance.

also, discussed here previously, JC does not cover your car if it is in the middle of a restoration and torn into 1000 pieces and you have a fire. I know this because a fella once told me he lost his Stanley in a fire and JC refused to pay. So be careful with who you choose and under what conditions. I have JC, but have never had a claim.
 
I have Insurance with American Collectors on two Model A's. Agreed Value on one is $26,000 ($133 premium) and $17,000 ($130 premium). A reply to my letter concerning usage is as follows:

Hi Mr. Turner,

I received your email about the mileage and usage for our program. Our program does allow 2500 or 5000 miles per year, it would be up to you what mileage tier would work best for you driving needs. You could always start a policy with 2500 miles and if you feel that you would need more miles at any time call us and get the addition mileage tier.
Regarding usage if you wanted to go to an ice cream shop or occasionally out to dinner with your collector vehicle that would be fine, a drive around the block or even on a nice sunny day you want to take your car to work or for a drive around the block would be fine as well. We just would not want your collector car to be used for daily transportation or using it all the time to go shopping or to work.
I hope I answered your questions if you do have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact me or any other representative.

Sincerely,
 
I have USAA insurance on my modern vehicles, home, etc. . They referred me to American Collectors for insurance on the As. Never had a claim or problem with them, ultimately changed to Haggerty as it was less expensive.

Anything affiliated with USAA should be a quality product.
 
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