Insurance Companies...

It's kind of a bummer to have to decide between "full coverage" and driving your car "normally"

I plan to drive my A to work pretty regularly (I know, I know--heresy to some here :) ), which means that the specialty insurers are right out. But everything I've read and heard from my insurer says that coverage under my regular insurance probably isn't going to cover the full cost of the car if it's totaled.

Is there anyone who has had a claim with their regular insurance on their A who can report on how it was handled? Or anyone who can offer a third option?
 
All of these answers are GREAT, but NO one has tackled the issues of those of us who use them as Daily Drivers. That is important to get someone what will insure you and Grundy and JC will NOT...so what say you all ???
 
msmaron said:
All of these answers are GREAT, but NO one has tackled the issues of those of us who use them as Daily Drivers. That is important to get someone what will insure you and Grundy and JC will NOT...so what say you all ???
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The way my agent explained it to me (State Farm) I had to get a professional appraisal of my car and it was at my expense. They would than insure my car for that value, of course as time passes and value increases you would have to revisit the appraisal process.

Keep I mind also that it won’t be typically cheap antique insurance but more in line with insuring your modern iron if not a little more.
 
Insuring a Model A while assigned with the US Army in Germany

I have my two Model A's insured through USAA here in Germany with US Forces, Germany historic license plates (the first one's ever issued). With USAA, you can put the cars in "temporary storage status" to reduce the insurance down to a nominal fee (must be stored in a locked garage and can not enter a public road). Then when you want to drive it, simply go on-line and take the car out of the temporary storage status. When not in temp. storage, there are no restrictions on mileage or anything else. When I'm finished driving them for a while (if I go on vacation, get deployed, tear the engine apart, or it is snowing outside for example) then I simply park the cars in the locked garage, go on-line and put them in "temporary status" again. The insurance rate then drops to the minimum nominal fee. You can even put them in and out of temp storage status on a daily basis if desired, since the process is done entirely on-line.

Grundy World Wide, by the way, is not "World Wide" :cool:. I tried to insure my two Model A's through them here in Germany....and...ooops, they really are not "World Wide". The "World Wide" part is for cars that are based permanently in the US that are taken out of the US for brief periods of time for rallies or shows, etc. The car must be returned however to the US with in an established time period (I can not remember what the time period was, but it was way shorter than a tour with the Army overseas).

Fordially,
Brad in Germany

PS: Historic license plates or "H" plates here in Germany have no kilometer limitations or other restrictions. The "H" just allows you to pass relaxed vehicle inspection standard, commensurate with the era of the vehicle.
 
Dusty said:
The way my agent explained it to me (State Farm) I had to get a professional appraisal of my car and it was at my expense. They would than insure my car for that value, of course as time passes and value increases you would have to revisit the appraisal process.

Keep I mind also that it won’t be typically cheap antique insurance but more in line with insuring your modern iron if not a little more.
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This is exactly what i was told also, and i found that Grundy and JC will not allow me to drive all i want, That was my only issue that i had with them
 
Brad - Is your plate similar to this one on my roadster?

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/album.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1371


Oh. Actually I see you have an "H" plate.
album.php


album.php
 
Elrod,

Nope....your's is expired! I have almost a complete series of these US Forces Germany plates hanging on the wall in my office.

The current US Forces Germany plates look like normal German plates. The "H" plates just have an "H" as the last digit. Mine are similar to this one:

LicensePlates.jpg


Fordially,
Brad in Germany
 
I have JC Taylor, you decide what the car is worth and then pay the premium accordingly. Perhaps I need to look my policy over, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like if I want to take it out after dinner for a ride around the nieghborhood I'm not covered doing so? Can anyone elaborate?

Neal
 
Franchise_24 said:
I have JC Taylor, you decide what the car is worth and then pay the premium accordingly. Perhaps I need to look my policy over, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like if I want to take it out after dinner for a ride around the nieghborhood I'm not covered doing so? Can anyone elaborate?

Neal
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You'll have to look at the details of your specific policy. From my research, I think most classic car policies cover some "pleasure" driving as well as trips to car shows, as long as you don't exceed the milage limits. What they don't seem to cover (at all) is the occasional use for driving to or from your place of employment. So if you are ever, even once, going to take your car to work, no dice.

For instance, if you were going to go to dinner with Model A compatriots after work, you couldn't drive your A to work and then to dinner. You'd have to return home and switch cars. IMO that sucks :)
 
dan said:
You'll have to look at the details of your specific policy. From my research, I think most classic car policies cover some "pleasure" driving as well as trips to car shows, as long as you don't exceed the milage limits. What they don't seem to cover (at all) is the occasional use for driving to or from your place of employment. So if you are ever, even once, going to take your car to work, no dice.

For instance, if you were going to go to dinner with Model A compatriots after work, you couldn't drive your A to work and then to dinner. You'd have to return home and switch cars. IMO that sucks :)
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Thanks Dan I'll have to look into it. I'm sure if I call them they can send me another copy of my policy, I have no idea where my copy is from 4 years ago...

Neal
 
Brad brings up a thought about taking a car out of country. The National Meet in Canada this summer would your Insurance be valid there if you needed it. If any one that is going they should find out if there Insurance is valid before they go.
 
As an Insurance Adjuster, I can tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. Adjuster and Appraisers do not get any cut of the Insured's settlement. Personally, I think you owe everyone in the claims business an apology. You are talking about something that you have absolutly no knowledge of....
 
Re: Insurance Companies...For upper Midwest Owners

For those in WIsconsin try American Family...I got a great rate for the coupe and tudor and for agreed upon value. I just put the value on it and provided them an email pic. I think they do business in IL, MN, and MI.

Dennis L Oberer
Green Bay WI
 
msmaron said:
All of these answers are GREAT, but NO one has tackled the issues of those of us who use them as Daily Drivers. That is important to get someone what will insure you and Grundy and JC will NOT...so what say you all ???
Click to expand...


If you want to drive your A as any other car, why would you expect the insurance to any different (cheaper) then any other daily driver.

Or are you saying that no insurance company will write you a policy?
 
I use Farmers and put mine on my regular policy and can drive it any time I want with no restrictions..and it is cheap!! I have agreed value with pics I sent them.
 
I just aquired collectors insurance for two vehicles that I have. '29 A coupe and a '79 Dodge Lil Red Express. The Model A is restored but the Lil Red only has all of the running gear restored so far, motor, trans, rear end, suspension etc..(needs paint basically)

I priced this out with both Grundy and Hagerty. Grundy was $200/yr and Hagerty was $300/yr for the same coverage for both vehicles. Well duh, I sent all the required info/photos to Grundy and they refused to cover the Lil Red since it was not restored. I informed them that it was complete minus paint and they said sorry, contact them when vehicle is complete. I then sent the same info/photos to Hagerty and had coverage in two days without so much as a question about the Lil Red.

I'm not sure what Grundy was hung up on, but Hagerty took care of me promptly.

edit; by the way, the photos of the Model A were w/o the gas tank as I have it out of the car for cleaning/sealing. They didn't say anything about that.
 
dan said:
For instance, if you were going to go to dinner with Model A compatriots after work, you couldn't drive your A to work and then to dinner. You'd have to return home and switch cars. IMO that sucks
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You mean you weren't at a club event to get more members at your place of work before going to the meeting to report your success?:rolleyes:
 
Colorado Greg said:
...I sent all the required info/photos to Grundy and they refused to cover the Lil Red since it was not restored. I informed them that it was complete minus paint and they said sorry, contact them when vehicle is complete.
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That's strange. I applied to Grundy after I had the paint and body work done and setting on the restored chassis. My agent said they questioned the value when he turned in the application for my in-progress Tudor and wanted to know where the restoration stood. I wrote up a description of the status and the parts on hand (upholstery kit, chromed bumpers, all nickel items, etc., and they came back with the suggestion that I increase the insurance amount I had requested, and advise them when it was together. Maybe it was the paint that made the difference, but it sure wasn't finished--and still isn't.

Joe
 
Mike V. Florida said:
If you want to drive your A as any other car, why would you expect the insurance to any different (cheaper) then any other daily driver.

Or are you saying that no insurance company will write you a policy?
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The problem isn't that no one will write you a policy, it's that some of us can't seem to find a policy that covers us completely--at any price.

From my research it seems as though a standard policy will cover you for accidents but not the "replacement value" of your car. State Farm, GEICO, etc will be happy to take your money and cover a minor accident/repair but they're going to "total" the vehicle for what they say an 80-year-old car is worth. So for example, have a fender bender that results in over 3000 worth of repairs (and with body shop/painting prices these days, that doesn't take much) they're going to write your car off.

And if you go with "classic" insurance, if you use the car for anything other than "events" or occasional pleasure driving, you're not covered. So even a trip to work once a year on a particularly fine Spring day isn't covered, and taking your car to work so you can go somewhere afterward without returning home for your A isn't covered.

I wouldn't complain about the cost of insurance (I find auto insurance quite affordable compared to what I pay to insure my bike), but I want my car covered for full value if it's totaled, and I want to be able to drive it whenever and whereever I want. So far I haven't been able find such a policy.

I'm finding this especially frustrating since I'm in the market for my first A right now and am trying to resolve this issue before I buy.
 
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