C-3 Insurance ALERT!

[firefighter-C3]

This is a long post but it saved me from an $11,000 loss on my 'vette!
When I insured my '80 'vette, my( State Farm)agent said to get an appraisal of the value and let him know so they can insure it. When I called to get it insured for $12,000 , he said okay. His office called back and said the underwriters at State Farm don't write policies like that. The value of my car would be determined by NADA or Kelly Blue Book. So.. I went to NADA.com and looked up the value for my car, it was $875.00!
That would be the value they would use to determine if it was totalled or not and the value they would pay me for a total loss. I checked with the State of Tennessee Insurance Dept. and they said that is all the ins. co.'s are required to do.
I GOOGLED " collector car insurance" and did research. The car could only be driven 2K-3K miles and for shows,cruises or club events only, no errands, never to work. Some co.'s won't even let you leave the car unattended out side of its secured storage location.
This was not suitable for me, I put 6K a year on my car and drive it work about 3 times a month, pick up kid( just 1 at a time) from school or take a fun trip to the store.
So.. I called other insurance co.'s, they were all the same as State Farm.
SAFECO is the only one I could find that would insure my car for the value i needed and let me drive it where I wanted and let me set how many miles a year (8K), I also have full coverage for $612/yr.
Now I can drive with confidence that I will get the value for my car if GOD FORBID, it's totalled and if it is damaged, it'll take more than $500.00 of damage to consider it totalled.
Check your insurance!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Yours is a very common problem. Most people assume if they buy $XX,000 (whatever they think the car is worth) of insurance, that's what they'll get if it is stolen/written off/heavily damaged.

False.

You need an 'agreed value' policy and not a 'stated value'. Most insurance companies will insist that you have a professional evaluation done, and will insure it for whatever the evaluator determines.

I would double check your new policy to make sure that's what you have purchased.

BTW- you may have gone to the wrong section of the NADA site, this is what I got for your car:

http://www2.nadaguides.com/default....c=7&m=1035&d=37&y=1980&vi=66547&z=04110&da=-1

 

[firefighter-C3]

NADA

I tried both gudes, I thought my agent would use the collector guide because that is what my car is, but the agent said he goes by the NADA regular book. That book is where I got the $875.00

 

[o2bnkc]

Doesn't Grundy sell collector car insurance with unlimited mileage?

 

[John Ulrich]

Never hurts to rerun this one.
JU

http://lelandwest.com/What_You_Should_Know.cfm

 

[Space Cowboy]

My 68 is insured through Hagerty at a value of 50K... that cost me $400 per year. Everyone will be hard pressed to find a regular insurance company insure a classic vehicle. In fact, I was told that most companies stay away from cars older than 15 years.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

My 68 is insured through Hagerty at a value of 50K...

Is that agreed or stated value?

 

[Tom Bryant]

Haggerty is agreed value. I am in the process of changing all of my collector cars over to them right now. Of all the companies that have been discussed over the years the most favorable comments you hear are from people who have Haggerty. Not that other specialized companies aren't ok too, it's just you hear the most good comments and experiences from Haggerty customers.

Tom

 

[Space Cowboy]

Is that agreed or stated value?

My current premium is a stated value. However, I do need it appraised again since I've complete the restoration.

 

[Space Cowboy]

Haggerty is agreed value. I am in the process of changing all of my collector cars over to them right now. Of all the companies that have been discussed over the years the most favorable comments you hear are from people who have Haggerty. Not that other specialized companies aren't ok too, it's just you hear the most good comments and experiences from Haggerty customers.

Tom

I have had nothing but a good experience from Hagerty. I had a little issue with a wrecker service that Hagerty called out for me after my initial completion of my restore (engine issues). The wrecker service did about $5k worth of damage to the front of the car. Hagerty was very professional and really felt sorry for the accident being that they assigned the wrecker service. They have totally taken care of everything!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

My current premium is a stated value.

Oh-oh! Danger Will Robinson!

 

[Space Cowboy]

Oh-oh! Danger Will Robinson!

Why would you say that?

 

[JohnZ]

Because there's a HUGE difference between "stated value" and "agreed value" coverage; which do you have?

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Why would you say that?

Agreed value means that you and the insurance company have mutually agreed that your car is worth (say) 50K in the case of a total loss. And that's exactly what they will pay.

Stated value is (simply) you making a statement that you think it's worth 50K, and the insurance company is selling you that amount. Nowhere does it say that they'll agree to pay you the 50K in the event of a total loss. They may determine that your 38 year old Chevy has a scrap value of $500.

Think of house insurance- you might be able to buy 10 million worth of fire insurance on a double wide if try hard enough. The insurance will only pay out what their evaluator determines it was actually worth at the time of the loss.

Scroll back up to the first post and read what started this discussion. That's stated value insurance in action.

Before I spent almost 30 years accumulating no knowledge in the aviation engine field that is relevant to automobile engines, I spent 7 years as an insurance underwriter. Our agents used to (try to) explain the above to customers 20-30 times a week.

 

[Space Cowboy]

I know exactly what it means... I'm not a dumb ***. My car is actually insured for less than what it may actually be worth. I have'nt had a chance to get it appraised again yet. I simply wanted to insure it for the money I currently have into it. I'll say two words, and you might understand "show car"!!!