Im almost complete with my 1972 Suburban LS conversion. My concern is that I spent 9K on the truck, and have about 8K into the swap and all associated accessories. My current company is telling me that if the truck were totaled, I would receive the depreciated value of a 1972 Suburban....which is probably enough to go bowling....maybe.

Ive contacted a couple of collector car insurance companies, and I like, and am willing to pay extra for the "declared value", but all these companies are so strict with their milage requirements. I didnt build this thing to sit around and look at it!!! The whole reason I upgraded to a modern motor and transmission was so that I could drive it every day!

So my question to you guys is, how are you insuring your projects? I can't be the only person here who drives their car regularly.

Thanks for the help!

 

My Thunderbird is my daily (see sig). I have other vehicles, but it is the primary. Right now it's 7 degrees with snow on the ground and that's the car I've been driving most days and every bad weather day. Granted it's no classic, but it is custom.

That is a sad reality. Standard insurance calculates on the formula: year, make, model + options - mileage over 15000 per year = value. No sliding scale for cleanliness or customization, etc.

I've had several custom cars and between myself and close friends I don't know anyone with a declared value policy because of the mileage and other requirements. The insurance companies simply don't understand people like us who actually drive their cars outside of shows.

In the years I've been messing with cars I've never seen a true way around this problem. I'm sorry, but I didn't build a car to limit myself to 1500 miles a year or whatever unrealistic limit happens to be the norm this year. I've never gotten historic / collector plates for the same reason.

Good luck and if you or someone discovers something, please share!

 

I have mine insured actual cash value. My agent said I could get it appraised or keep receipts. I have a pile of receipts and will get it appraised once its painted. Im sure they will be a pain the *** if I do get it damaged but we will see. I have it insured for $20,000 and have about that in to it maybe a tad more. This is with progressive and I don't pay much for it either. Its a daily driver.

 

I've been looking into this for a while now. While I haven't been quoted on a policy myself, I have heard of others that have policies with unlimited mileage. Might be worth while to ask them...or at least as for a more realistic mileage. I don't daily drive mine but I do enjoy taking to to the store, long trips, ect. If the sun is out I'm driving it. I'd like to have at least 5K/year.

Most of the agreed value policies seem to be through Hagerty or Grundy from what I've seen.

 

I use Grundy with agreed value on both the Chevelle and Nova and AAA for my DD. You might check with the other Classic Car insures.. Hagerty, JCTaylor and others.

I also have heard that many of the normal Insures are now offering Classic Car Policies. AAA, Farmers, GEICO, Progressive.. .etc..

Just take your time to compare and make sure it is what you want, should you have to recover the cost of your car(s).

 

I use state farm on my 68 c10, which is my daily driver. They have been very good to deal with, they just asked what it is valued at and quoted me a price from there. I think it is somewhere around $55 a month for full coverage. I haven't had any accidents so I don't know how smooth that process would be though.

 

I too use state farm.. I just told them that it was modified and would take approximately 25k to replace.. I have to get it appraised once I get the tailgate painted..

 

My Allstate policy is "agreed value" on my highly modified '69 Camaro. I've put around $30k into it (and it's not even painted yet!), but I've only got it insured for $15k right now. It gets expensive.
I inquired about increasing the policy to $25k and she got me a quote from Hagerty. Allstate uses Hagerty for specialty vehicles, but the policy will be less expensive than if I kept it on the Allstate policy. The premium is still going to go up (I'm already paying more for the Camaro than either of our two modern new cars!), but it'd be more if I kept it on my blanket policy.

Come Spring when I put the Camaro on Hagerty, supposedly I can drive it 7000 or less. I made sure she KNEW it was a daily driver. I certainly won't put 7000 miles on it between Spring and Winter because there will be days and situations that I simply can't drive the Camaro.
Go to the Hagerty website and sign up for a quote. Read the fine print... they like to tack on things like tools, spare parts, etc... that don't need insurance.

I don't know how other states work claims, but I'm insured for 'under-insured' and 'un-insured' drivers who cause an accident. I guess I'm not too worried about getting in an accident unless the other insurance company scoffs at the true value. I know I'm covered with my current policy, especially after I increase the agreed value.

 

I know I'll be at that point when mu GTO is finished but I have the same fear for my Pace Car. I have way too much into it for the "normal" ins. I put less than 1-2k on it and though this was a bad year I put less than 500 on it. I wonder if I can put 25-30 on this car when the average 30th TA stock is 18-20k.

 

I don't know about New York, but in Missouri 'uninsured motorist' is a mandatory add on for liability insurance, but it does NOT cover your car if you get hit by an uninsured driver, it just covers medical expenses, and not much of that. Ask me how I know.

 

All I have to say is go Haggerty insurance. Agreed to value, no deductible, unlimited mileage as long as it isn't your sole transportation vehicle. And..... They pay without fights when you have a claim.

 

I dealt with standard insurance on a highly modified car... It was someone else's insurance (they hit me) - I had a stack of receipts for ~12k on the car - insurance wouldn't budge from their initial offer of 980 bucks even after looking at the receipts. Had to involve lawyers - no fun.

That was my learning experience.

stated value policies only from there on out for all of my cars that were anything but 100% stock. All the others have weird wording in them - and there are a lot of words - be VERY careful about what the actual policy says and not what the person tells you it says. Assessed, valuated, agreed, etc can mean different things to different insurance companies.

The policy you want is the one that will give you X dollars when the vehicle is totalled. and you declare what that dollar amount is.

I have both of my non-stock cars insured through Hagerty now - reasonable price and good service. I have the rambler valued at 8k and my race car at 20k. That ~550 bucks a year is cheap insurance should something happen to either of them.

 

Get an "Agreed Value" policy.
You and the Insurance Co. set a price (just be realistic) and IF there is an accident, it will cover up to that amount.
I was under insured at $10K (agreed value) when this ******* crossed the double yellow line hitting my truck and went up on the trailer caving in the side of the Camaro. They tried to total my car saying there was more than $10k in damages...I fought them for "Replacement Value"....2-3 days later I have a check for $10k and Camaro was not written off as a total Now insured for $20K Agreed Value. (may still be low?)
There are some requirements for "Agreed Value" insurance, but I think some of the bigger companys will allow more miles....at a higher price.

Lots of Collector Car Insurance companys out there....DO YOUR HOMEWORK !

http://s10.photobucket.com/user/Doug...?sort=6&page=1
shitty cell phone pic at the scene...


Later at home...

 

Thanks guys, lots of good info here....once I get back in the states and get the Suburban finished up, Ill definitely look into all of the above.

 

I also have state farm agreed value coverage. just a heads up to those that do have it - you also need full coverage. I had my mustang insured and when I originally set the policy up 5 years ago I was under the impression the agreed value policy covered EVERYTHING, this is not the case. for example if YOU crash the car or the accident is your fault - you're not covered. also agreed value is subjective(to their favor) I just tried to insure my Fairmont for what I thought was a reasonable replacement value of 8k(this wasn't including labor just parts/vehicle cost) - I get a letter 2 weeks later saying I was declined the coverage because the exterior of the car was not in good condition (the agent basically told me "well anyone could go out and buy a crappy car, insure it for a lot of money and crash it so they get the agreed value). when I told her I wanted it to look "crappy" she didn't get it lol

 

Hagerty - agreed value.

 

I have the car insured for liability only. Keeps plates on the car, no driving restrictions and costs under $300/year.

I've read more threads like this than I can count and it is amazing how many people say how easy their insurance company is to work with when all they have ever done is mail them checks. Getting the bastards to pay is the question you need to have answered.

Like you are finding the stated value polices are just asking for an ulcer if something goes wrong, standard insurance companies will sell you anything but aren't set up to handle claims on a true classic car, and reputable (key word, reputable) classic car places are expensive and have lots of restrictions.

Whatever you do don't lie to your insurance company. Might as well not have a policy in that case.

And yes, uninsured motorist coverage is about the most worthless thing the government has ever forced us to buy. I have no idea why it even exists.

 

I used american collectors insurance. It's agreed upon value. When my Delta 88 burned down they paid me for what I insured it for price of car, plus all the work I had done to it, and appreciation. There are restrictions though. It cannot be your commuter car, miles are limited to 7500 a year. Your covered if you are going on a pleasure drive, on the way to get it repaired, or going to a car show. You just can't say that you were taking it to work. Also it has to be parked in a garage.

 

have it appraised, and that will have to be the value the insurance company goes off of. a lady hit my s10 and they immediately wanted to total it for $3500. you can turn it down. i provided receipts, pictures of the build, and had it appraised. it was valued at $10k. then they told me to take it to a shop to have the work done, i said im the shop and they will pay me labor for bodywork @ 45/hr and labor for the fab work @ $90/hr. i wound up getting $9k out of them total.

I assume since your SN is "FLYNAVY30" i assume youre in the Navy and have USAA. they will work with you, thats a bad *** insurance company

 

Hagerty for cash value.