Insuring our babies....

[Steve Meltzer]

I called USAA to insure a '66 'Vette coupe I just got and, in stark contrast to what I'd been told before, the agent said the car (and my others) would only be insured for "actual cash value". This term seems to be an abomination of the English language being both nebulous and indefinable by USAA. I was assured (but not insured!) that in the event of a loss I would certainly be getting less than the cars are worth. In previous conversations with them, I was told that if I could prove a car's worth by market data, pictures and documentation, I would get that amount of money.

Of course I was referred to American Collectors, Hagerty, etc. All of these companies have restrictions on the sort of driving I do (running errands, to work from time to time, etc).

Is there any sort of middle of the road (pun intended) coverage for someone like me, who likes to drive their car often, tho' not necessarily for long distances?

Thanx steve meltzer

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

Steve,

I am with State Farm here. They have a special classic car program that is affordable and reasonable. Every three years, they come out and take photos of every part of the car, inside and out. They incorporate the fact that these cars are not daily drivers the rates reflect that accordingly. With 13 cars it could easily get prohibitively expensive, however so far it has worked well for me.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

[Steve Meltzer]

Rudy, thanx, i'll check on that now. My wife's cousin is a State Farm agent here. s

[jsa330]

Rudy,

Do you get Agreed Value coverage, as opposed to Stated Value coverage, with your SF program in CA?

I know SF underwriting varies from state to state. I can get regular-driver coverage for a vintage Ferrari with Stated Value, or Antique...extremely restrictive...coverage with Stated Value, but nothing with Agreed Value from State Farm.

I'm effectively kicked off specialty insurers' programs for awhile. On top of the total loss in my 330 2+2 I had a couple of single-car, no-fault claims in a driver that I stupidly reported instead of paying for myself, and as a consequence Hagerty, et al, won't insure me for at least a year.

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

My policies with State Farm are at stated value. As I noted before, State Farm comes out and photographs the car every three years for their records to document the condition of the car. I also meet with my agent at least once a year and provide current photos of all my cars as well. On top of that, I provide current comparative values for each vehicle every year. Good documentation should remove any ambiguities. So far, all my claims have been handled in a reasonable and fair manner which is all that I ask for.

Sorry to have learned about the loss of your car in May. I read the discussions on Ferrari chat. A living nightmare.

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

[Art S.]

Steve,

I had State Farm for my 330 for many years but just switched to Hagarty. They have an agreed value program that provides good flexiblity for use (more than to a show and back). I would recommend looking into it.

Scott's experience with Hagarty was the final push in getting me to switch to them.

Regards,

Art S.

[afwrench]

|I have 6 cars with Haggerty . When I talked with them I told them specifically that I would at times take a car to work[top down ,nice day kind of stuff] etc. They said no problem as long as they are not my daily driver.Very comperable rates. Also no hassel when I upped the value of my C4 last year. |Mike

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

My question to those you use Hagerty is what type of liability coverage do you carry? Hagerty's on line quotes only indicate 15/30 which seems quite low. I carry 100/300/50 on the liabilty side for all my cars. This is California after all....

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

[tim]

Greetings... I've used Allstate for the 30 years of Ferrari ownership. No problems but also no claims. Any body use Grundy? Agreed value policies with few restrictions. Been thinking about a change. Tim

[Art S.]

Rudy,

The liability numbers on my Hagarty policy match those of my State Farm policy and they are higher than the numbers you are currently using.

Regards,

Art S.

[jsa330]

Rudy,

Your State Farm arrangement is similar to what I will be doing on my next vintage Ferrari. I'll be insuring it as a regular driver with Stated Value, and they've asked me to provide extensive-as-possible market valuation evidence as well as a professional appraisal, requests I consider very prudent on their part.

Thanks for the condolences on my car...I'm over it now though, and having fun with my current search for a replacement.

Art,

You just answered the question I was going to call you about--your current insurance arrangements with State Farm. Hagerty is a really good company; you won't be disappointed.

afwrench,

Hagerty was very cooperative in summer '06 when I requested a $25K increase in agreed valuation on my old 330...they readily agreed to a $20K increase, which brought my coverage up to par with market conditons. Requesting another $5K to $10K was on my to-do list for last summer but then...crunch!

My car was a big loss, but my Hagerty AV policy paid me enough to stay in the action.

[jsa330]

My question to those you use Hagerty is what type of liability coverage do you carry? Hagerty's on line quotes only indicate 15/30 which seems quite low. I carry 100/300/50 on the liabilty side for all my cars. This is California after all....

Rudy van Daalen Wetters
1963 GTE s/n 4001
1966 330 GT s/n 8705

I had 100/300/50 with Hagerty, just ask them.

Same here, I have as much liablity as I can buy on all cars.

[jsa330]

I forgot to add to my previous reply to rudy, art, and af:

A lesson for everyone here: DO NOT turn in small no-liability claims, such as backing your SUV into garage door jambs, trashcans, and tel phones. Pay for the repairs out of pocket.

I learned the hard way when Hagerty and several other big classic insurers informed me they could not cover my next vintage Ferrari for one to three years because of my recent claims history. The Ferrari total-out didn't count for any more than minor damage from backing incidents. They looked at the number of claims within a certain period, not the dollar amount.

[larryingreenback]

I HAVE CORRESPONDED WITH MY STATE FARM AGENT ABOUT AN INCREASE IM THE AGREED UPON VALUE FOR MY 330GTC, FROM $180 TO $205 K; THEIR RESPONSE IS THAT I HAVE TO HAVE A GARAGE WITH AN ALARM SYSTEM AND A SPRINKLER SYSTEM; DO YOU KNOW IF ANY OTHER STATES HAVE THESE STIPULATIONS?

LARRY B.

[Art S.]

Larry,

That is the other reason I left State Farm; they started making me jump through hoops once the value went over $100k. I switched to Hagarty about 2 months ago and the process was surprisingly painfree as compared to State Farm. Also, I suspect that if you ever have a problem, The adjusters at Hagarty will have a better understanding of old cars than the State Farm adjusters (hopefully I won't have find out...).

Regards,

Art S.