That's a great price. I use Hagerty and the price has been creeping up every year. This year they want $475 on a $10K valuation. I called and they told me they have adjusted (almost felt like it was arbitrary) their rates on '80 and '90 vehicles. Now I recently converted to a historical plate so it'll drop about $150. I need to get a quote from your insurer.

Bob

 

Sounds like a lot for classic car coverage.

I use Hagerty in Canada. No requirement for appraisal or historic plates. Agreed value for my 72 350SL is $12k and for my 85 300D $6k (from memory). I chose the numbers as being about what I could pay to replace the cars at the time. No sense in using inflated values. Total premium for both is about C$250 pa. No serious restrictions on use except shouldn't be driven to work or for say regular shopping.

My other cars are with State Farm. Asked and they are not able to provide classic car insurance.

Regarding appraisals. Previous classic car insurer require appraisal every 3 years or so. That cost about $150/car. The appraisers had no clue about our old cars and came up with ridiculously high appraisals which resulted in ridiculously high premiums Glad not to have to deal with those guys any more.

 

Hagerty is charging me $170 a year for both the 450 and 280SL's they both have antique plates on them. Monika's agreed value is $13000 and BrownHilda's is $5000 but she is under the restoration clause where her value goes up as she gets redone. I had ACC back when I had the Nomad and they are pretty good as well. I think they charged me $75 a year with a value of $14000 for that car back in the 1990's

 

My "regular" insurance company...Intact.....insures my home, my truck, my DD and my business.

As a good customer service company.......they also insure The PIG. They don't make a business out of classic car insurance but provide it if you have other insurance with them.

$300 a year, no real stipulations and a $25,000 agreed value replacement (after appraisal).

I had a couple of "not my fault" claims and they have always been fantastic.

Has anyone tried their regular insurance company to see what they will offer?

 

...Has anyone tried their regular insurance company to see what they will offer?

State Farm has my...everything! The 560 is roughly $260/year (liability and comprehensive, normal ole every day insurance) with NADA as valuation...I kid you not! My agent and I joke about it as he has a 280CE (I think), and is the same boat. We both agree we'd like to sell for what State Farm believes them to be worth.

 

I've sent feelers out to my regular agent and a couple of classic insurers. Raising my rate almost one hundred bucks in one year without a claim? I don't think so. Now all of you have historic plates right?

 

And I can't imagine there being that much difference between a 280. 500. 450. Or a 560.

 

The way I see it, the purpose of insurance is to allow me to replace any actual loss. It's not a lottery ticket.
Premium = risk x value.
I see no point in paying inflated premiums based on an unrealistic valuation.

 

Short Tutorial on Insurance



The marginal cost of most collector car insurance premiums is extremely low IF you have more than one car covered. Usually you only pay one liability since you can only drive one car at a time...DUH.

Many collector policies use AGREED VALUE where you and the insurer agree on a value. If car is totalled, they just pay you that amount.

Regular insurers like State Farm use ACV (actual cash value) which is often too low for a very nicely kept collector car. I am going through that right now with State Farm and they are offering about $2000 less than it would cost me to replace the car. Their current data source is J.D. Power, but they used to use ADP. It is always a battle with them.

STATED VALUE sometimes used by State Farm and others for older cars is really misleading. The stated value is used to set the premium, but a claim is paid on the LOWER of stated value or ACV. I would NEVER again get this kind of coverage.

I will be adding our newly purchased 2013 E350 to a collector car policy which covers several of my Porsches. As an example, the marginal cost of my Porsche with Agreed Value of $25,000 is only $150/year. Some collector car insurers will cover modern cars if you make a good case. Our case is that we are members of MBCA, plan to drive the E350 less than 5000 miles/yr. mostly to club events, tours and concours or shows. You have to prove you have another car which is your "daily driver". Buy one collector car for every 5000 miles you plan to drive and buy a junker for your "daily driver".

 

On a similar topic .....
I don't buy life insurance.
I don't care to bet that I will die sooner than the insurer reckons I will.

 

How about a life annuity. You give them a large sum of money and they give it back to you without interest over say 10 years (starting at my age). If you live beyond that, you start to get a return but you or your heirs never get the capital back. I am sure it provides peace of mind for some.

 

You can get Ontario Historic plates for 30 year or older cars, but then your travels are severely restricted.

 

I am sure you are right and do call seeing that some time ago. But when I searched the Service Ontario site, no explanation of those plates came up. But they did show the cost of $18.00! They do describe YOM plates that show the year of manufacture and those are only available for cars older than 30yrs.

In any event, not of consequence to us for insurance purposes.

 

In Michigan you have two options. Buy the historic plate and pay about 30 bucks a year. Or, as I have, buy a used plate the same year as your vehicle. Pay 35 dollars and it's good for as long as you own the car. There are strong restrictions on how and where you use the car but I seem to put less than 2000 or 3000 miles a year. No commuting allowed. You are suppose to be driving to and from parades or car meets. There are those constantly during the summer. Also allows you to test drive and we are always test driving aren't we? Bottom line is as long as you aren't stupid it shouldn't cramp your style unless you need to drive to work every day. Normally I would be paying 196.00 a year for the tab. So I save that plus a few hundred in insurance-maybe more.

 

"Antique Plates" in Arkansas , car or bike must be 25 years old and stock configuration. Car tag is $18 Bike is $9, you never have to renew and about 5 years ago they lifted all driving restrictions. I have them on the SL and the HD.
Insurance, now that's a personal thing. I pay Hagartey for mine and now they are offering it for bikes, I may switch they have no limits on miles.

 

I just looked at my Hegarty policy and I paid $243 this year to cover my 1980 Mercedes and my 1963 Continental. Interesting that they don't break it down by car. This includes the Hegarty Plus coverage for towing and stuff. I should look into adding my motorcycle to this policy as suggested.

Nobody has mentioned payment of claims, and I sincerely hope you never have that situation. But last year my Lincoln got whacked for about $2,500 in repairs. They paid it immediately with a zero deductable, and when the rechrome of the bumper cost a lot more than the adjuster said it would, they paid the difference promptly. Hegarty gives good service and allowed me to shop for NOS parts that were dang hard to find.

Here in Ohio the antique plates are a one time fee of about $28, good for the life of the car. You can then slap on model-year plates at no additional fee.

 

American Collectors Insurance - Full Disclosure

Okay, now I'm pissed off!

I called these guys back today as my third car arrives at the Seattle docks tomorrow. I wanted to review the coverage one last time before I removed the 500sl from Amica and switched over.

Well, unlike my first conversation with these guys, during which they said "you get up to 2500 miles/year, no limits on purpose", this time they said:
"insurance only covers you going to or from collector car events".

So had I not "clarified" this today, I would not have been covered, in theory. So had I injured someone with the 500sl, they could have claimed I was "uncovered" as the purpose of that drive was not going to or from a collector car event. Yeah, I suppose if such an event happened I could have argued "your guy told me on the phone: "no limits on purpose" but then it's you an individual fighting a multi-billion dollar company. I said, they said, etc. Not worth the legal and financial exposure.

I'm now going to call Amica back and give them a piece of my mind. The American Collector Insurance company letterhead says right at the bottom:

"Serving the AMICA General Agency"

So what I've learned in this experience is what I learned on the streets of NY City growing up. Trust no one and "you get what you inspect not what you expect".

Assholes all!

 

Well, unlike my first conversation with these guys, during which they said "you get up to 2500 miles/year, no limits on purpose", this time they said:
"insurance only covers you going to or from collector car events".

Check out some other agencies/carriers. Most are not as restrictive as AMICA sounds. Many are happy with Hagerty, Heacock or Infinity. Most have different programs/prices depending on miles/year. For example if your car was a show car only and rarely driven on the street, Hagerty has a VERY inexpensive 1500 mile/yr. policy since basically the only claims arise from taking the car on and off the trailer.