Multi-classic insurance?

[CatBird]

Our collection is approaching 25 classics and our Insurance with Hagerty is also increasing. We all know classic car insurance is much lower than modern car insurance. We drive our classics less than our modern cars. But it seems that some company should have a "fleet rate?"

 

We recently acquired a few cars from Truett Cathy Collection and I noticed that he had a "fleet rate" with Hagerty! But I called Hagerty and they insisted that there was no such rate! I climbed the corporate Hagerty ladder and was rebuffed at all levels. I asked that at waht point could a classic car collection qualify as a fleet rate?  20? No. 25? No 300!? Still No

 

Yet I have a copy of insurance for "Truett Cathy, fleet rate."

 

My Hagerty premiums are getting near $10,000 a year. My wife and I are the only drivers and we have impeccable driving records. 

 

Seems that some company would let us have a better rate? Any ideas?

Are they hiding these rates from us? I am not paranoid, just a frighteningly good judge of character! <grin>

[trimacar]

I know that Hagerty moves you to a "high value" policy when you reach a certain dollar figure,  and they handle you a little differently, which of course you're easily in.

 

My only thought on the "fleet" insurance is that Chick-Fil-A had a lot of its other insurance through Hagerty, so they gave them a special rate, and had to call it something.  If I had a large corporation and a fleet of semis for delivery, I'd sure go to Hagerty and say, OK, you can have my other insurance, but my collection is going to be covered for a great rate.....

 

I've found Hagerty to be very straight forward, and I doubt they're hiding something from you.....

[mercer09]

Why not get other pricing from the 6-8 other insurance companies out there that do antiques?

 

I have always found JC Taylor the easiest to work with and having some of the best rates going.

 

They are the largest concerning antiques.

[playswithbrass]

Try Chubb. They gave us a much better deal than our previous insurer with a discount for multiple cars and a lower premium with higher insured value.

[trimacar]

Technically, the largest insurance company that insures antique cars is State Farm.  As you state, J.C. Taylor may be the largest one which solely does collector cars, from antiques to hot rods.

 

With such a large collection, I'd go to my main insurance guy (for home, building etc.) and see if he can provide a bundle policy that saves you money.  I know State Farm does this, maybe others.

[Paul Dobbin]

Catbird,

Most speciality insuror's policies recognized that you can't drive all your cars at the same time.

Look at your "Declarations Page" and you will see that they are not charging you for Liability Coverage 

beyond the third vehicle.  What you are paying for is coverage of the vehicles themselves for physical

damage  (Collision & Comprehensive)  (Fire, theft, flood, smoke, wind, etc.)

My 30 years in that business showed me that most people will over insure their vehicles.  (Insure a #3

at a #1 value) if allowed.   This is also a problem for heirs and executors.   You may want to re-assess

your values to control your premiums.  Remember the value is what a well informed buyer would be able

to buy the vehicle for, from a well informed seller.

I refer you to the current Forum Thread "How many is enough?

[John_S_in_Penna]

2 hours ago, CatBird said:

...I climbed the corporate Hagerty ladder and was rebuffed at all levels....

 

One article I read a while ago stated that, if you have a

problem or issue at any company, never start from

the bottom.  Rather than beginning with a clerk, then

taking it to the clerk's supervisor, etc., go directly to the top. 

 

Write a letter to the top man (the C. E. O. or President)

at the company.  Letters, the article said, tend to get more

attention than phone calls or electronic messages.

Be courteous, and state clearly what you want to be solved.

 

Even if the C. E. O. doesn't see the letter himself, his office will;

and directives within the company will come down directly

from the C. E. O.'s office, giving them great weight.

I used this technique once with noticeable success

after low-level representatives produced no results.

Edited January 6, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[charlier]

1 hour ago, CatBird said:

Our collection is approaching 25 classics and our Insurance with Hagerty is also increasing. We all know classic car insurance is much lower than modern car insurance. We drive our classics less than our modern cars. But it seems that some company should have a "fleet rate?"

 

We recently acquired a few cars from Truett Cathy Collection and I noticed that he had a "fleet rate" with Hagerty! But I called Hagerty and they insisted that there was no such rate! I climbed the corporate Hagerty ladder and was rebuffed at all levels. I asked that at waht point could a classic car collection qualify as a fleet rate?  20? No. 25? No 300!? Still No

 

Yet I have a copy of insurance for "Truett Cathy, fleet rate."

 

My Hagerty premiums are getting near $10,000 a year. My wife and I are the only drivers and we have impeccable driving records. 

 

Seems that some company would let us have a better rate? Any ideas?

Are they hiding these rates from us? I am not paranoid, just a frighteningly good judge of character! <grin>

 

Take a look at your Hagerty policy. How is Hagerty charging you for Bodily Injury Liability, Property Damage Liability, Uninsured, Underinsured and combined First Party? Are the charging these parts of the policy on each of your vehicles or are they charging you once for these on one vehicle and then noting that these charges are "included" (ie cost = $0)  for each of your other vehicles?  The company I use for my Antique vehicles charges me just once for these parts of the policy and "includes" them on the rest. Not sure if the reason these parts of the policy are "included" is because I have an umbrella policy over my antique cars or not. I do know that on some of my previous antique vehicle policies those companies charged me for this coverage on every vehicle on the policy which seemed stupid to me since I can only drive one vehicle at a time. My current policy is from Classic Collectors which is a division of Infinity Insurance Company (which underwrites my CC policy).

 

I agree with others here that you should contact some of the other companies that insure Antique Vehicles and see what they can offer you in the way of coverage and what it costs.

[60FlatTop]

In my "other" life I use a phrase- "Granulate and Verify". Pay attention to the whole, but fully understand the affect each of the parts plays. If each of the ~25 cars was worth, say, $20,000, that's insurance for half a million dollars worth of mobile assets, potentially more at risk than insuring a building. I think quite a few are worth more in this instance. So that is 2% or less of the appraised value annually. Why, in 50 years that money would pay for the whole bunch over again.

 

By order of magnitude I think the 400 bucks I pay per year is a greater impact to me, personally. I usually cover it with a few Ebay or Craigslist sales.

 

Be careful. In a market where there are multiple options "the most you can expect to get is what you pay for"

Bernie

[John_S_in_Penna]

Catbird, your 25 cars sound like they'll produce

a lot of enjoyment for you.  Since many people

have collections like yours, or larger, it might simply

be the case that your collection isn't large enough (yet)

to be negotiated individually.  (I can think of at least 4

collections of 40 cars or more just in our local AACA region.)

 

I've found the company you mentioned to be very courteous.

So see what their head will do for you, but if you're treated well--

just like all the other customers--please don't feel slighted.

Edited January 6, 2018 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[alsancle]

You can call J.C. Tyalor and see what they will do for you.  But 10k for 25 cars sounds about right.  Fire is the biggest risk I would think.  

[unimogjohn]

I have a fleet rate with JC Taylor.  Give them a call.

[CatBird]

11 hours ago, trimacar said:

I've found Hagerty to be very straight forward, and I doubt they're hiding something from you.....

1

 

 

I was being facetious, playing a cantankerous curmudgeon. <grin>

[edinmass]

I use Grundy........and have a collection rate. 

[CatBird]

Hagerty is the Gold Standard. Most of my friends are with them. Percentage-wise they are ensuring mobile assets at about .5% of the total value. Also at stated value. Also, I think there is just one liability policy that covers everything. So, really pretty good. Had a tree limb and damage a car, and they paid easily. I also have the VIP premium coverage, towing and incidentals.

I got chapped by my insurance agency since they tripled my premium on a totally different policy and I started looking at everything.  I also use ACE/CHUBB. These are excellent. They insure our fine art at about $1,000/$M. Hagerty is about $4,000/$M. But cars must be higher loss category.

 

Our cars are in a steel and masonry structure. No wood. Nothing flammable but gasoline! <grin>

 

But, I will have a look at JC Taylor. Have heard some good things from them.

[CatBird]

14 hours ago, edinmass said:

I use Grundy........and have a collection rate. 

 

Will check Grundy also.

Edited January 7, 2018 by CatBird (see edit history)

[ols car dog]

I bought a 1929 Essex restorod in 2013 in Jonesboro Ark.I had called Grundy before I went to look at the Essex,

I wasn't,t sure if I was going to buy the car or not.

The Grundy rep said I was covered.She would not even take a credit card.

I did have two other cars insured at the time,(still do)

It,s a 536 mile trip back to my house,guess what happened  as I was driving my new Ride home,2miles from my driveway,the driver  side door flew open(suicide doors)

I called Grundy the next business day and spoke to agent and gave them the vin no. We agreed on a value.

I then asked to talk to the claims dept.

bottom line,I got a check for $ 2300 before I got the bill for the added car.

Thats about as good as it gets!!!

The only thing that is not good is Grundy will not wright new policies in Louisiana anymore,but as long as I keep at least one insured

the will not cancel me.

I give them a AAA rating

I do notice that every year they raise the amount of coverage which raises the premium 

I will lower the agreed value to a more realistic number at renewal time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CarFreak]

Just the other day I saw a comment in some Hagerty email which indicated a further discount for classic car owners with multiple vehicles that the value of their policy exceeds $300,000(I think that was the value).  Tried to find where I saw this info but not seeing it.  I know your collection exceeds that value.  As someone mentioned, look to talk to someone at the top and reference this information, see what they say.  Good luck and please report your results.  

[CatBird]

Hagerty also will cover you in a recent buy for 90 days before putting it on a policy. 

[Plyroadking]

On 1/6/2018 at 7:22 AM, trimacar said:

Technically, the largest insurance company that insures antique cars is State Farm.  As you state, J.C. Taylor may be the largest one which solely does collector cars, from antiques to hot rods.

 

With such a large collection, I'd go to my main insurance guy (for home, building etc.) and see if he can provide a bundle policy that saves you money.  I know State Farm does this, maybe others.

Good luck! I learned my lesson real quick with state farm. I had an "agreed value policy" on a '40 Plymouth. The car was deemed "totaled" after a minor wreck. I called and asked for my check for the policy "agreed" amount, they said it doesn't work that way, they send an appraiser out to determine the vehicles value and give you a check for that amount. 

 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Plyroadking
Stupid smart phone (see edit history)

[39BuickEight]

1 hour ago, Plyroadking said:

Good luck! I learned my lesson real quick with state farm. I had an "agreed value policy" on a '40 Plymouth. The car was deemed "totaled" after a minor wreck. I called and asked for my check for the policy "agreed" amount, they said it doesn't work that way, they send an appraiser out to determine the vehicles value and give you a check for that amount. 

 

This is one of if not the most important reason to not insure a classic/antique/collectible car with a mainstream consumer insurance company.  They use the value as a rating tool only for your premium calculation.  When there is a claim, you may get that amount if it appraises for that or more, but often you get less because most people overvalue their cars.

 

I have my everyday cars, camper, and house with one of the mainstream companies, and my old car with Hagerty.

Edited January 7, 2018 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[trimacar]

7 hours ago, Plyroadking said:

Good luck! I learned my lesson real quick with state farm. I had an "agreed value policy" on a '40 Plymouth. The car was deemed "totaled" after a minor wreck. I called and asked for my check for the policy "agreed" amount, they said it doesn't work that way, they send an appraiser out to determine the vehicles value and give you a check for that amount. 

 

Thanks for anecdote, interesting.  I only have one older car (69 Cutlass) insured with State Farm, and that's because it was registered as a daily driver, not an antique.  I use Hagerty for my "fleet".

 

I had a tire blow out on my car trailer, took the fender off the trailer, fender then hit a pickup in the windshield.  No one hurt, two phone calls to State Farm (it was covered under my truck policy) and it was all settled, not a penny out of my pocket.  I like them so far for that kinda stuff.

[Marty Roth]

One of our cars on our Collector Policy was badly damaged this year when another driver came across the divided highway and T-Boned us Broadsides. The appraiser came up with an estimate just over one-half of the Agreed value, and noted that there could likely be additional concealed damage. He forwarded his comments to the company - largest in the collector car insurance business (I think). Their representative phoned and offered to either pay me the FULL VALUE OF THE AGREED VALUE COVERAGE, or if they would hold back a very nominal amount I could keep the car and have it repaired. I thanked him for his options and explained that, noting how the car was damaged, I would not feel comfortable having my wife or daughter drive it after repairs, and accepted the full value of my coverage.

 

Yes, the adjuster did have to inspect the damage, but there was no nonsense, and that is why I've been happy with J. C. Taylor for well over 30 years. Other damages have also been covered over the years to other of our cars, and they have always been extremely fair with coverage. I know that other companies are also well respected, and don't wish to slight any of them, but I'll remain loyal to Taylor since they treat me as I would expect to be treated. 

 

I should also add that following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Six of my (then) Seven antique collector cars were damaged. Only the 1934 Buick was not affected since it was driving a tour in Utah. All Six damaged cars were inspected by qualified adjusters, and I was given the option of repairing, turning in for AGREED VALUE, or a buy-back at a very modest price - the exception being full repair costs for the two cars which had significantly less damage. Again, I was treated exactly the way I would have hoped to have treated, and will recommend J.C. Taylor. I'm not condoning any other company.

Edited January 9, 2018 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[CatBird]

Checking with JC Taylor and Grundy, asking for a "Fleet Rate". Will let you know.

 

I went through the song and dance with online Grundy and they cut me off with nine cars and told me to call "Customer Service." I mentioned that if any of you are looking there, don't waste 45 minutes online showing pictures, year, model, where do you keep them? Just go to customer service.

 

I also listened to the caveat with State Farm not paying off and agreed value. Not cool!

[padgett]

+1 on JC Taylor. Have had since the '80s.

 

[CatBird]

Just checked with JC Taylor and they were slightly over my bill at Hagerty.  Closer looking at my Hagerty policy, I AM getting a multi-car discount and premium services. Will check with Grundy tomorrow. It makes sense that the premium carriers are about the same.