How do they put a value on a particular vehicle for collector car insurances. I searched on the insurance companies and got several quotes but how do they put the price on a vehicle. Mine is not original but if you check all the boxes on the NADA muscle car guide on the Grundy site it puts the value over $100K. My car is a 69 convertible w/ a ls6 454 built by John Lingenfelter, tremec 5 speed, vintage air, wheel disc brakes by stainless, tilt wheel, power windows, tilt wheel, fold down rear seat, black and white houndstooth X-11 car. Everything has been completely redone with all GM sheetmetal and is in excellent/ show condition. While not all original it looks like it is. The different companies have said to get an appraisal from my car club, just set a value and send pictures and get an authorized appraisal company to appraise. Any suggestions, so far AON collector insurance has the best coverage to be able to drive my car, which is why I built it. Grundy had the best rates but mileage restrictions. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

i would think you would have to hire an independant appraiser and show proof of your investment. Tally up your receipts, and come up with a number.
I dont think you can use any type of muscle car price guide to come to a figure being your car is far from original.


bob

They vary a bunch. Make sure you have an "Agreed value" policy.
With State Farm, I just made up a number and sent them some pics.

"i would think you would have to hire an independant appraiser and show proof of your investment. Tally up your receipts, and come up with a number.
I dont think you can use any type of muscle car price guide to come to a figure being your car is far from original."


I agree with the above. It's in your best interest.

I have several 'collector' cars, including the Camaro. Our insurances are "agreeded value"
Our insurance compamy has a very short list of approved classic/vintage vecilcle valuers. I used 1 for many yrs, then he died, and in the last couple months used another. Both of these guys have been right on the mark, even thu one of the veciles has has no sales in the market for many yrs (rather rare). Both of these guys are very professional...they insist on actually veiwing the car, as p9ics too often do not show so many things.
About 4 months ago, we where in the middle of an engine rebuild and the block was at the machinists. At that stage we would only value the car at 45,000 althu we had all the documentation re matching numbers. His comment was "I have to value on what I can physically see" This pleased me as I then knew I was dealing with someone of integrity, and so was the insurance company. Later when the engine came back and car on the road he then revalued...65,000. Both valuations where right on the mark.

Generally I and others have found, that a company that will accept dodgy pic valuations, when a claim is made one runs into alsorts of problems.
Companies that insist on visual valutions from independant valuers (not clubs) when thing go wrong they are very easy to deal with.
At the end of the day the insurance is for when thing go wrong, penny pinching a few bucks here and there on premiums, and conditions is just not worth hassles later on IF things do go wrong and a claim is needed.
Is saving a few bucks worth it when compared to the value of the investment?

I'm not all fired up about professional independant appraisers... 1st, everyone I have ever met knows far less about cars than the avg gearhead. Now toss into the arena all the makes and models of old classic's (not just American) as well as exotic's, sport's and any other cars that someone might want/need an appraisal on. Now tell me how many out there are qualified to give an expert appraisal on any car that you bring them?

Sure there are guys like McNiesh but you don't see him appraising anything but Camaros. The professional appraisers will appraise any vehicle you pay them to.

Each Ins company will have their own requirements for developing a vehicles value. If your car is stock, antique or classic most will let you offer up a figure and if it's lower than their gold book, nada or what ever they use they will cover you for the amount you want. Go over the book of choice amount and expect to have an appraisal to justify your amount.

Modified cars are different and you may need appraisals and reciepts. Ask your carrier of choice what they require and work from there. Somewhere in all this you as the cars owner need to place a value on the car. How much would you sell it for of if buying another just like it what would you pay. It's the only way to protect yourself and if you can't put a value on something you own you shouldn't own it. Only way yo protect yourself when dealing with Ins companys and appraisers...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying either Ins or appraisers are out to cheat you, they both just have their own interests at heart before yours...

I agree with Dennis. I would think that YOU can put a value on your car,
better then some classic car apprasier.

What would you sell your car for? What would you pay for another one?
The answer to those 2 questions is the value of your car.

Ask for that agreed value from the insurance co, and send pictures. Go with a company that only insures specialty cars (Like Hagerty) They will either say yes, or ask you to prove it.

Sounds like your car is a show quality Camaro convt., with a special engine.
Should be pretty easy to duplicate, or estimate.
The higher the agreed value, the more your insurance is going to cost, so be realistic.

I have three antique cars insured through Hagerty Insurance. They go by "YOUR STATED VALUE". Hagerty asks some very simple questions about the car and for some photos. I based my value off of what I have in receipts and the selling price of similar cars near the same condition and documentation. I also have appraisals, but they are not required. I have everyrthing documented and all receipts. I keep records of other similar cars sold from classifieds in Hemmings, collector car trader online and E-Bay. Most classic car insurers require a limit on driven miles per year. Hagerty asks, but you are not bound to it. I have never had to make a claim with them and I hope I never have to. I do not know anyone who has had to make a claim though them, but know many who have there cars insured through them. The policy is through Hagerty, but is held by an insurance company in my state. I have all three of my cars insured for less than $900.00 per year. I did have State Farm Insurance with two of my classics. One of them I still have the other was stolen about 20 years ago. I had all the documents on the stolen car from photos, receipts to multiple appraisals. They did pay out, but it was a long battle. I did not want the money, just the car. I went the maximum amount of time they would allow before being forced to settle. At the table they tried to force me to take an amount of about half of what the car was selling for and about 1/4 of the total of all receipts. I finally did get the full amount and did so without any legal, but it was a horrible experience. The car was not found until about 1 1/2 years passed. The car was stripped clean and became a rebuild salvage title. I just wanted the car back like anyone else, especially after all the hard work. The second car I had insured with State Farm up untill recently. They were very expensive and it cost me the same amount for all three cars with Hagerty vs one with State Farm. The prices at State Farm just got too high for me to stay insured with them.

What would it cost to replace your car today?That at the very least should be the ammount of insurance to have on it IMHO.
Russ.

Pictures and a number I came up with is all I've done. Need to raise the agreed value again. My policy has a 3000 mile yearly limit and nobody under 25 years old can drive it. Has to be kept in a locked garage at night.

I never get close to my mileage limit. I only put about 300 miles on my car last year unfortunatley. My insurance premium was $284. Inexpensive insurance but it costs me about a dollar a mile. I've got to get the car out more often!!!!!!!!
Doug

Thanks for the help and suggestions guys. I know you get what you pay for and appreciate the input. It's hard to put a value on something that is not for sale and not only the money you put into it but the hard work that goes into it as well. Just took 1st place in my first show today - peolples choice so it was up against everything. I guess I will tally up all my receipts - might take a while - not really sure I want to know and see where I end up.

I have Grundy "Stated Value" filled out a questionaire, sent in some pics and told them what I wanted it insured for and thats it... and no mileage limits either, don't know why they told you that...

Rob,get rid of that "stated value" policy NOW. If you have a collector car of any kind, you only want AGREED value policy.

Jim is right.
You can "state" whatever value you want, but unless they "agree" to it, you are going to be stuck. :clonk:
Get an agreed value policy. That one little word is a world of difference.

Just called Grundy and talked to an agent and while they say there are no mileage restrictions per say - it is only for show events or cruises. If you drive the car to work or run errands it is not covered. I want to drive mine when I want to drive it.

Mark - you either have to play the classic ins game or pay the higher daily driver rates and get less coverage...

Hagerty allows some limited "pleasure driving" as long as it is not your daily driver.
I have been with them for 14 years.

Had one loss back in 1998, little girl (no license) driving her daddys car.
Her insurance company (progressive) did not know where to begin,
Hagerty stepped right in and oversaw the whole restoration, back to original.
They really provided a great service and let me do the car exactly right. $29K to fix it correctly.

Now this was not my fault, and the other insurance company concieded responsibility.
Hagerty knew they would not have to pay in the end.
I am sure that made a difference, but all in all they were great.

They are not the cheapest around, but I am very happy.

If you are planning on going to the shopping mall and using the car all the time, go with a regular insurance company. If you just want to drive a few Saturday nights on the town, Classic insurance should be fine.

Guys check out Sneed Insurance. They are the only ones that will allow you to actually enjoy your car, including the occasional drive to work. I've just switched over from American Classics and it is costing me about $375 / yr for $35,000 in AGREED value coverage.

Here's a quote from their website:

NO MILEAGE LIMITS*
Most classic car insurance carriers as well as standard Insurance carriers limit the number of miles that you can drive your precious classic auto. But, with Sneed's Classic Auto Insurance you drive your fine classic auto as much as you want!

NO USAGE RESTRICTIONS*
With Sneed Classic Car Insurance you can not only take your classic car on an occasional Sunday drive, but you can also take your friend to dinner or occasionally show it off at the office. Basically, you go anywhere you want when protected with Sneed Classic Car Insurance!

http://www.sneedinsurance.com/sneed_collect_classicauto.htm

Reposted from Classic Car Insurance Poll Post:

AON also allows you to drive your Classic whenever you want as long as you have one daily driver car for each classic car insured.

I have researched this quite a bit and am now with AON Collector Car Insurance.

Some Classic Car Insurance Websites listed below. Most will give quotes online. Grundy provides a great link to the NADA site to value your classic car. Values seem very realistic on the NADA site.

Reasons I went with AON include:

1) No mileage restrictions

2) Only restrictions on use of vehicle are "no racing" and "no business use". Many insurers limit you to attending car events and do not allow an occasional trip to the store or to run errands or taking your car to work. AON allows this.

3) Original versus modified. Some Classic Car Insurance companies seem very strict in this interpretation and their rates go up significantly with "any" modification. One company say "no aftemarket Tachs" period!

4) Locked garage requirement waived when attending Car Events where you have stay overnight at a hotel

5) No appraisal needed.

6) Several "Agreed Value" options

Went with AON and documented modifications and sent more pictures than they requested. Also sent printouts of values from NADA site to back up the "agreed value" amount I wanted to insure at. AON was not the cheapest. They are about in the middle if you do not have a completely stock vehicle as most aren't. But they do seem to be the most liberal in use of your classic cars which was important to me.

Jim

http://www.americancollectorsins.com/index.php
http://www.aoncollectorcar.com/
http://www.classicins.com/
http://www.condonskelly.com/company.php
http://www.grundy.com/default2.asp
http://www.hagerty.com/
http://www.parishheacock.com/content/
http://www.sneedinsurance.com/sneed_collect.htm#
http://www.jctaylor.com/

Got quotes from both AON and Sneed - like you said there are no mileage restrictions at Sneed - however, there are $$$ restrictions $75000.00 is the max on their policy. The price seems to be about the same for each of them $100 in premium for every $10000.00 in coverage. The deductible makes a little difference from $250 to $500 and um coverages for each state are different.

AON is not taking any new business!!! Just to let you guys know.

And also...after having a lengthy discussion about Classic Auto insurance with Nationwide they assured me that they did have "Agreed Value Coverage". :sad: Turns out after having read the endorsement it is an "Actual Cash Value"

The limit of our coverage is the cost to repair or replace your antique or classic auto or its damaged parts at time of loss not to exceed the lesser of:


the cash value of the auto at time of loss; or
the amount that applies to the auto as shown in the Declarations.


determined by:
Fair Market Value
Age; and
Condition of the Property
at the time of loss

Seems like insurance agents aren't very competent.

"at time of loss"; "fair market value" and "condition of the property" are all SUBJECTIVE not objective.

Still doesn't make sense to me why no one will insure a classic for it's true value without depreciation and allow you to use it as you'd like. They certainly could assign different risk levels to determine rates and request yearly pictures to insure "proof of upkeep" or even bi-yearly appraisals.

My car appraised at $30,500...certainly not an exorbitant price with respect to many automobiles bought and sold everyday.

3 quotes
Nationwide $332.60 BI Liability@250,000/500,000 UI/UN@100,000/300,000
Sneed $455.00 BI@300,000 UI/UN@300,000
Hagerty $486.00 BI@15,000/30,000 UI/UN@15,000/30,000

From what I herd most of these companys have the same underwrighter.
B.J talked about it during one of his shows about collecter cars and all his personal car I wish I could remember the name.
Someone on here talked about grundy and had bad luck with them trying to get a claim and said he will never use them agin. This subject was talked about before and I still dont know who to use for my car and it is still all apart but I think it will be hagerty. But I think I will take a look at that great list from kmotion. So thanks for the list kmotion.
Bob

Yes, thanks for the list. I have been researching classic insurance and am between a rock and a hard place with this issue myself because of the condition of my cars. I'm in the unfinished but driving them crowd. I have 3 cars a 67 SS 350 Camaro (clone), 76 Nova SS, and an 80 Z28. None are show quality. The 67 is in primer and will be driveable this spring. I have been driving the Nova under a liability policy through Progressive. I have been doing body work and upgrading it and plan to pro-tour this car. The 80 Z needs an engine so it sits. All are garaged.

I would say the 67 is worth 12-14K and the Nova at 3k. I'd want to find some place to cover both cars but doubt these classic car insurance places would. I don't have alot of money invested in them, but I also don't want to be out if something happens.

I'd like to know what guys in my situation are doing. What do the unfinished but driving crowd, pro-touring, race car, and owners of other modified cars do for insurance needs.

http://www.mkinsuranceagency.com/pc2/index.aspx?sid=17981

Try this company and ask for Tamra, there are a number of guys on the Yenko board that swear by MK... if they offered in South Carolina I would have them.

I found a local agent today who writes policies for Hagerty. I called Hagerty last week and was told my cars needed to be 85% done before they would consider covering them. The local agent said not to worry just bring my current declaration page from my insurance and some pictures of the cars and he'll get me a quote.

I called Hagerty last week and was told my cars needed to be 85% done before they would consider covering them.

That not quite true. Ask Hagerty for a "Rod & Custom Worksheet" My 69 is 1/2 completed and I was able to get $50k of coverage by completing the "worksheet" and supplying photos.