Re: [Amc-list] Collector Car Insurance

[farna@xxxxxxx]

I have to agree with John. I have State Farm insurance on my 63 Classic. As most of you know it's a mild street rod. It's currently valued in the $15-18K range. I have a $10K stated value policy with State Farm. The way this works is you provide proof of the car's value then pay for insurance up to the stated amount. It's rather cheap for me, even though I pay standard liability (a little over minimum coverage) so there are no driving or mileage restrictions. I have everything EXCEPT collision insurance (comprehensive covers glass/fire/theft/vandalism/etc.). So I'm covered as long as the wreck isn't my fault or I drive it off the road. I don't know what collision would be, I'll take the risk on my own driving. 

Now here's the clincher -- even though you provide proof of stated value and the company agrees with it and charges you based on that amount, you may not get it. It doesn't sound right at all, but the law in all states that I know of is that the insurance company only has to pay "current market value" of a vehicle. I ran into this when my first Classic wagon was totaled. I have State Farm, the guy who hit me had State farm. Since I had the car insured at $7K stated value, I fully expected a check for $7K. They offered me $3700. I had to complain to the state insurance commision, and sent a copy of the complaint to the main office in PA to get their attnetion. My own agent was no help (should have been!!). After I sent the complaint I got a reaction from SF even before the state ins. commision got involved -- they wanted to resolve the  problem before the state got involved. I supplied an appraisal stating the car was worth $10,500. They got a real classic/hot rod appraiser (t
 he fir
st one sucked!) who asked all the questions you'd expect who said it was worth $8,500. We settled for $9,500, with me returning $500 for the wreck (but giving up the title -- it wasn't repairable, just kept for the drivetrain, interior, and other parts). If they had given me a check for $7K I'd have accepted it and went on. I'm glad, in a way, that they didn't!! If it had been a minor accident, say under $5K to fix (definitely under $3500-3700) there wouldn't have been a problem. Since it was obviously totaled and not repairable it was. The laws favor the insurance companies, and they will work to pay out as little as possible no matter what they charge you for. Just a word to the wise! I've helpd a couple people get more for their damaged/totaled Ramblers/AMCs over the years. It pays to insure for a little under the value, since in this case if you can prove it's worth more you will get it. If you over insure you're just wasting money. 

----------------
Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 08:53:05 -0700
From: Steve Cornelius <steve.c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

John Elle wrote:
> The first place I would look for collector car insurance is with your
> present insurance company that also insures your daily driver or regular
> cars. 
> They may have the best all around policy for you. 


Hmmm, that's interesting. I didn't think about approaching them for our Jav.

My normal insurance company (who takes good care of us) really put up a
bit of a fuss when we asked to bump the insured value of our XJ (12
years young, 160K miles, but mostly new inside). I asked for $10K,
presented receipts for more, and we ultimately settled on $5K as a fair
insured value. Now I keep my fingers crossed it doesn't get creamed (as
has happened to more than one nice car we've had).

Because of this, I didn't even think of approaching them with a
36-year-old V8 coupe. I figured they'd look at me like I was from the moon.

Now, I never thought of everyday driving with it. I wouldn't dream of
taking it out in weekday traffic here, the risk is just too great in
this city. Club outings and Sunday morning coffee runs are all the risk
I want to take with it, so a collector policy is fine.

But knowing there's a few Ramblers out there on the working for a
living, that's pretty cool ;)

--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)
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