Auto Insurance
 

Please give me some advice on auto insurance. I know that there are only a few insurance companies that insure old cars and that the insurance game changes pretty fast so who are the best companies today? I am ready to start driving my 34 2dr and would welcome your advice. This car will only be driven a few hundred miles at most this year but I want to be sure that I insure with a good company and get the right coverage. Thanks for your advice.

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Hagerty's good, too. Been with them eight years, and fortunately no claims. However, a friend whose '50 Tudor was t-boned speaks very highly of them--they even paid him for his own time in making repairs.

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I've got 4 cars insured with Grundy. No claims so can't report on that??

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have grundy great company had a claim , got an estimate and they sent a check right away, never even came and looked at the car.

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Not necessarily true that few insurance companies will insure your car. State Farm, for instance, insured my 39 Ford at a really cheap rate. HOWEVER, their coverage is not "agreed value" so I would have perhaps lost if the car was stolen while under their coverage. When the car was gone thru, the value increased sharply and I transferred to PHLY (formerly Grundy) with agreed value policy. Talk to your current agent and ask about your situation....if you car is a driver and you dont consider it to be very valuable, a standard policy might be applicable. If you car is worth $$$ (a 34 probably is) call a few of the people in the game and get some quotes.....Haggerty and PHLY give online quotes. Bump the liability up to the max, it is very cheap to do.
Mike

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I'm using Condon-Skelly. Good rates based on agreed value, but restricted to recreational uses -- probably not best for 'daily drivers.'

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All of our vehicles/home/etc. are insured with State Farm. They don't take your "stated value" without an itemized appraisal from a competent appraiser. But, when they see the numbers----they accept the "stated value".

They do offer a unique coverage called "under insured". My local agent stated she has several Bentleys insured this way----because a $25K limit on many drivers policies would not even begin to repair a new Bentley.

I think your service depends upon the local agent.

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I have switched to Heacock Classic Car Ins. recently after a little research...rates etc. Hope I never need them!

Pat

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Be aware the JC Taylor and Grundy are not the same insurance companies of old. Both have changed hands over the last few years.

The people that took over JC Taylor seem to know nothing about old cars, at least as a friend of mine is concerned. He had a 57 Bird that was hit by a semi and sustained a lot of damage. He had a very hard time convincing Taylor that it was not a RV that the new company specialized in. Then when they sent an adjuster out he really low balled the damage (either through ignorance or on purpose) so much that my friend had to get a lawyer to get compensated. I don't know if they have cleaned up thier act yet.

Grundy was bought out about a year ago and from what I heard they are not very good.

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I had JC Taylor insurance on my cars for over 20 years. I had one claim with them, the right rear fender on my '34 roadster was bent up badly in a Walmart parking lot and they paid for fixing it without any questions. I changed to Hagerty last year because the rates were about $150 less (6 cars) and they offered free towing insurance (10 miles I think). Last year when I was stranded in a Fredericksburg, Texas motel parking lot during the 1000 mile Texas tour with a bad fuel pump they sent a wrecker out and the man pulled the car backwards onto the wrecker platform so that we could push it into my trailer. The only problem was that at first they said that the car was not covered by my policy as it was over 25 years old. It turned out that the same outfit that serves Hagerty serves my other towing policy (FMCA motorhome insurance) and after this was figured out, all went well. I have since renewed the Hagerty policy.

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I used to have JC Taylor for many years and had one claim that was handled very well. A friend of mine had a '49 Ford that he just finished restoration on last spring and totaled it in early summer. He was insured with Taylor and when he insured it, they tried to get him to get $10,000.00 more than he actually put on it. When they settled the claim, they paid hos son to remove the front clip to better see the damage and then paid him the insured amount with no problem.

I changed to Hagerty in 2008 because of more flexibility in when I could drive my cars and it was a bit cheaper and they insured my wife's 2001 Mustang conv. I have had a windshield and one other claim with them with no problems.

Check them all out and choose the one that sounds the best for your wants and needs.

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I have 3 cars with Hagerty. Friend of mine had his 71 Torino totaled & they gave him the agreed value plus let him keep the car. Nice people to do business with.
Gary.

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Been with J. C. Taylor for 12 years on my 1952 F1 - have never had a claim so I cannot speak to that part but I think their rates and coverages are very good.

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If the Tbird was hit by a semi, why didn't the semi libiality cover the repair?

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I have been insured by Grundy for many years and have never had a claim. I am in Massachusetts where liability insurance is compulsory. I paid my Grundy policy bill the day I received it, yet two months later I received a letter from them that they had notified the Registry of Motor Vehicles that the liability insurance on my cars was to be cancelled in 10 days for non payment and therefore my registrations would be revoked. I phoned Grundy and told them I had a cancelled check for the payment. I mailed them a photocopy of the cancelled check, the cancellation was revoked, but they did not apologize for their error and this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have heard through other sources that their record keeping is not well organized. On another note I have a friend who applied to Grundy for coverage on three antique cars, all being original condition survivors, a perfect driving record, was refused coverage as his cars were not restored. They are not what they used to be.

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Many of those firms were probably started by folks who had been in the insurance business and owned older antique or classis cars. They saw the niche market that was being neglected and moved into the business of old car insurance. When the original owners retire and sell their stock out, the companies that purchase them seldom have the same idea about how to run the program. Many are only purchasing them for the revenue income for a long enough period to transfer it to a different buisness like RVs & motorcycles. They don't continue policy that doesn't bring large profits.

It's the American way, sad to say.

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Hagerty!!!!! You can't lose.