Insurance, American Collectors

Just to let you know of my recent experience. I went to the friendly website and talked with a friendly phone operator and 1 week later got a friendly denial.

The brochure says we want to serve those who have collector cars. What that meant is that they want you to have a high value, (they told me I was not asking enough for my car and I reminded her it is a resto project at this point) show car and that you participate in a club. They told me my car was a driver and not garaged, as though they know. I explained that my car is always garaged and that nothing in their literature explained the "show car" requirement and I had talked with their staff about my resto project and they said there would be no problem. Overall the response was very poor and what their advertisement portrays is not accurate regarding who they want to cover. If you make contact, talk with someone up front and explain everything you want and send pictures that shine. Paul.

I’ve had a good relationship with Hagerty (tho I’ve never had to make a claim, knock on wood). They seem pretty accommodating about doing with the cars what they were intended for……driving!

I used Grundy for several years until they insisted on a “high performance” surcharge on the XKE. I tried to explain that it was a “no performance” car at the time, sitting on stands with a broken piston. They didn’t seem to want to deviate from their actuarial tables so I deviated with my patronage and switch to Hagerty.

You might give them a call or check their site, www.hagerty.com. Good luck.

Thanks I am going to fill out their application and ask them up front if they cover resto projects. psg

I recently got set up with Hagerty and it went very smoothly. I also hav'nt ever filed a claim so I can't talk to that end of the deal. It did'nt seem to matter much what value I wanted to set for my jag. Hope you have a good experience also.

I don't know if you are driving yours at this time or not' but if not you might want to check your home owners policy. It might cover a garaged non-op. Worth a try.

Paul; re: “Agreed Value”, Hagerty uses the common price guides and requires a photo of the car…. If your stated value is within the published range for the condition, no worries. On my last renewal, they actually suggested an increase in value on a few of the cars.

Cheers,

John

We actually discussed this topic of antique insurance a while back on BCF.
To be fair, I've had a good experience with American Collectors. The company was recommended to me by two buddies who both have Cobra replicas......they had trouble with other companies that wanted to value the Cobras too high. Another buddy has a TR-3 with these guys for years. Maybe it's the local agent that makes the difference. Mine (Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, N.J.) was very helpful and even reminded me to bring photos to DMV when I registered the car (DMV didn't mention this).
Here's my policy:
1967 Sprite (HAN9 series)
2500 miles/year max driving
no deductable collision
no deductable comprehensive
towing
$250 deductable personal injury
$100,000 uninsured motorist
no PIP/no lawsuit limit
$100,000 body inj & prop damage
$3500 agreed value

total cost: $52.31 per year

My driving record is clean and I'm 51 and the agreed value is pretty low (this was my choice, they would have agreed to 10K+).....I'm guessing that these facts make me a better risk. I've never made a claim against AC, so I don't know what they're like to deal with in *that* manner.

Thanks for your experience. I set up the same policy and told them my car was about $13,000. They said that was awfully cheap for an etype which suggested to them this car was not "show quality" so they did not want to bother with a restoration. The lady copped an attitude about where I was keeping my vehicle. She did not want to believe I keep it in a garage. I was dealing with an underwriter at their HQ's....... strange experience. I am going to try Hagerty. Thanks for the repsonse. psg

Hi guys...American Collectors here. Great to see so much dialogue concerning collector vehicle insurance! As an ACI representative, I just
wanted to set the record straight: the cars we provide coverage for must be in good to excellent condition (original or restored), garaged & driven only for pleasure (less than 2500 miles/year). These requirements enable us to
offer really great coverage at really cheap rates. Also for the record, neither "show car" condition nor club membership is a firm requirement. We will consider cars undergoing restoration. I wonder what Paul's (#283)
vehicle photos looked like for one of our underwriters to conclude that the car is a driver & not garaged. Take his advice and send us photos that tell the real story...a picture really is worth a thousand words! Thanks for
this opportunity to contribute. CF

P.S. "aeronca65t" (#307), thank you for your business. Many of our new
customers are referred to us by satisfied policyholders and you are apparently one of them!

I've been a little reluctant to jump in here, but after giving it some thought, I felt I would ad my perspective as an innocent bystander

First, I can certainly understand Paul's frustration. He has what he considers a great collectable automobile (and I must confess here I am partial to ETypes). So, I can understand Paul's frustration at being turned down. Obviously some folks are very happy (e.g., aeronca65t) because they were accepted.

Obviously to offer the kind of rates that ACI offers, it is necessary for them to be very discriminating in their selection of vehicles they insure.

On the other hand, I don't know how many underwriters ACI has, but "if" one of the underwriters (or members of the ACI staff) is provided misleading information, even if it was done innocently, (e.g., telling a customer that its no problem that his car is a "restoration project"), then I would hope that would be something ACI would see as a problem and address it internally. I too would love to know how an underwriter could tell whether a car is garaged or not, other than taking the person's word for it. You know the old addage: A satisfied customer will tell 2 or 3 of his closest friends, but a dissatisfied customer will tell everyone he know in the world and many he doesn't know.

I can see both sides here, but in fairness to Paul, I did look at the ACI web site, and I must be honest here - the information presented is not real clear as to what sort of cars would or would not be covered. If, for example, restoration projects are less likely to be covered than completed cars, it should probably state that up front. Take that not as a slam, but as constructive critisim.

The bottom line from my perspective is, it sounds like ACI provides a valuable service to owners of collector cars. At the same time, it "may" be that they could do a better job of communicating their requirements, both on the web site and verbally on the phone. My perspective and 20 cents will buy you a cup of coffee

Cheers,
Basil
PS: Welcome to the forum Courney!

[ 03-02-2002: Message edited by: Basil ]</p>

Basil has hit the nail on the head and that is what I explained to ACI. If you have certain criteria for denying a policy be up front about it. Through the phone call I explained I wished I would have known up front that they were looking for a certain kind of car and that previous phone calls lead me to believe I was in that category. The pictures I sent of my car are not flattering, I told them about the whole history of the car and what the pictures represented but it was the best I have.....but I did not know ACI wants pretty ("Show") cars. Some day my car will be pretty and will show well in the sun light but until that day I still need insurance to license and drive the car. ACI's response, and it should be noted I directed them to this forum, continues the same problem. ACI is showing a lack of understanding of their job, which is, help the customer come to a happy outcome, even if it is a denial but don't blame the customer for corporate policy and poor advertising. I have to wonder what their claims process will be like. My training and experience has taught me too much about customer satisfaction and ACI could use a good consultant. Respectfully, Paul.

I'm sorry your experience wasn't a good one Paul and, as I've said, I can see both sides here. I think since they have responded, and you have responded, and I have added my 2 cents (and got change back ), I think it best at this point to close this particular thread.

I suggest that anyone looking for insurance for their classic car should definitely shop around and get different opinions from a range of different people and then make the best choice you can.

Cheers,
Basil

[ 03-03-2002: Message edited by: Basil ]</p>