VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Insurance while restoring

I am curious what others do for insurance while undergoing a complete restoration. My agent advises they may not cover as the body is off the frame and completely apart.

I use Grundy. They asked for photos of it's current status and we agreed on a value. As the restoration advanced the value was increased in step.

Thanks Tiny, I have State Farm and the agent came to take pictures but decided against it as the body is off the frame and parts are stored in several areas. They have insured the car the last ten years under a stated value policy and I am waiting for the agent to get back to me with a firm answer.

I suggest you contact Hagerty. Hagerty website They have in process insurance for restorations in addition to complete vehicles. I have used several insurance companies over the years and Hagerty is by far the best I have found.

Not only that, but you will save a ton of money by going to one of the companies that specializes in antique car insurance only. I used to have my '51 Chevy insured with State Farm and their rates were extreme...and that was with no collision or replacement value either. I switched to J.C. Taylor and with full coverage, including collision and replacement value, my annual rate dropped about 90%! And, like Hagerty, J.C. Taylor also covers vehicles that are under restoration as well.

Thanks guy's, guess it's time to do a little comparison shopping, although all things being equal I like to stay local.

Bad, VERY bad. With a 'stated value' policy it's up to you to prove that it's worth the 'stated value' after a loss. If they don't agree with your stated value you lose. Purchase an 'agreed value' policy. You and the insurance company agree up front to the value of your vehicle before any loss. I compared premium costs between Hagarty and Grundy and Grundy was quite a bit cheaper. I've admittedly had no claim so I can't say how fair their claims process is. I've read both good and bad on line about both Grundy and Hagarty. My state insurance commissioner's office had no bad reports on Grundy so I went with them.

Well, now that you have explained the difference I will have to check the policy to be sure which type it is.

Perhaps that was when you were a pup. State Farm was less money than Hagerty or Taylor if I used their on line quote for my 32 sedan correctly. Includes liability and collision. It's tough comparing as not all offer the same products, some limit mileage, and as Tiny pointed out there's a big difference between stated value and agreed value.

My coverage is far cheaper on my '38 than the coverage for either my main car or my truck. All are full coverage and my '38 is worth more than the other two combined. I tried State Farm's on line quote to compare their price on my '38 and their on line quote won't go any older than '73. The site said I need to contact an agent. My premium for my '38 is $206 per year for $32K full coverage agreed value. I pay almost $100 more each every six months on my car and truck. The replacement value of both are about $15K.

Going with a major insurance company like State Farm, Farmers or Allstate is definitely not the way to go when insuring vintage vehicles because their premiums are just way to high for what you get when compared to companies like J.C. Taylor and etc. that specialize in covering vintage vehicles.

My State Farm policy for my 32 sedan is $86.00 every six months for full liability and $20,000 collision value. J C Taylor came up on line at $191.00 anually and Hagerty was $203.00. My old fashioned math says State Farm is less, and yes I dealt with an agent and not on line. He came to the house and took pictures for documentation.

I have three vintage cars (one is my 1932) covered by J.C. Taylor, and they all have full coverage, including collision/ replacement value. My last premium was $205 per year for all three vehicles combined. Before I transferred over to J. C. Taylor, my '51 Chevrolet was insured by State Farm at $92 every six months alone! And, with a totaled collector car State Farm won't pay off on the total value either.....been there and done that. Also, State Farm would not insure a car that I was working on that was in pieces but being restored. J.C. Taylor did insure the car being restored and all of the spare parts as well.

However, as a side note, all of our other "modern" cars are still insured with State Farm, and on our modern cars State Farm's rates are pretty much competitive with Farmers and Allstate....with State Farm being a tad lower.

Are we comparing apples to apples. A few questions, all about State Farm:

How much is your deductible for the collision coverage?

Is it agreed value or stated value?

If stated value what would the premium be for agreed value?

What are the mileage limits if any?

Does SF agree to let you buy NOS parts for repairs if you have a loss?

You don't mention comprehensive coverage (glass breakage, theft, vandalism, hail, etc.). How much would it cost to include that with SF? (It's included with Grundy, Hagarty, etc.)

If SF offers comprehensive coverage how much is the deductible?

Does your coverage automatically adjust for inflation?

My Grundy deductible for collision is $0.
My deductible for comprehensive is $0
I can drive as many miles a year as I wish as long as the vehicle isn't my daily driver.
I can buy NOS parts for repairs regardless of cost (my option).
My coverage automatically adjusts for inflation.

I think much of the difference might be geographical location and dollar value placed on the vehicles. When I moved from the city only ten miles away my cost went down by about 20 percent on my regular vehicles. It would sure be nice to only pay $205 for my two antiques-a32 sedan and 51 sport coupe. The coupe is apart which is why this thread got started-as you noted State Farm will not cover it.State Farm's on line ad says with an agreed value policy they will pay that amount if totaled. Tiny's info regarding the difference between stated and agreed value is I think very important.

I did a test quote and if I moved to Eagle Point I could save $11.00-not quite enough incentive to make the move. Now, if I can convince the "boss" to dig out the State Farm policy I might be able to answer tiny's questions!

I would be skeptical of that statement. I have been there before with them and it didn't happen.



If you are talking about J.C. Taylor, I dealt directly with their home office when I switched over and got my policy, and the location where I live had no bearing at the time on the total amount of the policy.

So they never asked where you live? Of course the location HAS a bearing on the cost of the policy! Imagine if you were in New York City. Do you think the rate would be the same. Yes, J C Taylor.Also you made no mention of the VALUE insured.Did you get 5000 dollars worth of insurance or 50000 dollars worth. I know Ol'Smokey has sentimental value , but quite honestly the insurance co could care less, the more value you insure the more $$$$ they will want.As for the non full payment if you had an agreed value policy and they failed to fulfill their commitment I would go to the insurance commissioner if you have one in your state. If not it's more reason to remain in N.H.

Hi Tiny, Lot's of questions and I don't have all the answers. First my liability coverage is 250,000-500,000. Property damage coverage is 100,000. Collision deductible is 250 and it is agreed value coverage. I'm not sure about the comprehensive cost as I closed out the on-line window but my 51 was $16.00 per year.The deductible on the comprehensive is 100.Uninsured motorist coverage is also 250,000-500,000.Mileage only states use for the normal antique uses-club activities-parades-display-etc. This is also limited by our state registration antique vehicle requirements.As an agreed value policy renewed every 6 months it's up to me to change the value if that is needed. Regarding nos parts I'm unsure, but know they would be hard to find.I can cover the 100 and 250 deductible-it's that 500,000 that would be hard to cover. If I read it correctly my policy will cover up to 605,000 for bodily injury,property damage and medical payments. So, are we comparing apples to apples?

Sure, they asked me where I lived but that was merely for my complete address. As I mentioned above, when I received my insurance policy years ago, my location (at that time) had no bearing on the total amount. No doubt things have changed since then. I have discovered one thing though....that different insurance agents give out different answers to the same question.

When State Farm was charging me $92 every six months for the coverage on my '51 Chevy I switched to J.C. Taylor. I increased the PL and PD on the car and doubled the value of the car as well.....added two more cars to the policy with full coverage and value, and the policy is currently $205 per year for all three cars. At the time I switched over to J.C. Taylor years ago the policy was actually $136 per year. Of course, over the years I have increased the value on all three cars and that was reflected on each current premium amount. And their rates have gone up some since then too. I renewed my policy in November of 2011 for the $205 amount mentioned above. As you indicated in your posting, the difference between where you live and where I live apparently amounts to only $11 in savings on the total. With that small amount of savings involved I would consider that pretty much a non issue as far as our two different locations are concerned.

If State Farm comes through with the coverage and a total that you can live with and you are happy with them, then I think that you should definitely stick with SF. Unfortunately, I have had dealings with SF on two vintage cars that were totaled in the past and it wasn't all that pleasant either time. To date, I have been with State Farm for 51 years (car insurance and home owner's policy) and when it got to the point that their premiums were getting too high for the coverage on my '51 Chevy I had no choice but to switch to J.C. Taylor for coverage on my vintage cars. I am sure glad that I did based upon the large amount of money I have saved on the premiums over the past decade or so.

Tiny,
When I google Grundy alot of information comes up about Grundy being sold late last year. What changes happened to your policy due to this sale. thanks grant

No changes on my end. Grundy was a broker all along. They didn't actually underwrite the policy. The policy is through an Philadelphia Insurance. <CLICK> I assume Hagarty & JC Taylor are the same (brokers) but I could be wrong, they may underwrite the coverage themselves.

Tiny, Insurance is all about high volume and shared risk.Specialty agents like Grundy, Hagerty,or Taylor even subcontract to local Agencies that sell other policies as well. State laws can restrict this subletting but the big boys have political clout so---. Hagerty Agency makes it clear that they are underwritten by American Central Ins. in Canton, MA. Like so many of us careful conservatives I have never tried to collect for minor damages, repairing it myself and considering the Ins. policy a major catastrophe (total loss or theft) backup. That sort of behavior on the part of us car nuts perhaps keeps the specialty policies inexpensive I'll bet. DFC

Thanks Chipper for your input. I spoke with Hagerty's and they were very helpful the final result being they will cover the vehicle undergoing restoration and the final cost is within a few dollars of my current policy cost.

I checked with J.C.Taylor and they will not cover while a vehicle is undergoing a restoration which was my main concern.