I know this topic has been discussed on here before, but now its become personal. I was hit by a guy who is insured with State Farm. It was clearly his fault and State Farm has accepted 100% liability. I faxed them the repair estimate along with an appraisal. I get a woman that has no clue as to what kind of vehicle she is talking about. Of course the value comes in, according to them, about $20k less than my appraisal, therefore they want to total the car. Now, I have been in the insurance business for 15 years, so I have an idea on how this works. Most of the time when a vehicles damage is within 80% of the value, yes, they will total. This is not the case with my appraisal but it is with theres. Now my company is standing by waiting to issue me a check, which is where I will probably end up going. My advice to anybody that has a cl***ic car, hot rod, street rod or whatever it might be insured with State Farm to go to a company that SPECIALIZES in these types of vehicles. These companies have the knowledge and understand our sport and hire people accordingly. Don't wait until something happens to find out you have a problem. Just my 2 cents!
American National "CHROME" policy is what I have......for the Cl***ic Cars. I use to have State Farm years ago, but had to let them go
Thats what I sell and thats what I have. They knew exactly what I was talking about and knew what was needed. And I dont just say that because I work for them.
If you have insurance from Grundy or Hagerty you NEVER talk to the other person's insurance company. Grundy or Hagerty pay you no matter who's at fault and then THEY go after the other person's insurance company. After being beaten to death on this forum regarding speciality insurance, anyone who doesn't have it...well it's their own fault. KNOW your own policy and what it provides. Agreed value policy is the ONLY way to go and in case of total loss there is NEVER any question as to how much the car is worth.
I turned the claim in with State Farm myself as I dont feel I should have to pay my deductible for an accident that was clearly not my fault. I also turned the claim in with my company for the exact reason Denise mentioned. I will let my company go after State Farm. My point wasnt really that, it was to know your policy and more importantly, know the company you are doing business with. I have some friends here on the HAMB insured and I have no problem or concern placing them with my company.
Are you dealing with one of their claims central teams or an ***igned individual claim representative? either way ask to be p***ed up to someone that has cl***ic / custom car expierience, since the rep doesn't appear to have the proper training or expierience to handle your file. Be firm and make them provide the persons credentials. They are usually OK. They wont give the house away but try to be reasonably fair.
i disagree. i have them. still waiting to finalize my claim after my 60 pontiac was hit in JULY!! i realize that i don't have your average paint job.....but i've been lied to, and treated piss poor by my claims guy and their appraiser.
Without beating a dead horse, there is no deductible at all with Hagerty of Grundy. One of the MANY reasons their insurance is so attractive. While Hagerty is great, got paid off in full from them right away when I lost a high dollar '47 Chevy convert to a shop fire, Grundy's coverage is exactly the same for quite a bit less in premiums. Just get a quote from them before you make a decision. www.grundy.com
I dont mind a deductible as I feel I should be somewhat responsible. I can take a low, high or no deductible as well and its not really a huge deal, even in this case. I am more concerned with getting the car fixed right. Like we keep saying, I hate to beat a dead horse about this but I was just making comments on past threads, now its happened to me so I have some first hand experience
while we are on this subject i gots a ?. do all collector car ins co require the car to be kept under lock and key? i've got 2 rite now and about to start on 3&4 but i only have , at this time a 2 car garage with room for 1.(spare parts and all, ya'll know what i mean) just wandering????????? and yeah i know i could sell some and build a bigger garage and that may happen.but just not rite now. thanks bruce
ive been trying to find decent insurance for a 63 nova wagon, im driving all the way to so-cal and gonna be living there so i figure i need some decent insurance, im 21 though sometimes that makes it a *****
Who-ever the insurance company is........ When you have damage, it's YOUR insurance comany's responsibility to pay YOU. All of the **** they give you is their way of trying to get out of paying. Legal precidence will prevail only if you hire a lawyer, go to court and sue your company. The court will find in a very high majority of the cases that they are are required to pay you because they sold you an insurance policy. Nowhere in any policy I have does it say if an accident is my fault that I'm not covered. Further, if they total your vehicle, legal precidence is that they MUST give you first right of refusal to buy the salvage back from them if they don't replace your vehicle with another of equal value/condition.............. Hagerty is my choice, mainly because of the 'AGREED VALUE' clause.
as in a member of the board? good. maybe they'll finally start giving a damn about my claim. to be honest, it's not GRUNDY...but the company under them that takes care of it, AND the guy in my state that they sent to do the estimate. HOWEVER...i pay my money to GRUNDY....
"KNOW your own policy and what it provides." If you don't know talk to your agent! "Further, if they total your vehicle, legal precidence is that they MUST give you first right of refusal to buy the salvage back from them if they don't replace your vehicle with another of equal value/condition..." Total loss statutes vary from State to State, I know of no Ins Co that REPLACES cars! Had a recent claim with Grundy, couldn't have been handled any better!
do they offer liability insurance as well ?...I looked at Grundy via e-mail..and was a little confused about this...
due to this post, I have just filled out the Grundy application, I have state farm currently, and its only $3 more a month with Grundy, and peace of mind is worth more than that. Thanks guys and Denise (too).
My last comment on this issue. You might think that the insurance company has all the control, but you would be dead wrong. The consumer has an enormous amount of control. Just ask me. I am an insurance agent with another company and also a claimant with State Farm so I am seeing both sides. If you can maintain your composure and not get "angry", have a little patience, the consumer will and can previal.
Patience . . . yeah, I've had to have boat loads of it in dealing with the claim on my Model A that was destroyed back in June. Here I am nearly 5 months after the accident and still no resolution -- and the accident was no fault of my own. I'll get through the process and when I do, I'll be switching to a specialty car insurer without hesitation.
Same here,just applied online for a quote and its well within reason.I hope i never have to use it.Thanks all and Denise for the heads up.
I've only been involved in a couple of these situations but I always keep the car. Years ago had a situation with a 38 Chevy sedan, insurance company kept trying to lowball my claim. I sent them copies of pages from Old Cars Weekly, Hemmings Motor News, etc. showing comparable cars for sale and told them we could involve lawyers if agreement couldn't be reached. They wrote the check for $12K less the $300 THEY had valued the car at as a total. I parted the car out for $3500 in just 5 weeks. The guy who bought the body and frame, rebuilt the car and was still driving it 15 years later, maybe still today. I still have the 250 Chevy six with 3 carbs, Clifford valve cover and chrome side covers today.
Read this thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258308&highlight=grundy+insurance&showall=1 and pay special attention to the part regarding the difference between a $20,000 agreed value and a $25,000 agreed value policy. IF your car is close to being worth $20,000 then get insurance coverage for a $25,000 agreed value policy. Trust me on this one. Reason why....two difference underwriters are used and a plocy worth $25,000 is MUCH less expensive then a policy worth $20,000. Also, with Grundy I got a $125 per year reduction for running a year of manufacture plate. Lots of other insurance posts over the years in the archieves http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253561&highlight=grundy+insurance&showall=1 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244386&highlight=grundy+insurance&showall=1 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=214486&highlight=grundy+insurance http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85567&highlight=grundy+insurance&showall=1 and the list goes on......the search feature here is GREAT!
Also, even if your insurance company does not require one, get a "certified appraisal" from a certified apprasier. This will help you out tremendously if an accident occurs, your fault or someone else's.
I am in the process to switch to Grundy, I have 10 cars with Hagerty, I checked Grundy, their quote was for almost $2000 less than Hagerty and I upped 3 cars to 25K from 20K...that is a HUGE savings. I had always touted Hagerty as being "the one" but not any more.
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