I had American Classic insurance. They paid out for a accident I had with no hassle. I switched to Hagerty only because they would insure a car I purchased that was not yet in my possesion out of state. The others wanted it on my property.
I have 4 cars insured with Grundy. My premium is a bit high as 2 of the cars have an appraised value of 150. The other 2 are builder projects that are in progress. The PU is currently dormant and I add value to the roadster as is progresses. Never had a claim so I can't comment on that.
The reason I switched to Grundy was because the HUNDREDS, I mean HUNDREDS they save me on my DDriver. I did save @$30.00 between Grundy vs Hagerty on my 2 antique cars. I probably would not have switched if it hadn't been for the $$$ they saved me on my DD.
I believe the level was $20,000. Not sure with all the changes in underwriters etc going on over there if that is still the case but I encourage anyone who has a car with Grundy and their agreed value policy is close to but lower then $20,000 to check out what their premiums would be if they increased their coverage to $25,000. Premiums might be less for more coverage.
I just went through the ins. claim process with J.C.Taylor and they did their job. After the muffler shop wrecked my truck, I was left to deal with their pos ins. co. Something called EMC, is a liability carrier and not licenced in Cal.They evaded and didn't return calls and took 3wks. to send an adjuster. Finally, they agreed to pay 5900$, but said the truck was only worth that, so they wanted to total it. At that point , I had to re-open my claim with my ins.(JC Taylor) and they paid up and had to go after EMC. All I can say is I was sure glad I had the agreed value insurance coverage, because if your stuff is home built like mine, and get in a wreck, you're not going to get what you deserve.
Michigan is a no fault state... I was up in Michigan. Loon and Long lake area fishing, and someone rear ended the boat we where towning. Boy what a mess. I am very cautious when I enter Michigan driving.... My rates are dirt cheap, since my CDL is clean. My only chargable accident was in 1983 in my personal car..... State laws play into ins costs
i have had cars insured through hagerty before, just be aware that some of the $100 a year type policies limit your mileage driven per year, it's almost meant for parade cars. just ask them if that's what you get for the money and if so, simply change it. mine was intended to be a 2,000 miles per year limit, and that dog don't hunt. i have american national's chrome plan now. dailies and classics all on one policy. cheap and good coverage.
Insurance is only as good as the claim handling....Grundy can't even come close to covering my DDs, USAA is hard to beat, just don't do classics (they will for liability only) so it is Hagerty for me......State Farm was $600 more every 6 mos for my DDs and Grundy was $650 more and those quote included (State Farm) switching everything over to them.
Pretty much. Wacky isn't it? Here's what happened. I went looking for quotes on the car we got. I went to Grundy's site and to get a quote, you had to enter 3 VINs. Flat out. No 3 titles, no quote. So I went to Hagerty's site. I filled out the info, and got a quote with a number on it for my transaction. My wife and I are licensed and insured, but we have gotten by on one car for the past year. The Studebaker was to be, and is, our back up car, and fun round town, local show car. (Can you say Hot August Nights?) When I told the chick on the phone at Hagerty as I called to sign up, she said, what was my daily driver? I said I didn't have one, I was going to drive the car 2500miles or so a year, and that I didn't have a car. She said, 'If you don't have a daily driver, we won't insure you.' Not too politely either and not with any ounce of wiggle. "We don't insure cars if you're going to drive it to the store or around town" (yes that's what she told me) "You had to have a car to have gotten to work in the past year(!)" she stated. "NO, I do not. I actually ride a bicycle, and for the past year that HAS been my primary means of transportation to work." "We won't insure you without a daily driver" was the response. I asked, "If I can't get a car insured with you that won't travel more than 2500 miles a year, what do you expect me to do, trailer it to shows or what?!" "No, that's not what we mean at all, if you don't have a regular car, we won't insure you" I was, and still am, livid. Couldn't argue with the phone drone, so f 'em. According to the pinhead, if I had a car, insured it and never drove it, but drove the wheels off the classic cross country, that would be ducky for them and they'd have no problem insuring me. Idiotic, but it's the Golden Rule...them with the gold, and all that. That's my experience with the 2 big classic car insurance companies. At least Grundy was straight up and didn't string me along like Hagerty. It's been over a week and my blood pressure just went up thinking about this again
Oh, if you're a Hagerty rep, do us both a favor and don't waste electrons trying to explain or defend yourself. I'll just get more po'ed.
Just called the JC Taylor number for information and they say on their phone message, '...must have a daily driver...' blah, blah, blah. Regardless of the fact that I DO have access to a daily driver, but because I don't PAY for a daily driver, too bad, so sad.... Irony alert, I'm off to log my daily commute miles on my bike on a website. I have over 500 miles already so far this year, and that's with my halving my mileage by riding partway into work with my wife and riding the rest of the way to my work from hers. The past 2 years I regularly put around 3000 miles on my bikes and those are commuting and errands, not races or long rides or anything. I'm not pushing this, just saying this is what works for me...aside from the insurance penalty.
I know that this has been a TOPIC BEFORE, but you have a choice of being part of this or not. Thank-you for those who have All good information.
The Jalopy Journal
