The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Insurance for a big bolt that is still doing work?

Anybody have a lead on who to talk to about insuring our 1952 2 ton GMC. Seems like nobody wants to talk to us either because the truck is too old, or because we still want to use the truck around the farm and for carrying loads of manure down the road. To make matters worse the truck is owned by our business, but it might just have to become a personal truck if that's a bridge too far for insurers.

I've tried searching the forums but not found anything about trucks that are still doing work finding insurance.

Thanks!

My truck is insured on my regular policy. Just went on line typed in the #s and had coverage. Didn’t talk to anyone, just did it. The fact that your truck is used for business is probably where the monkey wrench comes in. Good luck.

You might check with Hagerty. About all I know about them is they insure classic cars and such. The business use might be a deal killer for them too.

Hagerty pretty much told me to get lost with my 9500 GMC and my M-817 5-ton. You might try Gulfway Insurance. I ended up going with them on the dump truck and the road tractor and they were very good. You might also try your local State Farm agent. We had a late model (non-collector truck) F-450 landscape truck that we used for our farm and compost production operation (speaking of going up and down the road hauling manure ... ). We insured it as a farm use vehicle and State farm was easy to work with and offered a reasonable rate for a medium-duty working vehicle.

Regards,
John

Hagerty had no problem insuring my GMC 350 (2-ton) early 1955 Z-series GMC.

Maybe that is because they insure two other of my antique vehicles (since the turn of the Century)?

Their excellent rates/service are for "non-work" trucks.
The COE was/is not a "work" truck. At most/best, it is a parade truck.

Did they insure the GMC as a work truck? I think this is what's getting me. I think state farm is going to be my best option. I'm sure i could get insurance through Hagerty if I didn't tell them I was using the truck, but if I got in a wreck with a load of manure I'd worry they would deny the claim or drop me.

I used Hagerty for my Vette, now also have the '57 5700 insured through them but not for business.

What reason is your commercial business insurance company giving you for not wanting to cover the truck?

Call their competition and say "we have a business and part of that business is we use an antique truck, are you interested in giving us a quote"...see what they say!

Mike B

We don't actually carry commercial business insurance right now. We have a small farm and sell value added products, we just have product liability insurance through the soapmakers guild. Maybe it's time to see about business insurance. Our car insurance company quoted almost $200/month to insure the truck if we want our logo on the side. $50/month if we don't use if for business. Seemed steep to me. I might try country financial, I've had all my insurance through the same outfit for almost a decade, it might be time to shop around.

You should have business liability insurance on the truck, and any other vehicle you use for business. If you have a wreck, product insurance will not cover it.

Look into the farm laws out west and for you state specifically. Mine is for the three farms here, does work, and is plated as a 26k farm truck plate and I had zero issues with state farm. It is just liability coverage right now though. Have not looking into doing full coverage.

We have a number of antique-ish vehicles that are still worked hard between the other farms and they are insured under a local company and Farmers insurance, again without issue. Being that this is a farm truck for farm use, you have a lot of abilities that anyone else wont and can ignore a lot of laws that wont apply to you. Business insurance is not needed, depending on what farm insurance you have. But again, look into it state specifically and try going with a agriculture/farm centered insurance company. You can get away with a lot thru companies like that.

Many laws on the books don't apply to farmers and more yet are specifically made to restrict laws being placed on farms. Use it to your advantage.

Do you have a Farm Bureau Ins. close to you? Check the phone book......it may be in another county so be sure to look close.

unfortunately they don't seem to even been in my region. I'm going to look at country financial, they do farm insurance in my area.

State Farm has the insurance on my 72 C50, it is tagged as a farm truck, which by Alaska law has to derive 85% of it income from farming. I haul manure. compost and sawdust in it, all related to our boarding stable. State Farm didn't even ask to see it. They also insure a 2001 K3500 and a 2001 Escalade for us. Good luck!

This is Jake, from State Farm...
Seriously, I never had any issues with them insuring my '67 C50. It was all personal use less than 10k miles a year. Wasn't much cost wise. Business use may be different but worth the call. Worst they could is do is day no...

What did you end up doing? I'm looking for a good insurance company, and after reading this thread, I have doubts which one to choose to not face such issues.

I'm looking for unicorns, pink elephants, and honest politicians. There is no such thing as a "good" insurance company, especially if you ever have to make a claim. All of them are primarily interested in putting a vacuum cleaner into your billfold, and avoiding making more than a bare minimum payout if a claim is made.
Jerry

Lekta -- Welcome to Stovebolt, by the way!

The first thing you should do is read the Tech Tip on insuring an old truck -- located here.

And keep in mind a couple of things (reiterating from the Tech Tip):

1. Insurance companies do *not* exist to provide you with good coverage. They exist to make money for their shareholders (which they do by generally providing you more insurance than you need). This is neither good nor bad, just the reality of the market place. Some companies do this better than others.

2. Coverage is something that is unique to *you* We all come to the Insurance companies as unique individuals with unque records/driving experience. No two people are going to get the same quote. So sure, you can ask other people about their experiences but remember this, if nothing else -- at the end of the day, anything said by anyone other than an actual Insurance Agent, authorized to speak for their respective company, means *NOTHING* to you. You MUST get your own quotes and compare them YOURSELF.

3. You can either insure a truck as a collector vehicle (and get comparatively good rates) OR you can insure a work truck. You can not do both (unless you get two policies on the same truck and work with an agent to see how that might work for you). Anything else is gaming the system. Some companies, like Gulfway, will insure a "retired commercial vehicle" at a better rate than a commercial policy, but still not as good as some of the policies you can get for a light truck. They are a little more lenient in what you can do with the vehicle, but there are still restrictions -- DO YOUR HOMEWORK. This is not easy and no one else can do your work for you.

Bottom line: You can use an antique truck for commercial purposes, but you will need to register it and insure it as a commercial vehicle. You CAN register your collector vehicle as such and insure it at reduced rates, but you'll have restrictions that very from company to company. You have to call around and get quotes.

READ THE TECH TIP. Even though I pretty much repeated it here

Stovebolt.com is NOT going to endorse, recommend or encourage anyone to break the law or to deceive an insurance company.

Again, welcome to our site! Tell us about your truck!

First I called around and my local State Farm agent was willing to insure it as a farm truck for a super reasonable rate, but I had to insure my other vehicles with them too. So I moved everything to State Farm (homeowners, umbrella liability, etc). It all ended up costing about the same as I had been paying at my previous company, but I had to bring it all or I missed out on “discounts”. Then after one year they doubled my homeowners insurance rate even though I had zero claims. I was frustrated enough to switch again. Now I’m with “country financial”. I’m much better covered for my expanding farm activities, but I still don’t trust them. Insurance is obnoxious to buy. They make comparisons almost impossible.

My wife put my truck w/ Hagerty (we also have business policies, but our business wouldn't do this truck), full coverage, occasional use, said it was a couple hundred/year.

Just circling back to this ...

For all -- To cut through the noise ... Unless you have a "antique" medium/heavy duty truck that you actually work (even just occasionally -- and going to shows or parades isn't "work" Work is work.) and you have experience with insuring it as such -- you have nothing to add to this conversion, so please don't add to the noise level. Already confusing enough for the OP.

OP -- Yes, welcome to the confusing world of insurance. We love our State Farm agent, too. But ours is honest and upfront so when he worked the numbers, his all-in-one policy couldn't match what I had done individually. We have a couple of policies with him but not all of them. The combined policies rarely offer true savings when you get right down to it. Only the appearance of savings to people who don't do their homework. You must put some time into understanding your needs, how insurance works, your state requirements ... I feel like I am repeating myself here ... This *isn't* easy. If you want to save money on insurance, or even just get insurance on a specialty vehicle you plan to partly work, then you *must* put in some time learning Insurance. The Insurance companies make big profits because most people *don't* do this.

As I have said before, I have insured several antique Heavy Duty vehicles that we used around the farm, over the road a little (M-817 and the GMC 9500) The ONLY company that would cover them for me as both collector vehicles and lightly used work trucks, was Gulfway. Most other specialty insurance companies either won't insure "retired commercial vehicles" or won't let you work them at all -- not even to haul your other collector vehicles to a show. Hagarty didn't even want me to hook a trailer to the road tractor. And I have a CDL-A!

By the way, a light road tractor like the GMC 9500 (s/a) is safer on the road with a trailer than bobtailed

And anyone who tells you that Hagarty is insuring their big bolt and they can still work it a little is either lying to you or they are lying to Hagerty.

I don't dislike Hagarty -- my '49 and the Cornbinder are insured with them.

V/R
John

If I can add, we have talked about insurance for the old trucks in THIS THREAD. You'll need to read all of that one.

The question here (as John stated) is for folks who use their vintage truck(s) for work ... as in a business. You probably use a Schedule C to expense the truck.

Please keep the discussion on just that topic.

Thanks,
Peg

Your coverage for rented, borrowed, and occasional use, alongside your non-auto general liability and umbrella / excess liability coverages, should take care of your needs (assuming your farm is set up as a business & you are electing these pretty common products). You may also talk to your agent about off-road classification w/ on-road mileage limitations (travel between pastures, hauling harvest to nearby depot, etc.). I would ensure I was working with a seasoned business insurer/agent w/ extensive rural/ag/business diversity experience.

It might be worth trying an independent insurance broker. They often have access to dozens or more smaller insurance companies that can tailor insurance needs and their costs are sometimes lower because they don't have large overhead costs for advertising, brick and mortar buildings etc.