The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Insurance question

Before anyone asks, yes, I did read John Milliman's excellent guide but it didn't answer my question.

I just got a renewal notice from my current auto insurance company and it's gone up a lot. Figured I'd shop the policy. I've got a daily driver and a 1946 Chevy 1/2 ton. Recently retired so I'm driving the Chevy much more often. Without exception every regular car insurance company I ask for a quote says they won't insure the '46 - it's got to be a separate policy with a specialty insurer. When I check with the specialty guys (Hagerty, Grundy, etc) they all severely limit your use to shows/club activities or occasional pleasure drives. Can't go to the grocery store or general use. Not my daily driver, but I drive it a good bit - heck, that's why I've owned it for 41 years! How do the rest of you guys deal with this?

Thanks for any input.

David B

Just my personal observation and opinion here David, but if your current carrier will continue your policy coverage with the planned use of your truck, why not stick with them if you can't find anyone else to offer insurance or severely restrict your driving use?

In my case, I continue to pay my long time insurer (American Family) for my truck, even with what we see lately as exorbitant cost increases (true for virtually all insurance these days, not just the old truck/vehicle markets), as they will continue to cover my truck in the manner I desire when others decline to offer coverage or try and restrict my usage.

Maybe you can find a company that will meet your requirements and charge less than your current provider, but that would mean you've got to follow John's recommended process and shop until you find that gem, or acknowledge that such gems don't exist and stick with your current provider.

Not trying to be a downer on your question, just offering my $.02 worth.

Best of luck with your search.

I have all of my vehicles insured with Hagerty and have been for many years. I drive them all the time in rotation.

I had a total loss fire claim on one vehicle about 4 years. Hagerty agreed the car was a total loss 4 days after the incident and I received a check for the total agreed value 14 days after. No questions asked.

It occurred on a local freeway at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday. I was driving home from work.

The adjuster never asked why I was driving it, where I was going , or anything like that.

Not only that, my premiums on all vehicles didn't go up after the claim.

The policy is worded very vaguely to include "pleasure driving". Every time I get behind the wheel of one of my vehicles, it's a pleasure.

If something happens and you're questioned, you just performed a tune-up and were taking it on a test drive, checking out the new shocks, making sure the brakes were up to snuff, etc.

I've never heard of any of the companies checking odometer readings yearly or anything like that.

Thanks for the opinions. I'm still mulling over my options, but my premium for 6 months just went up over $200 for my daily driver and the truck. No collision, just liability. Just getting ridiculous...

Don't know if you have State Farm Insurance in your area but they have teamed up with Hagerty to put both daily drivers and classic cars under one policy.

Hey David, I live in Decatur as well. You are absolutely right about the insurance rates here. Dekalb Co has the highest rates in the state due to so many people around here driving with no license and/or no insurance, high accident rates, car thefts, etc.

Home owners rates are just as bad.

My brother just moved here from Texas and needed to insure a muscle car. Grundy was half what Hagerty wanted.

David,
I use Hagerty for my truck and our '65 m00stang. The policy went up $200 this year. Though I wasn't really happy with the increase, I went ahead and renewed it. 3 weeks later I got a $90 dollar check from Hagerty. Hmmmmm Maybe they couldn't sleep knowing how much they increased the policy......yeah right!

Thanks for the responses. Since I had a fender bender with my daily driver (my fault) in Sept of 2023, I've decided to renew with my current carrier in mid August and shop the policies again in October. That way I can continue to drive as I want and wait for the accident to drop off. Once I swap carriers in October I'll get a refund and hopefully better rates if I can regain the "safe driver" discount.

Thanks, tricordati, but I remember my ex-wife having a lot of trouble with a State Farm claim many years ago. Guess it kind of soured me on them. That said, I may have to check them out in October. They're probably a completely different company now, but a bad experience sticks with you.

Check with American Collector. You can select normal usage or limited usage with agreed vehicle value.

Thanks for reading the article!

You seem to be doing the right thing by shopping around. A couple of observations, though ...

It seems that adjusters have their reasons for doing what their algorithms tell them ... Still I've been hearing that there is a lot of increase in premiums throughout the industry. Good to still shop around.

Like Otto, I tend to drive my antiques more than just to shows and parades. I haven't had to make a claim yet ... but it doesn't seem to be a big deal. I've insured with Hagerty for almost 30 years, and with JC Taylor before that, and have never made any claims. I do still make Hagerty compete with Taylor, Gulfway and Grundy every few years to keep my business.

Remember -- "Loyalty" is just a word the PR folks use in marketing (it's the sugarcoating they put on your annual suppository). It has no real meaning to the underwriters, so don't believe for a moment it is actually doing anything for you.

It may help to call your agent or the customer service line and ask about any policy premium increases. Sometimes you get the ole, "Oh... I just checked and I found you an additional discount..." Which is their way of not admitting that you caught them at gouging you. Sometimes not. Never hurts to try, though.

As an FYI, when I needed to insure my '51 a couple years ago, I contacted Hagerty and a couple other specialty insurers and they all insisted that it be stored in a garage. Since my garage is STILL not available (and my wife has first dibs when I finally clean it out), I contacted USAA, my usual carrier and had them insure it. It was pretty reasonable costwise for full coverage (liability, collision, comprehensive, etc.) but I'm afraid if I ever had a fender bender with it, they'd total it and send me a check for the value as if it had never been restored (probably a pittance.) Probably tell me that it's just an old truck and worth $500 or less. So far, it hasn't been on the road enough to test that theory.

My grundy insurance has been pretty steady for the last 20 some years, it goes up a little every year, but so does the stated value. I let it go for a few years then knock the valve back down so the premiums stay down. Mine is right around $200 once a year.

OK, I've got an update. MickeyP for the win! I got in touch with American Collectors Insurance and they offer a higher mileage option with stated value collision and towing for what I consider a reasonable price (not as cheap as Grundy, but better coverage than I have now for about $1000 less a year than I was paying). Also, my old policy was just liability, with no other benefits. I really appreciate all the input on this. It's going to save me a good bit of money and, as a guy who just retired in February, every dime counts!

Thanks, everybody!

Do they ask for a yearly mileage update? Glad you found what you wanted, and hope you never have to use it!

Joe, no, they don't ask that I know of and I've been with them for several years.

I'll confirm what MickeyP said. I asked specifically about this and the rep said they don't ask. That said, he also said that if it looked like you were going to get more milage than you were signed up for you could call and modify the policy. Going from 2500 to 5000 would add about $50 a year, he told me. Dropped my old insurance and getting an $88 refund. Sweet!

I have never understood the mileage limits or anything that anyone talks about on insurance. Its all a scam anyways. All my dailys i have set to minimum mileage yet i drive 500mi a week. They have no clue if i drive it around the world or not at all. Same for the antiques. Never had a company check up on how much i drove the previous year. I feel like its all a scare tactic anyways. I currently have 2 vehicles insured under the most popular company with agreed upon value and they never had any issues including when i told them 1 stays outside because its 9 feet tall and wont fit in my garage .