The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk How to protect my investment?(insurance question)

Ok guys I have searched and found no good answer to my question.

I just called my insurance company (State Farm)about insuring my '52. He wanted to know if it was all together and running. I said it was all together but not for long.

He basically told me he could not insure a collection of parts but that if I got it running he could insure itonly for as much as he could sell it for.

My question is how do I protect my investment during the restore? What happens if I already have a lot of money into it and my garage burns down?

My insurance has always been great to me, but he basically told me to look somewhere else on this deal.

Any Ideas?

Thanks

Nick

Usually homeowner's policies cover garages and their contents. Do you have a homeowner's policy with the company? Talk to your agent about what is actually covered.

Yeah, I do! I have my homeowners through State Farm as well.

Wonder why he didnt say anything about it!

For some reason I was thinking it wouldnt cover cars in the garage though I thought I asked that about my mustang.

But thanks I will give him another call.

I don't believe it will cover cars in the garage but it should cover garage contents. It could be a fine line determining if pieces of a car are contents.
Are dismantling the truck entirely or could you do a section at a time and still drive it?
Another point is try to get photographs of the truck intact and all the receipts for money you have spent on it. When you start taking it apart again take photos. This will serve twofold, one you will know where the parts go and secondly they may be of use in the case of a loss.

railrocker,there are several insurance companies that specialize in insuring collector vehicles.I have my old trucks insured thru my regular company at an agreed value.Chances are that if you find a company that will insure your old truck at an agreed value they will also want the rest of your business,house,daily driver vehicles,etc.Check thru the Classic truck magazines ,there are several companies that advertise in there.My insurance co.Grange of Ohio lets me appraise my own vehicles,and they also want pix of them. I carry full coverage including collision,and liability in the summer months,then in the winter months I only carry comprehensive on them.Fire,theft,etc.

My agent told me that the insurance on my shop would not cover anything for which a separate policy was available (boat, autos, tractor, etc). I would think that since your agent told you he wouldn't write a policy for your truck while it's in pieces, it should be covered by your homeowner's policy. You'll have to pull it out of him; they don't volunteer any info like that.

Hagerty insured my Suburban while it was undergoing restoration in my locked garage. I stated a value and sent them photos. As the restoration progressed, I sent new photos and stated a new replacement values. They were/are very easy to deal with.

I have State Farm and had no problem insuring my 64' for a large sum of bux just recently. I called my agent, told her I wanted it insured for $18 grand, have all of the reciepts I spent on parts over the past year, and they issued the policy no problems or questions. I do drive it with no restrictions, but made certain they understood that if anything happened to it I wasn't going to be the one doing the restoration the second time, and I wanted to make sure I had enough coverage to handle that kind of situation. I also have my homeowners policy as well as several other drivers with them. Don't know how it works for others, but in my situation I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for all of your input guys!


And Tramp, I may just have to keep in touch with you since we have the same insurance company and live in the same state. If my agent wont work with me, I may have to get an agents name from you!

Thanks again

Nick

I second going with Hagerty. I have 2 cars and my truck insured by them. I have towing included and had to use it a couple of times on one of my cars. I pay around $230 a year for all 3 vehicles. They don't insure daily drivers I don't believe. I have used them for a few years now but never had a claim knock on wood.
Joe

I am in Canada but my specialty insurance company will insure a project providing I get an appraisal. they actually encourage it.

Nick, My agent is in McPherson, Jim Laduke. If you need to talk with them, give them a call and ask for Linda Krahl. I can't tell you what they'll do, just what they've done for me. I did my homework with the "collector car insurers" and too many of them had too many restrictions to suit me. I built my truck to drive it, when I wanted to and as often as I wanted to, and believe me, I do. But as I've said earlier, it was fun putting it back together....once. Next time someone else can have the "fun".

Thanks! I want to drive my truck too! (without limitations)

hey i am in kansas city kansas i have Farmers, i have no beef with them at all. i can drive the truck all i want, they know it has been restored, i have full coverage for around 1200.00 a year. its worth it, two years ago i had it sitting out one spring and about 8:00 am i was awaken by a hammering sound, a hail storm got it, i took it and had it looked at it did 2,300.00 in damage. (it cracked a window, messed up paint, chipped body work) i got the check and fixed it all myself for about half of that. no questions asked, they treated it no different than my dad's 2003 silverado.

Railrocker,
Be sure to check our Links Page, Insurance section for a pretty complete listing of specialty insurers for collector vehicles. In our experience, non of the mainstream insurers (like Nationwide, State Farm, USAA, GEICO or any of them) can even come close to the rates most of us get with companies like JC Taylor, Hagerty, Gulfway and others.

We insure our '49 1-ton and the '65 firetruck with Hagerty. The '49 runs a little over $100 for the year (for comprehensive coverage at agreed value) and adding the '65 is just $9 extra for the year. Your rates may vary according to your driving record. There are a few common sense restrictions (locked garage, and you have to have a daily driver that isn't the one you are trying to insure with them at collector vehicle rates), but you can live with them.

I'm sure any of the mainstream companies that already have your daily drivers, homeowners' etc would LOVE to get another $600 a year out of you for your collector vehicle. But Like I said, none of the main stream companies are competitive with the collector vehicles. If you find one that is, we'd all like to hear about it.

Good luck and shop around!
John

Hey thanks! Ive been on the links page before and never even seen the insurance section.

Oh, BTW are you Peggy or John? Lol sorry just confused.

There are numerous specialty insurance firms advertising assured value. They guarantee that you will receive the full value of your vehicle in case of loss or accident.
If you read the fine print, it means they will pay you the assured value if it is stolen or totally destroyed. If you go out and bend a couple of fenders, its not the same thing.
In this province we have only one insurance company which is run by the government. In their collector insurance package you can buy assured value but its only for total loss. Many do not know that.

That was John

Regards,
Peggy

Now who is that?

I have 4 classics, 3 of which are regular drivers, the wife drives a 15 year old minivan. I've been rounds with insurance companies that appear reasonable. Some will offer unlimited mileage, but will still want info on your daily driver, that has to be less than 10 years old. If I were to drive any of them to work on a classic policy and have a claim it would be denied. I finally came to the conclusion that all I can do is insure them through my regular carrier for liability only. It's incredibly cheap to do so, about $10 a month per vehicle. If I were to have an accident, repairs would then be at my discretion. I can take the funds that are not applied to insurance payments and keep it in the bank earning interest and spent it if I need to.

Devin