After wasting a lot of time searching, I've decided to pose this question to you guys. Getting ready to put insurance on my truck and I'm curious what your experiences have been with some of the classic car insurance companies. The quotes seem to be all over the place for the same agreed value coverage.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Knowing that insurance is administered at the state level, be aware that rates and coverage will vary - even from the same company - making comparisons from outside of your home state iffy.

 

I have my truck and hotrod insured with Condon Skelly. I don't have huge values on my cars, but I think the rates are pretty good. Multi car discount, no mileage restrictions, rates have never increased. I've never had a claim though.....

Condon Skelly | We insure your fun

 

I have my cars insured with Heacock Classic. If you have multiple cars they only charge for liability once so it cost a lot less insuring the cars as a package.

 

I have my insurance for all our cars with State Farm. They have a special insurance for vintage vehicles. You have to drive the vehicle to their office and they take a picture of it to make sure that it is restored and in good shape. You name the replacement cost. You pay a lot less because they know you won't be driving it a lot and will take care of it. I am not sure how much it is, however. Depends on your replacement cost.

 

Don't go with specialty vehicle insurance if you are planning on using your vehicle as a daily driver or driving it any distance (vacation trips, out of area shows, etc.). Most specialty insurance (as opposed to agreed value) policies are HIGHLY restrictive as to use. Most major insurance companies will add an agreed value collision rider to a standard liability policy, but rates will vary wildly as they are not restricted/regulated.

 

I wasn't aware of this. I'm using Hagerty, and they did ask me how many miles per year I thought I'd be putting on the truck. I need to take a look at my policy and see what the restrictions are.

 

I have Grundy, and have friends with Hagerty. Both are good in my opinion. State Farm [ have both daily drivers and home with them] could not come close to coverage or price here.

 

I use Hagerty. There is no restriction on mileage, only on use. You have to have a separate car (not on policy) that is a DD. You are only supposed to use the vehicle for pleasure and for driving to events, which is pretty loosely defined. Going over to a fellow hobbyist's house is OK, driving it to work once in a while is not. Driving to the hardware store for bolts is not allowed. I hear stories all the time of people who ignore these rules and still are covered when they get clobbered. The car has to be garaged, too.

 

That's why I have the tonneau cover, so they can't see that I'm carrying around a bed full of bolts.

Seriously though, thanks for the information. It sounds like I'm covered as long as I don't use my truck as a truck.

 

I've gotten quotes from Grundy and Hagerty and I'm amazed at the difference in price for the same coverage. After some searches on the Hamb site.....it appears that Grundy gets the thumbs up more often. Still undecided and still looking. Got a cruise in that I would like to participate in this weekend, but looks like it won't happen if I can't get insurance in place.

 

Fixed it for you... If you had an accident using it for an errand, you could say you just rebuilt the carb and were test-driving it. But if it gets stolen from the WalMart lot, you might be screwed.

 

Hagerty has been very good to me. They paid off on a totalled truck in a timely manner and I was pleased. The key is that you should be driving the truck for pleasure i.e NOT hauling/towing items for commercial use or otherwise using it "for-profit" or daily driver use. Merely stopping off at the hardware store to buy some nails for the house is pleasure use according to them. You can get creamed in the parking lot at Sonic just as easy. I mean how is the insurance company going to know where you are heading unless you give them your life story. Hauling a pallet of pavers home in the back is most likely NOT pleasure use but more on the side of work. I believe all insurance companies leave the definition a little loose to give them some wiggle room. Hagerty has never blinked an eye at me driving 1000 miles per summer but they do want to make sure that I am not towing a trailer with it.

When I had my accident I had driven the truck up to my summer place to close the cottage up for the winter. Did I work while I was at the summer place? Yup. Was the truck being used as a device of work? Nope. It was simply a method of transportation. How you word things to the claims departments makes a world of difference. I would say, if you tow anything with the truck or have it highly modified, find a more common insurance carrier. But for the occasional summer run around, Hagerty is good.

 

As others have noted, it may be worthwhile to check with the carrier for your non-vintage policies. Here, State Farm has some very reasonable programs - both cost and terms.

 

What a couple others have said above about checking with your regular insurer. When I lived in FL I owned collector cars of different manufacturers. Although I had State Farm on my drivers, my residence an umbrella and rental property, they were in no way competitive on collector car rates. When I moved to TN, SF asked to bid on my collector vehicles and were very competitive. IMO, it pays to check all sources. Good luck, Drewski, I want to see that truck some day.