Insurance lessons learned

[c9zx]

What a tangled web they weave. Chuck

 

[Ron Tanzi]

I have Hagerty and thankfully have not needed it. My policy began being underwritten by Essentia as of a few years ago. I asked my agent about it and he convinced me to keep things as they are. I am paying $300 a year for full coverage. RI insurance rates are on the high side for everything. The daily drivers and my house are insured by American commerce insurance. I had Nationwide for 22 years and they were killing me on every price metric so I bailed.

Ron

 

[tony-muscle]

I have Hagerty. I used it once when my car rolled back in the garage hitting the spoiler/trunk against the door. The claim process was very easy. I had to send them a couple pictures and took the car to a shop where they issued an estimate. They send me a check for the amount quoted. I had to buy a couple parts on my own so they reimbursed me directly for those after submitting receipts. No questions asked and very streamlined.

 

[Hemikiller]

I have had Hagerty since the late 90s and have yet to have to file a claim. We currently have three classics with them for at total combined value of $70k and the premium is about $500/yr. I quoted a couple companies last year and the prices and coverage were nearly the same. Since these are fair weather cars, if I drive them a total of 5k miles a year, that'd be on the high side. I will say that Jpaz' experience with his accident is one reason why I will continue to use Hagerty.

 

[Spike Morelli]

Last year, I upped the replacement value of my Mach 1 with my insurer. They questioned whether or not my car was worth insuring at the new level, and requested photos. I sent then assorted external views, along with many interior and trunk and under-the-hood views. They honored my valuation of the car. The main deal that solidified the value was, ( and they told me this ), that the interior was clean and spotless, the engine was tidy and presentable, and the trunk area looked great. Externally it presents as "Factory". In my case, having the car present itself all together and un-modified, impressed the insurance company enough. Had I shown them engine shots of a totally modified LOOKING engine, big tires all jacked up, headers hanging down, Recaro seats, etc , they might not have honored my replacement value request. I guess modified vehicles are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, in selling it or insuring it.

 

[Bobby]

I believe Essentia is the company that Hagerty's insurance is written through. Check with Allstate and Hagerty

I’m also insured with Hagerty but it is underwritten by Progressive.

 

[lectricegg]

I have Auto Owners Insurance. I know they dont operate in every state. They have been great when I had a neighbors tree blow down on my garage. Thankfully the cars were not damaged. A lot of my tools were starting to rust from the rain that came in through the roof. They replaced everything. No increase in my homeowners insurance. I have a stated value policy with them and I have not had any claims (so far) on the cars.

 

[Tnfastbk]

Last year, I upped the replacement value of my Mach 1 with my insurer. They questioned whether or not my car was worth insuring at the new level, and requested photos. I sent then assorted external views, along with many interior and trunk and under-the-hood views. They honored my valuation of the car. The main deal that solidified the value was, ( and they told me this ), that the interior was clean and spotless, the engine was tidy and presentable, and the trunk area looked great. Externally it presents as "Factory". In my case, having the car present itself all together and un-modified, impressed the insurance company enough. Had I shown them engine shots of a totally modified LOOKING engine, big tires all jacked up, headers hanging down, Recaro seats, etc , they might not have honored my replacement value request. I guess modified vehicles are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, in selling it or insuring it.

I'm not sure I agree with the modified part of your post not being able to carry a decent amount. I have a 65K agreed value on my car and there is hardly anything "Factory" about it. Like I said I'm not sure what value you had put on yours so it could be a lot more than that but I think what I have is a pretty good value.

 

[Kilgon]

Last year, I upped the replacement value of my Mach 1 with my insurer. They questioned whether or not my car was worth insuring at the new level, and requested photos. I sent then assorted external views, along with many interior and trunk and under-the-hood views. They honored my valuation of the car. The main deal that solidified the value was, ( and they told me this ), that the interior was clean and spotless, the engine was tidy and presentable, and the trunk area looked great. Externally it presents as "Factory". In my case, having the car present itself all together and un-modified, impressed the insurance company enough. Had I shown them engine shots of a totally modified LOOKING engine, big tires all jacked up, headers hanging down, Recaro seats, etc , they might not have honored my replacement value request. I guess modified vehicles are only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, in selling it or insuring it.

I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the amount a company is willing to insure your car for. When I spoke to my agent about trying to determine the value of mine, he mentioned that they have a base level value for every car that they work from. Depending on the mods made, it may decrease or increase the value of the car. Also, any mods made may raise your premium if they elect to cover them. I know when I applied for insurance from Hagerty and American Modern, they asked about any modifications made plus and I needed to send them pictures.

 

[Kilgon]

As a side note, for those who are restoring their cars, you may want to check with your homeowner's insurance company about coverage. When I was restoring my car, I had called about car insurance coverage for it, and they told me that they couldn't do it until it was drivable. They said that my homeowners would cover it. I then called my homeowners and had a value set to it in case something happened.

 

[MikeGriese]

All insurance companies make it super easy to send them a check. That part doesn't matter at all. What matters is what happens when they have to send you a check.

I use State Farm for everything - daily drivers, specialty cars, homeowners, personal liability umbrella - the whole ball of wax. I haven't explored other options because I haven't seen the need. I have had a few claims on both daily drivers and specialty cars, and all of the claims have been handled fairly, quickly, and in all cases, I have been able to have the vehicles repaired at a place and to a level of my choice. I can suspend all but comprehensive coverage for the specialty cars during the off season, which is convenient and saves money.

 

[YellowHorse]

I will need to read up on my. It only cost me $75 a year to insure my 73 mustang as a classic car (only driven to autoshows), bundled with the rest.

 

[mwallace]

I have a Mach 1 which has been insured by Hagerty for 10 years or so. The real reason I am posting here is back in 2018 my home suffered a huge lightening strike which we believed busted the gas line in the attic. We were not home at the time and we lost everything except what we had with us. The mustang was in a detacted garage and did not suffer any damage. We have State Farm insurance and for the most part we came out ok. Our agent had guided us well and we had replacement coverage and some options that bridged the gap on the replacement cost. There are some things that are important to understand like "incurred cost" and the depreciation of your contents (if your fridge is 10 years old, that matters...). When there is a claim, they don't necessarily make it easy to get the money but we did get most of the contents replaced.

I can't describe the fear and worry I had wondering if we were going to have coverage right after it happened. I was not one to keep up with coverage levels and that sort of thing. Regardless of who you have coverage with, take that time and be sure you would be ok if something happened. It could have went very differently for us. We moved into a new place in 2019 and nearly 5 years later its just a bad memory now.

In addition, in our case, any vehicle damage or auto parts fell under the coverage on the vehicle. Homeowners did not cover that and it was a separate claim. For instance I lost a set of wheels from one of my trucks and per State Farm it was covered on the auto policy, not the homeowners.

 

[mrgmhale]

The lessons I have learned when dealing witt insurance companies is to make sure I do not go with the company witht he lowest rat4es, as they are likely the same companies who reject or chip away at valid claims - protecting their shareholders more than honoring their commitments to their customers. Even with otherwise excellent insurance companies there are times an insured with a claim has to get tough - something insurance companies are not used to having to deal with. We are supposed to be appreciative, compliant weaklings. That said, I use USAA for nearly all my insurance needs. For our vintage Mustangs and Shelbys we use American cOllectors, as doing so allows my USAA umbrella insurance policy to extend coverage to matters involving those vehicles. I have never had any issues with USAA with the very few claims I have sent to them over the past 50+ years of driving, and 49 years of living on my own.

That said, if you ever feel an insurance company is not dealing with you in a fair and reasonable manner, retain an attorney and turn him/her loose. Claims adjusters HARTE it when an attorney gets involved with a settlement as it only increases their expenses significantly. I had Guardian Life, who I had a private disability policy with, deny covering me for a well qualified medical incident that left me unable to continue working in my one occupation in the capacity I had been able to in prior years. Immediately upon them denying me my claim I retained the meanest SOB I could find who specialized in private disability insurance situations. It took about 2 m, but he finally told them it is clear my case fell within the stated guidelines of covered claims, and if they continued dicking with me he was instructed to file a lawsuit for the amount of the claim coverage plus 7 time that amount for punitive damages due to their belligerence, They decided to pay up.

A few years later a new person was assigned to my case and she decided to discontinue paying my ongoing amount due to me having a house i rented out (income). Too bad for her rental income is, per their own policy definition, passive income, and is thus excluded from calculating my personal income. Not only did I sic my attorney on her and her company in a very assertive manner, I also told him my prior notification that they miscalculated my amount of monthly benefit paid, which I decided earlier to not pursue, was now something I wanted to pursue after all. They ended up paying me the back-amount weed, reactivated the benefit payments, and paid me over an additional $50,000 for their prior miscalculation they had previously said was not incorrect. Had that wench just left me alone instead of trying to play "the tough chick" they would have reduced their exposure by that $50,000. I also advised them, through my attorney, that they still owed even more as their recalculation was still shot - but I would opt to let that slide until the next time they tried to refuse to pay the benefit due me per my policy contract. They never screwed with me again.

From what I have seen, an insurance company will do all they can to get away with paying out as little as possible to settle a claim. At the first hint you are being messed with, get a qualified attorney. For a large claim, do not wait. Get the big dig as early on as you can. He or she will be worth every nickel they cost for their fee. As an aside, never tell an employee of an insurance company you are going to get a lawyer, as they will freeze you out from that point forward, saying you are now only allowed to have your attorney speak with their legal counsel, and will stop taking your calls. Say nothing to them about your plans. Just get the attorney and let him/her handle ALL communications with the insurance company from that point forward. I will give an insurance one chance, and one only, to do the right thing in whatever case they are working on with me. And I let the adjuster I am working with know that at the first hint of me not being treated in a fair and reasonable manner I will be bringing in "experts" to help me make certain I am treated fairly. I never tell them the "experts" are legal counsel, I let their imagination handle that. One advantage I have always had, is by the time we are discussing things at that level they are very aware I have the financial resources to pull in some heavy hitters if needed. I make no idle threats, I point out the road forward as i see it, and let them know the road can be smooth or it can be rough - they get to choose. Meanwhile, other than the one personal disability claim I have never had to bring in legal counsel to get a fair settlement on what few issues i have had in my 50+ of living on my own.

 

[Spike Morelli]

The Company that insures my car is State Farm. I suppose they just wanted to make sure that I hadn't over-valued what I said the replacement cost would be. I'm not sure that they just couldn't have reflected the value in the premium, but I'm glad, at least in their opinion, the car presents in the overall condition as I stated it is. I'm sure there are people with kinda junky cars that think their cars are worth a lot, and then again, there are some cars that are worth a lot that some insurance companies don't recognise as being worth what they're really worth.

 

[Idaho Chris]

I've been with Hagerty for 15+ years now on a fair number of vehicles. I've been happy with rates and customer service to date.

One of the reasons I chose and stayed with Hagerty is that they were a relatively small privately held company. I always felt like I was talking to a car enthusiast when I contacted my agent and response time was excellent.

Last year (or was it late '21?) the Hagerty owners cashed out and went public via a SPAC. Kudos on the owners getting paid, but I am worried about the future.

I am not aware of any company that actually improved when they went public. Quarterly earnings pressures and constant financial statement scrutiny inevitably take a toll on customer service and pricing.

The first time my call is answered by someone in Bangladesh or the Philippines I am history!

 

[Tnfastbk]

The Company that insures my car is State Farm. I suppose they just wanted to make sure that I hadn't over-valued what I said the replacement cost would be. I'm not sure that they just couldn't have reflected the value in the premium, but I'm glad, at least in their opinion, the car presents in the overall condition as I stated it is. I'm sure there are people with kinda junky cars that think their cars are worth a lot, and then again, there are some cars that are worth a lot that some insurance companies don't recognise as being worth what they're really worth.

I agree with that. I had to send pictures and was lucky that the guy that owns the company is a car guy and comes to a lot of the local shows and knows my car.

 

[71TexasBoss]

Another thumbs up for Hagerty.

I've been with USAA since 1984 and they offer Classic Car Insurance through a third party but the terms were too restrictive and the rates were not competitive.

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[LloydB]

I've used Hagerty for decades when I had valuable cars. I had an appraiser evaluate my cars and provide an official value to them which they honored every time. I never had a claim though so I can't speak for that part. I haven't had any restored cars in 10 years or so and don't know how they've changed.

I had State Farm for over 20 years for home and auto. Here in Florida, they constantly change underwriters for older homes. Mine was nearly paid off when Hurricane Michael destroyed it in October 2018. The company that held my contract folded up and disappeared (like most others) leaving us with a mortgage on a structure that no longer existed and no means to purchase a replacement home. For once the Federal Government saved my bacon with a disaster loan and I was able to retire in 2020 in spite of starting all over with a mortgage in 2019.

Once I compete the restoration of my current car, I'll add it to both homeowners for when it's parked in the garage and Hagerty for the auto insurance needs.

 

[John J]

I have Hagerty and have no issues. I few years ago I raised the coverage on my car since I put so much money into it and it was seamless. No problem when I moved to SC and needed to have coverage in my new state. I have used their road service a few times and the response was as good as using AAA.

John J