Insurance
 

Hello all,

I've been a Hagerty Insurance customer for years and years. I've got my car insured in the middle of the road for it's age and value according to their sliding scale.

I'm having a new motor built and when it's all said and done, the motor will be of about the same value as the rest of the car.

Anyone in this situation and what did you do about the insurance? Did you just bump up the stated value? I'm a little concerned that if I report that there's an after market aluminum 540 under the hood they may not want to insure it but at the same time, if something should happen, I do want the coverage. Maybe I'm worried about nothing.

Thoughts? I thank you.

I’d be straight up with them. You’ll lose if things get crappy. If Hagerty won’t cover it, there are other reputable companies that will. I’d bet they’ll cover it.

Ditto. Hagerty covers mine. They'll cover it, but rates are a little higher for modified cars.

So when you say cover it you mean for theft right? If you blow it up that’s not covered I don’t think anyway.

Oh sure, I understand/expect that. I'm reflecting back on when I was young, I had a 65 Ford...its started out as a rather rough car but I put a bit of work and money into it and then was hit head on by a drunk driver. They totaled the car at something around $1000. The refreshed motor and trans were worth far more than that. This was through a different insurance company back then.

I my concern would be that the car is stolen or severely damaged in some way and they give me the blue book value or something like that.

I've read the other responses here. I'll give the insurance company a call. I wasn't sure if I should stay away from the conversation that the car has been modified or not. I was a little concerned that they might simply drop me when they find out it's a performance resto-mod rather than an all-factory vintage vehicle.

I thank you all for your responses.

Heacock covers hot rods and race cars

I have 55,000 on a car that isn’t even on the road. It’s 61 dollars a month. Just tell them what you got, they will cover it

That’s expensive! I have 30k through Grundy for $224/year.

I asked how much 70k of coverage would have been and rep said about $550/year (asked for a friend)

Well I have double your amount for a little over double your premium, plus I have had a theft claim that they settled above and beyond with no hassle. I don’t mind 150-200 extra to know I won’t have to jump thru flaming hoops if my parts get stolen

Plus like the adjuster said, it’s a Tempest Custom not a GTO. Not many of them got saved. Tail panels, trim, things like that aren’t easy to come by. Look at the price for NOS Tempest Custom tail panel trim versus Lemans/GTO taillights. It’s stupid

insurance
 

Hagerty also has "cherished salvage " For a couple of dollars extra you get to keep the car if it gets wrecked, fire or what ever. Probably could get some parts of of it if the unfortunate would happen and save them for the next project.

That is nothing special, 99% of all companies allow you the opportunity to keep the salvage.

Its all a bit murky to me. I know when I recently reworked my stated value insurance I specifically asked what I could do about buying my wrecked vehicle back or buying the drivetrain out of it in the case of a total loss. He explained that it was very doable and happened.

In that case I would just agree on a total value. I don't see why I would tell them I valued the motor more than the car. I checked the "modified" engine box, other than that we agreed on a value and signed the paper. I feel like I would only be handicapping myself if I gave more information that I had to.

When I had a claim with Hagerty, they called the car totaled and took the “salvage price” out of my agreed value.

As I remember, The salvage price was something less than $2,000.

If you have a wreck, and the car isn’t drivable, make sure it is towed directly to your house. As they say - possession is 9/10 of the law.

That's good advice.

"Hagerty I don't know what to tell you that wreck simply knocked my $800 torque converter right outta the car!! Its the damndest thing!"

insurance
 

Chief of the sixty's you are correct but ask your insurance co. what it would cost you to buy it back and ask if they would put it in writing. I prefer the straight no surprises with the price deal. I pay about 10 or 15 a year for the cherished salvage and that's it. If you figure "salvage" price I would have to pay in for over 33 years just to equal buying a salvage back for 500. Hope I would never have to use it but that's why it's called insurance.

I did have a claim with Hagerty years ago and they were fantastic. I just sent them a picture of the damage on my car and a estamite and they contacted me and asked " is that all". Talk about easy to deal with. They even sent me a get well card for my car! I could have saved a few dollars with another company but they proved that they were good to deal with. Just my opinion on this.

Salvage value is generally based on a percentage of the ACV. In many cases today, salvage auctions, such as Copart, guarantee a percentage which can make it difficult as well as costly to keep a salvage vehicle.

Punkin, thanks for starting this thread. It's very enlightening; stuff I didn't know. Man!

I just looked up my Hagerty policy and to be able to receive my vehicle back after it is totaled adds an additional 15% of the comprehensive and collision premiums charged. Since liability is a pretty small amount of what I pay Hagerty, I'm not far off by figuring my insurance premium would go up close to the 15% if I added that feature. I passed on adding it last year and will probably not add it at renewal time. If my C+C is $350 for a vehicle my new premium would be $400 before adding the liability premium. Just seems too high a price. Plus I figure that the vehicle has a better chance of disappearing forever if stolen and there wouldn't be anything there for salvage. Not much different if it is taken out in a garage fire also - very little worth trying to recover. Just seems that insurance companies are trying to make too much money off the feature.

When I purchased my '69 Firebird about six years ago, I checked prices with Hagerty and some other collector car insurance companies. I then decided to check with my agent who handles my home and auto. The cost was slightly less than Hagerty. I live in Ohio so I had him figure 6 months of full coverage, and 6 months of fire and theft. I gave him a stated value. A few days later, someone from the company came to look at the car and take pictures. They agreed the value was fair and the stated value actually increases every year. I am not saying one is better than the other, but it's worth it to make the comparison. Sometimes because of the home and auto discount, plus multi car discount, it may save you some money.