News

This month we wanted to bring your attention to a crucial, but often overlooked, aspect to restoring a collector car…insurance! It’s come up more and more often recently that many of our clients are having to, at least partially, pay out of pocket to repair their collector vehicles to the condition they were in prior to an accident. Most car insurance companies put a cap on the hourly rate they will pay to have a vehicle repaired, even if the car is repaired at a specialized shop. Often times vehicle owners who want to use a specialty shop where they are familiar with the quality of work, or because they cannot find a collision shop who will perform the repairs on their early model vehicle, have to pay out of pocket to bridge the gap between standard collision rates and specialty labor rates. But, there is a simple solution to this problem, make sure your vehicle is insured properly with an agreed value policy by a good collector car insurance company! An agreed value policy is also important to insure your car is not totaled or salvaged in the event of an accident. This happens more often than you would imagine, even in minor accidents. This happens most often because car insurance companies use standard price guides to determine the value of a car regardless of any upgrades or restoration work. Collector cars don’t have to be restored to be worth insuring with a collector policy. Usually the agreed value of the vehicle will determine the cost of the policy and will cover a non-restored vehicle for the value of the car as an unrestored or project car which can be much higher than its Kelley Blue Book value. We can’t say enough good things about, or stress the importance of, collector car insurance! Don’t be put off by what you’ve heard about storage requirements, mileage limits, or high premiums. The rates are very competitive, they know how important these cars are to their owners! And, although it can be convenient to bundle your policies, it can be more than worth your time to use a separate
policy for your collector car in the event of an accident. There are so many companies to choose from, each with their own requirements, we are confident you can find one that will work for you (EVEN RACE CARS!).
Here are some we’ve worked with and had great experiences:
Hagerty Insurance
Grundy
American Collectors
Classic Collectors by Infinity

Upcoming Events

March 8-9, 2013- Temecula Rod Run- www.rodruntemecula.com
April 5-7, 2013- Good Guys Del Mar Nats- www.good-guys.com/dmn
April 7, 2012- La Jolla Concours D’Elegance- www.lajollaconcours.com