Car Insurance

[baldeaglemtnman]

Thanks to all for the input and advice. My head is spinning.     How is the "agreed value" determined?

[Mark]

You establish the value in an agreed value policy and the rates you pay are based on that value.  Some companies require an appraisal to support the value that you want, others don't.  Most will require a series of photos showing the car exterior and interior.  I have Hagerty and I picked a value, and they aggreed with that value without an appraisal, so my value must have fallen within an acceptable range for what my car is.  I need to boost the value this spring when the car hits the road again.

[wkuehn]

I have Haggerty ins on my vette.. i have a mileage limit( i think 4000/yr) and i can't use it for work transportation. we agreed on the value based on a previous appraisal and fresh photos.. we were out last summer and the rf brake was dragging..(brake hose collapsed) we called and they sent us a flatbed.. in about an hour or two we were home.. we learned that it is a ten mile freebie.. but beyond that it would have cost me.(according to the driver) and i think i get 2 per year(not positive).
wally

[cfar]

I have Grundy on my 5 classics no problems.
Click is 100% dead on with the agreed /replacement cost-Ask Your Agent and See for yourself 
i just had a friend whose car was stolen and recovered only the shell-his regular ins company only paid him on maket
adjustment rate at time of loss for a bondo bucket in the auto trader.
I asked my friend who is a auto claims field adjuster and he says it is true.I also asked a auto claims company owner and he agrees also-you need speciality coverage.
Protect what you worked so hard for 

[lakeholme]

A question and a comment:

Does anyone know anything about Infinity that just bought out Great American's Classic Collector's program?

As long as we're all reading over our policies (including those very important notes by Mark), watch out for "attachments" (those other pages or little pamphlets that they send along with your policy).  There are all sorts of interesting attachments that limit the company's liability --even if you have a declared value.  The most infamous is a "Lesser of" attachment (similar to Mark's note), which limits what they pay to a lesser amount --often tied to "Cash Value".

[MMMM_ERT]

You have a stated value policy unless your policy says this: (and only this)

"In the event of loss to a "your covered auto" described in the Schedule or in the Declarations for which a specific premium charge indicates that Antique Auto Agreed Value Coverage is afforded:


1. We will, subject to the applicable limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations for this coverage:

a. Repair or replace the damaged or stolen property with like kind and quality if the amount necessary to repair or replace such property is equal to or less than the limit of liability shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations; or

b. Pay the amount shown in the Schedule or in the Declarations."

If there are any statements about depreciation, or "value at the time of the accident", the insurance company will find some comparible cars in your area (usually the ones with no drive train and missing the floorboards sitting in a marsh) and use that to establish a lowball value, and then they will depreciate it further for excessive mileage or some other factorsthey dream up you will be lucky to get a couple of thousand dollars out of the insurance company.  Check your policies and read them carefully.

Reading my policy....it says this for "limits of liability".   

A.  We will pay the limit shown under Coverage D in the Declarations for each scheduled vehicle, which is agreed to be the value of "your covered auto", in case of a total loss or "constructive total loss".   "Constructive total loss" means a loss where the cost to repair damage to "your covered auto" will exceed the agreed value of the vehiclewhen fully repaired.

B. For all other loss or damage to "your covered auto", we wil lpy the amount necessary to repair or replace the property, whichever is less, provided you actually repair or replace the property, with similar kind and quality, without regard to depreciation or betterment, but we will not pay more than the agreed l imit per vehicle shown under Coverage D in the Declarations

There is an "Agreed Value" listed on the Declarations page

Does this sound right?

[JohnZ]

Yes, that's "agreed value" coverage.

[MMMM_ERT]

Yes, that's "agreed value" coverage.

I figured....but it's been so long since I signed up...like 10 years ago, I just wanted to make sure.   Thanks.

[lcmc]

I have State Farm and they do have agreed value. I have my 69 SS RS insured for $55K with them. It cost $19.00 a month with $250 deductable collision and $100 deductable on comp. and all the high limits on liability 100/300K. Same insurance on my 94 ZR1 with $35K and it is $17.00 a month. It shows right on my policy the insured value of the car. All I had to do was take pictures of the cars and give to agent. No appraisal at all.

[lakeholme]

The problem with companies like State Farm is usually the agent not knowing what you are talking about.  (BTW, I have had my other cars covered by State Farm for over 30 years.)  Some agents seldom get a classic car request, and they wind up not quoting it right.

Still wondering if anyone knows anything about Infinity group???

[click]

lcmc  Im about 99% certain that you DONT have agreed value insurance with State Farm.  I use SF for all my other cars and house etc. but they DONT have agreed value coverage for collector cars, rather they use terms like  'we agree' but that is not AGREED value coverage. There are other lines in your policy that give them the right to choose 'lesser' value 'comparable' cars to determine final value in case of a totaled car.  Visit the Bench section of www.camaros.net Tech Forum and search using the word 'insurance' where we have explicit decoding of SF and other policies, much to long to go into here. Just a heads up and hope you dont have a claim while you research this yourself.  Ive had VP's of SF email me and after a few back and forths they finally say that they DONT have 'agreed' value coverage like other collector insurers.
 Lakeholme is right that most agent dont have a clue what Agreed value is, they also are duped by the word 'agree' in some of their fine print of their policiies.
 Go to your SF agent with a simple statement and ask him to sign it, saying that IF your car was stolen, would you get a check for the $55,000 you have it valued at? No deductions or depreciations, no comparables to other cars listed on ebay etc... plain and simple, do you get $55,000 in your hand, yes or no? Then have him sign it.. 
 I know what his reply will be but this is all good info. for folks to have.

[lcmc]

Click......I will question my agent on all this, however he is a car collector himself so I'm thinking he knows what's going on. I'll keep you posted as to what I find out.

[baldeaglemtnman]

I have used State Farm for all my insurance needs---cars, homes, toys--- for over 30 years and for the most part they have been great whenever I have had a claim.  But after reading everything you guys have said, i will RUN to a specialty company to insure my car.  I'm so glad I asked.

[KurtS]

Click,
In certain states, State Farm offers a true 'Agreed Value' policy, IL being one of them.
I pursued this, it is not offered in MI.

I have Hagerty. A friend got hit and Hagerty paid, no hassles.

[click]

Interesting Kurt, we've had lengthy discussion at Team camaro and input from SF vp's and if they have true collector car Agreed Value, its unknown to the folks in SF corporate that we had emails from.  They are in ILL. corp office too.  hmmm?   any chance you know someone with the 'agreed' wording in Illinois with that coverage? Id love to see the exact wording of their policy. If a camaro owner told you he had Agreed Value but didnt really read thru his policy, he could be mistaken. Id really hate for anyone to be misinformed about such an important area of our old cars. 
  Many policies use the word 'agree' off and on but when push comes to shove, it always has turned out to NOT be AGREED Value as presumed..
 I know Jody, one of our mods in Team Camaro also has strong views of this issue and we have 'saved' many folks from certain financial ruin if they had their car stolen.
 Its always good to anaylize the exact wording of a policy, not just what an agent told us.