Classic Cars – Not Your Standard Auto Coverage
As you are driving down the road you pass by a classic/replica/limited edition car and your eyes are drawn to it, appreciating the beauty it brings to your drive. Your thoughts then lead to wondering what all was needed to have/keep that baby road worthy. As an insurance agent, your next thoughts may be, ‘I wonder what the insurance is like on that sweet ride.’ When you get that client who has an older vehicle or collects classic vehicles, there are additional underwriting questions you will need to keep in mind when collecting underwriting data to find the best insurance options for these vehicles:
- What is the appraised value on this vehicle?
- Classic cars need to be insured at agreed value so you need to know how much it is worth.
- What is the annual mileage put on this vehicle?
- If there is low mileage and the auto is not used as a daily vehicle, insurance rates will be better.
- Is this vehicle taken to shows or put out on public display?
- This can add an additional liability exposure the insurance carrier will want to know about.
- What modifications have been done to this vehicle? Get details on what they have all been.
- This can add into the cost and determine the different levels of insurance available depending on what modifications have been done.
- Depending on which carrier coverage is written with, you may need photos of the classic vehicle – all four sides exterior, interior shots of seats and dashboard, engine and or trunk shots as well.
- Check with underwriting after quote is worked up to see if these may need to be collected and what they would specifically require.
Not every carrier offers classic car coverage. You will need to be aware of this as it can limit where coverage may be quoted. Some standard carriers such as Safeco will write them on a standard auto policy and you need to make sure to select that it is a classic car on the underwriting screens. There are some carriers that specialize in writing only classic cars such as Hagerty so other options are out there. Check out the link below for a visual reference from Safeco to help clarify the different type of classic cars out there.
