I just put my 96 B/W on my regular insurance policy and asked my agent about total loss value and got the answer I expected. Actual cash value. This concerns me since the market values are not anywhere near the ACV values. I could see me taking a $15 - 20K hit if something happened. He said I could not insure it for anymore since it was not an antique/collector car with him. It p---ed me off enough that I may move all my business elsewhere to the tune of about $3K/year. Does Haggerty or someone similar offer what I am looking for without breakng the bank?
Insurance value
- Thread starter Mopar488
- Start date
kcobean
Enthusiast
I'd be interested to hear this as well. What is "Actual Cash Value", i.e. which of the NADA numbers is it? The "High Retail" option is within a few $k of what I paid for my car (though they don't have any consideration for the ACR), but I doubt that's the number they'd use.
Midwest Muscle
Viper Owner
Go with Hagerty - No question about it! I have an agreed value policy in the mid 60's with them and the premium is less than $100 a month for everything. Your rates may vary, but your coverage won't!
ViperJames
Enthusiast
I have Great American for my 95....RT/10...I am limited to 3k miles per year, but its based on an agreed upon value which is much higher than book........my premium per year is like $650-$700.
what u should do is get your car appraised. give it to the insuance broker and the car will be valued at apprasal value. if anything happens u get appraisal value. but your insurance premium is based on a higher value vehicle which mean you pay some more $$$$$$$$$$$. in the end its worth it.
thats what i did on my 94. the appraisal value is pretty good on a mint condition car too. dont forget the appraisal value of thr car is higher if the car is stock.
goood luck
thats what i did on my 94. the appraisal value is pretty good on a mint condition car too. dont forget the appraisal value of thr car is higher if the car is stock.
goood luck
Doc.
Enthusiast
I have 2 Vipers, a '55 Chevy, and a '32 Ford all insured with Hagerty. All for agreed upon value. I pay right at 2000.00 a year for full coverage on all 4 vehicles. I think thier rate is like 6.00 per 1000.00 of coverage for stock vehicles, and 15.00 per 1000.00 of coverage for modified vehicles. You only pay one liability cost if you have multiple vehicles. Grundy quoted me 600.00 less at the last car show I was at but I have never used them.
Doc.
Doc.
Klayfish
Enthusiast
This is one area where I can offer help. I work in the auto insurance industry, and in fact my previous job was with Great American Insurance. I work in the claims department, and am a licensed appraiser, so I've got plenty of experience with this stuff.
If you insure the car with State Farm, Allstate, etc...under a "standard" auto policy, like you would a Honda Accord, they will give you Actual Cash Value. Those numbers are determined by a number of different methods, depending on the insurance company and state laws. Some use NADA, RedBook or other paper guides. Some use services like CCC, which is a lot more detailed of an appraisal, as they look at local cars for sale, condition rating down to the tires, etc....but it is still ACV. Some standard lines insurance companies will write a normal policy like you'd have with the Accord, but give you an agreed value. That means that you and the insurance company agree that the car is worth xx,*** dollars and that is what you will get if it's totalled. That is different than a stated value policy. A stated value policy means that is what you are saying the car is worth, and you could get up to that much, but the insurance company has the right to make some changes depending on the condition of the car, etc...A stated value policy usually doesn't require an inspection, an agreed value policy might.
There are companies such as Hagerty, American Collectors, Great American that will write a specialty policy for these cars. They restrict you to 3,000 or 5,000 miles per year, but the premiums are much cheaper. They are usually agreed value policies, so there is no question of what you'll get. They also usually have no deductibles and great benefits. The trick to these policies is that they are restrictive. Many of them will not allow you to drive it too/from work, or other restrictions. You must abide by the terms, or the insurance company can and will deny your claim. They charge low premiums because they are believing the risk is very, very low since the cars will mostly be used for weekend cruises and such.
I will also say that contrary to popular belief, the insurance companies are NOT out to rip anyone off or pay them less than they owe. I'm a manager of a claims group, and I can assure you that we, and others in my position preach to our staffs to pay what we really owe. The insurance company will not try to undervalue your car so they can save money. They do the best they can to come up with a value on the car. The problem with cars like the Viper is that value is a very hard thing to determine. It's not like a Ford Taurus, where you can find 100 of them within 50 square miles and easily come up with a value.
If I can be of any help, please let me know.
If you insure the car with State Farm, Allstate, etc...under a "standard" auto policy, like you would a Honda Accord, they will give you Actual Cash Value. Those numbers are determined by a number of different methods, depending on the insurance company and state laws. Some use NADA, RedBook or other paper guides. Some use services like CCC, which is a lot more detailed of an appraisal, as they look at local cars for sale, condition rating down to the tires, etc....but it is still ACV. Some standard lines insurance companies will write a normal policy like you'd have with the Accord, but give you an agreed value. That means that you and the insurance company agree that the car is worth xx,*** dollars and that is what you will get if it's totalled. That is different than a stated value policy. A stated value policy means that is what you are saying the car is worth, and you could get up to that much, but the insurance company has the right to make some changes depending on the condition of the car, etc...A stated value policy usually doesn't require an inspection, an agreed value policy might.
There are companies such as Hagerty, American Collectors, Great American that will write a specialty policy for these cars. They restrict you to 3,000 or 5,000 miles per year, but the premiums are much cheaper. They are usually agreed value policies, so there is no question of what you'll get. They also usually have no deductibles and great benefits. The trick to these policies is that they are restrictive. Many of them will not allow you to drive it too/from work, or other restrictions. You must abide by the terms, or the insurance company can and will deny your claim. They charge low premiums because they are believing the risk is very, very low since the cars will mostly be used for weekend cruises and such.
I will also say that contrary to popular belief, the insurance companies are NOT out to rip anyone off or pay them less than they owe. I'm a manager of a claims group, and I can assure you that we, and others in my position preach to our staffs to pay what we really owe. The insurance company will not try to undervalue your car so they can save money. They do the best they can to come up with a value on the car. The problem with cars like the Viper is that value is a very hard thing to determine. It's not like a Ford Taurus, where you can find 100 of them within 50 square miles and easily come up with a value.
If I can be of any help, please let me know.
Midwest Muscle
Viper Owner
Klayfish, that's great info - Thanks for sharing.
sshorty
Enthusiast
Call Jacob J Katz & Co. i think they offer collector insurance...845-638-0505 ask for doug katz...when you speak to him, let him know you're from the viper club.
mike
mike
KMODStang
Enthusiast
Klayfish: you answered a lot of my questions and concerns and I dont even have a viper yet!
red98RT10
Enthusiast
Klayfish....so if we use our cars as daily drivers, our best bet would be to get an agreed value policy? Do you recommend any specific insurance companies (or ones to stay away from?)
V10SpeedLuvr
Enthusiast
Stay away from Progressive. Getting them to pay for anything is like a day at the dentist, if your dentist is a gothic, drug dealing, sex offender. I've had to deal with them once in the past when their insured was at fault (before I was a Viper owner) and they seemed like great people until it was time to cut the check to have my car repaired. After 2 weeks of my car sitting with a messed up frontend and Progressive doing absolutely nothing, I ended up cussing them out and calling Geico (my ins. co) and getting them to handle the repair and they sued Progressive for the money. I was working at Mitsubishi back then, so I called a couple of the bodyshops I regularly dealt with and asked about their dealings with Progressive. Not a single one had ANYTHING positive to say about them. Most told me that Progressive owed them money for cars they had repaired
Klayfish
Enthusiast
Yes, if you're using the Viper as daily transportation, it's probably in your best interest to obtain an agreed value policy with them so that you know exactly what you will get if the car it totalled. As far as companies go, as long as the company is financially stable, you should shop around for the best price. There are companies that market based on customer service, such as GEICO. But that doesn't always gaurantee great claims handling. They could call you back right away and tell you with a smile on their face that your claim is denied. It's good customer service, as they were prompt, professional and polite, but it wasn't what you wanted to hear.
Again, that's NOT to say that insurance companies try to cheat anyone out of anything. I'm just saying don't necessarily buy into the hypes that are advertised. Like any other industry, this one depends on people. Like any business, insurance companies have great adjusters and some which aren't as good. If you get an adjuster who is new or struggles, the claim process may not be as smooth. Adjusters always strive to get claims off of their desk, because they never stop coming in. So trust me, the last thing they would do is intentionally try to withhold payment from someone, because that will just keep the file open longer. But as I said, it can depend on the skills of the adjuster you get. If they aren't doing the job, ask for the supervisor.
Chad, obviously I have no idea what the situation with your claim was, so I can't make any informed comment. But in general, when you're pursuing a claim against another company, it's not always as quick. They have to call their driver, get a statement, get the police report, look at coverage, etc...to make sure liability is clear before they pay. If you file with your own carrier, they pay it and then "subrogate" against the at fault insurance company. It's a very common practice. If the companies don't agree, it goes to an arbitrator, so that it doesn't clog up the court system.
Too much information??
Steve
Again, that's NOT to say that insurance companies try to cheat anyone out of anything. I'm just saying don't necessarily buy into the hypes that are advertised. Like any other industry, this one depends on people. Like any business, insurance companies have great adjusters and some which aren't as good. If you get an adjuster who is new or struggles, the claim process may not be as smooth. Adjusters always strive to get claims off of their desk, because they never stop coming in. So trust me, the last thing they would do is intentionally try to withhold payment from someone, because that will just keep the file open longer. But as I said, it can depend on the skills of the adjuster you get. If they aren't doing the job, ask for the supervisor.
Chad, obviously I have no idea what the situation with your claim was, so I can't make any informed comment. But in general, when you're pursuing a claim against another company, it's not always as quick. They have to call their driver, get a statement, get the police report, look at coverage, etc...to make sure liability is clear before they pay. If you file with your own carrier, they pay it and then "subrogate" against the at fault insurance company. It's a very common practice. If the companies don't agree, it goes to an arbitrator, so that it doesn't clog up the court system.
Too much information??
Steve
Gerald Levin
Viper Owner
I believe my state farm agent mentioned a year or two ago that in the year 2006, when the car is ten years old, we will be able to insure the 96 viper on an agreed upon value. I've got a call into him and will report back what he says.
