[ROVERNET - UK] New to classic car ownership in the US- Help!

[Steven Dibdin]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the advice. I have a quote through Hagerty's that might well work 
out (Thanks Joe for the pointer). That way we get the pleasure driving, 
which living in NYC is what we use the car for mostly anyway. We use 
bicycles to get to work when the weather's good and the subway in the snow. 
Fortunately I get a couple of weeks of investigation into this before the 
car arrives, as it's being transported from the west coast.

Thanks for your invitation to the Rover touring saloon car club e-mail list. 
I would love to join.

Cheers,

Steven D


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "S Manwell" <smanwell at sprintmail.com>
To: <rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com>
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 9:32 PM
Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] New to classic car ownership in the US- Help!


> Steven,
>
> I'm all too familiar with antique car insurance in the US and know a 
> little about UK classic car insurance from what I read in UK club 
> publications.  The bottom line is that classic car insurance in the UK is 
> much more flexible -- there seems to be coverage available for just about 
> any level and type of use you can think of.  Unfortunately the US 
> antique/classic insurance providers are comparatively rigid and 
> inflexible -- there really is no (reasonable cost) insurance coverage 
> available for that middle ground between using a classic car just for 
> shows/parades/club events/pleasure driving vs. normal use of an everyday 
> car.  I have never understood why this is the case, because there clearly 
> is a market there.
>
> On the other hand, most of the classic insurance companies in the US do 
> allow limited "pleasure driving" in addition to driving to 
> shows/parades/club events.  They all seem to require no driving to work 
> and typically they say no driving on errands that a regular use vehicle 
> might be used for.  That said, it appears to me that many if not most 
> people with classic car policies sometimes use their old cars more 
> liberally than the stictest interpretation of the policy might call for. 
> One option is to cover the car with a standard policy for half the year 
> and move it to a (much cheaper) antique policy for the months that the car 
> is mostly off the road.
>
> A middle ground in coverage is a stated value policy for regular use. 
> This avoids the problem in which a normal policy would "total" a Rover 
> with the slightest damage because it would be assumed to be depreciated to 
> zero value.  Stated value means the collision coverage will be based on 
> the amount stated when the policy was started.  That's a little different 
> from agreed value which typically assumes the car increases in value over 
> time.  The bad news is that a stated value policy for regular use has the 
> same or higher premiums than a policy for regular use without stated 
> value.
>
> You might consider carrying the normal amount of liability coverage, but 
> no comprehensive and collision and essentially self-insure for these 
> coverages.  If you saved $500 to 1000 per year that way you'd save enough 
> every few years to replace the whole car whether or not you crash it!
>
> Another thing to keep in mind about antique policies is that some of the 
> vendors are very sensitive about the slightest modification made to an old 
> car, especially if it alters the performance at all.  If you disclose any 
> mods, it becomes an excuse for some of the companies to charge a much 
> higher premium for their modified/hot rod coverage...  I found J. C. 
> Taylor to be particularly inflexible in this area.  Hagerty, Condon & 
> Skelly and Grundy are the other three usual suspects.
>
> --Steve Manwell
> Boston-area, Massachusetts
>
> P.S. Would you like to be included on the Rover Saloon Touring Club of 
> America emailing list for our sporadic newsletter and event notices? 
> Maybe we should schedule daily events so that everyone has an excuse for 
> driving on limited use insurance coverage...
>
> Steven Dibdin wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> After a period of nine years with classic car ownership I'm stepping back 
>> into the fold. Problem is last time I lived in England (my home). So 
>> although we have a 'modern' car I'm trying to get the hang of classic car 
>> insurance over here. In the UK I could it at an agreed yearly mileage and 
>> value as long as it was kept off the road when parked at my home address. 
>> Here I live in Brooklyn NY, I am renting a garage and we will keep out 
>> other car as our primery vehicle. I have tried the on-line quote with 
>> Grundy but when the paper application came through there was a clause 
>> about only using the car for parades, car shows and events of public 
>> interest! I'd still like to enjoy driving the car without finding a car 
>> show in the area that I would have to attend!
>>
>> Does anybody have any suggestions or recommendations to share?
>>
>> Many thanks,
>>
>> Steven Dibdin.
>>
>> 1968 2000 TC
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