Always a fun topic and it's something I'll be dealing with in the next month or two. I'm curious as to which companies offer insurance for our classics that cover "exhibitions of speed" ie drag racing. And what companies will insure "in process" restorations. Basically I currently have comprehensive only insurance through State Farm on my W-31 and now that I've had basically a new driveline built, I need to adjust my insurance to reflect it's current value and obviously put back liability and collision when I start driving it on occasion this spring. I've already had discussions with my State Farm rep concerning drag racing, so thats not an issue. At the request of my rep, I need to gather up all my receipts on what I've spent for the engine rebuild, the forthcoming set of repro polyglas tires, the OAI setup, etc etc to show them I've spent $X on the car. I also have to take a couple pics to show what it looks like. Obviously this is going to be a learning experience for me because I've spent a lot more on the car then it's currently worth (insurance wise) and also need to figure out a value for the car for insurance purposes if heaven forbid some a-hole decides to run into it when I'm on my way to a local car show. Unfortunately, Cars and Parts doesn't even list a W-31 in their 1969 Olds car price values, so I've had to guess by taking the 69 Cutlass price and adding the 30% for the W-30 option to at least guesstimate what the car may be worth. I could ramble on for pages, but I'm going to ask for any help, experiences, advise or companies that I should take this car too for insurance in the event State Farm and I can't come to an agreement on its value. On a related side note, I've NEVER had any problems with State Farm. Of course I've also never had any accident claims, just a few claims from vandalism, theft of my stereo and rocks cracking my windshield. Thanks in advance. Chris
insurance I go through http://www.hagerty.com/ been dealing with them for 8 years. Really good people to deal with. I usually take my car to my insurance guy, and he takes some pictures and sends them to hagerty over the net. We get a quote in mins. My skylark is insured for 15k total loss. My payment is just over 200 bucks a year. By the way my car is for street and strip.
Steve I would bet that you have no coverage at the strip. Are you sure your policy does not exclude speed competion. Almost universally they do.
No one to my knowledge covers cars racing on the drag strip or road course stuff. Not even a good plan to leave your license plate on when you race it, depending upon who you're with. Most companies also won't cover in process restorations. Try getting an appraisal and see if they'll accept that. Good luck. Jim: Stopped in to see the 66 toady. He was just starting to wheel it out after 3000 grit colorsanding. Unbelievable. If i weren't so old, I would have probably "sported wood".
Suggestions: 1/ Get a couple of independent appraisals of your car's value. Check the yellow pages for appraisers in your area. If you want any chance that your insurance company will accept the appraiser's opinion, they must be certified and they must be experts in the musclecar field. 2/ Never trust what any insurance agent tells you. Before purchasing a policy, ask for a copy of the actual policy. Grab a couple of beers (to kill the pain) and sit down for the evening to read it cover to cover. The agents mean well, but they have zero influence on settling claims. Claims adjusters have more influence, but they simply follow the ruls laid out by the administrators. And ultimately the adminsitrators simply follow the letter of the policy (or however they can bend those letters). 3/ Watch out for misleading terminology. Some insurer's offer an "agreed value" policy. This is generally a good thing, where you and the insurer agree -- before there is a claim -- how much your car is worth. Some insurer's offer a "stated value" policy. This is generally a bad thing; if you read the policy carefully, you'll see that the stated value is actually a limit to the insurer's liability, not a gauranteed minimum for you. Again, forget the terms I'm using (I don't know that they have legal definitions) and READ THE POLICY. 4/ A specialty insurance company such as Hegarty will be more in tune with your use of the car and thus more likely to not try to screw you. But watch out for the restrictions some of these specialty companies put on you. I think Hegarty is pretty good, but there are others who expressly prohibit you from using the car for general transportation, such as to work or the store. Well, what happens if your car gets creamed in the parking lot the one day you happen to drive your car to work or the store? Will your specialty insurer deny the claim? 5/ Watch out for insurers who stack the deck against you by requiring you to waive your right to sue them or require you to use an arbitrator of their choosing. State law probably enters in here, too.
ZERO insurance policies cover racing...and oddly, even a lot of "event policies" sold specifically for covering car related events don't cover racing. We learned that the hard way...had the same insurance company for 3 years covering our annual car show & race day...literally the day before the '04 event they dropped us a little present in the mail informing us they were DROPPING us effictive the day prior to our event. This was an insurance company that was recommended to us by Gateway International Raceway where part of our event is held...Gateway finally allowed their carrier to work with & cover us, for a hefty price of course, but the moral is you'd better do your homework. Anyway, one of the sponsors of our site is a collector/specialty car insurance company, and they know their stuff...several of our members with Yenkos & such use them, and have nothing but praise...MK Insurance I'd just about bet a barley pop they'll beat Hagerty or any other insurance company on price and coverage...
Parish insurance will insure in paddock and on trailer for strip purposes but no insurance will insure while on track. I used to use parish for about ten years, very good company. No appraisal if under about 50,000 agreed value....
There is an insurance compary that has policies for race cars and racing. I saw them in National Dragster but I can't remember the name.......I'll look into it. Another company for insurance is Sneed Robinson and Gerber. They were the official insurance company for NSRA. I had them for the whole time I owned the '40 Willys They now have a Muscle car Show car division.....my '64 is with them. As with the others they don't cover racing.....another policy would be required for that.
NADA estimator I went to the Hagerty site and it had a link to the NADA Muscle Car estimator site. It covers most every muscle car and seems to be current for the recent increased values over the last few years (inflation?) Covered all the collector Cutlasses and Oldsmobiles (including rare options) except W31's. Highest for a mint 68 Cutlass S 2 dr HT like mine was $17k. 68 442 W30 in same condition was $35k. My compamy agreed to raise the value on the Ramrod to $25k without a blink with pics and listing of recent $$$ added to it. They've had the car covered for 20 years. Lots of these specialty companies also cover street rods now, so may not blackball you if you race them occasionally, you're just not covered when you do. Best to talk with your agent. If he/she doesn't agree, change companies. Lots of them out there.
Haggerty has never asked me for an appraisel, and every years seems to increase the value of my car, and ask me if I want to up the coverage accordingly.........
Even if your carrier isn't asking for an appraisal, it's a good idea. Sure, in the event of an accident you can hope that an accurate appraisal of you car can still be done (so they don't try to "total" it for less than it's actual value). But what about in the event of theft or fire? There's nothing left to appraise. Of course, I shouldn't talk; it's been a dozen years since I've had my W-30 appraised.
As I look thru the Racecar Insurance site, I repeatedly see *at sanctioned events*. That means an official NHRA, IHRA, or Good Guys event - - not a PS or F.A.S.T. race at a sanctioned track ....... bummer .....
My interpretation of this would be *an event at a sanctioned track* is the same as a sanctioned event.
That could be.....or it could be that if you race at P/S Stanton for example.....it's and event at a sanctioned track.....vs racing at George Ray's which while it seems to be an "event" the track is not by any stretch sanctioned. They probably specify sanctioned tracks to ensure a level of safety standards are met.
George Ray's? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Don't forget, George Ray's is a whole lot safer than anything else down thar! And now that I think about it, a lot safer than street racing anywhere, or maybe even driving to work! Certainly today with the ice and snow. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I don't recall insurance being in the vocabulary when we lived down there....along with drivers licenses, marriage licenses,..........we all started driving on the streets at 12 and I drove my first car to school at 14.
