Classic Car Insurance with No Primary Vehicle?

Shortmort37

New Member
2
I have a 1959 Plymouth that I drive to one or two car shows a year, and occasionally around the neighborhood; well under 1000 miles a year.

I also have access to good mass transit, and don't really need a car. Every two weeks, I'll borrow my wife's when it's my turn to shop for groceries, or I'll rent a CarShare for an hour or two.

Is there any agency that will insure my classic, without forcing me to buy a clunker that will sit in the driveway - and making me pay for annual registration, inspection, and insurance? I'll pay a premium to do so - I just don't want to waste money on something I don't need.

adTHANKSvance,
Dan
 
Why aren't you own her wife's policy?

I take it you mean to ask, why I am not on my wife's policy.

The policy is issued to the person that insures the vehicle. I am permitted to drive my wife's car, since she has insured the vehicle. But, that's not the issue.

Classic car insurers want to know that there is at least one vehicle for every licensed driver in the household, other than the classic car itself. Otherwise, they argue, there's the likelihood that one of the drivers will resort to using the classic for routine use. Even if I could "go on my wife's policy", that wouldn't help. We are two drivers, with one vehicle - other than the classic car.

I'm not saying it's a reasonable rule - in fact, I think it's unreasonable. If I could somehow document I am limiting my driving of the classic (and I guess sending odometer readings wouldn't do it, since it's easy to turn them back on an old car), I certainly would.

So, I'll re-ask the question: Is there any agency that will insure my classic, without forcing me to buy a clunker?

Dan
 
Why aren't you own her wife's policy?

I assume you meant "why aren't you on your wife's policy?"....

And since he's driving his wife's car on occasion, I also assume he already is on the policy..... but with classic car insurance, they want to see an every day vehicle per every driver on the policy. a husband and wife with only one regular car won't work.

shortmort37, there may still be classic car insurance companies that rate by mileage, but I don't know of any (certainly none of the major classic car ins. companies). policing mileage got to be too much of a pain for most companies. plus it's easier to commit odometer fraud on older vehicles.... so classic car insurance companies avoid all of that by simply requiring a regular vehicle per household driver on their regular auto policy.

you're probably just going to have to insure it as a regular car (unless you go with the clunker option). if that's the case, make sure you shop around and find a company that will at least offer agreed value coverage on it. stay away from actual cash value coverage!
 
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I assume you meant "why aren't you on your wife's policy?"....

And since he's driving his wife's car on occasion, I also assume he already is on the policy..... but with classic car insurance, they want to see an every day vehicle per every driver on the policy. a husband and wife with only one regular car won't work.

shortmort37, there may still be classic car insurance companies that rate by mileage, but I don't know of any (certainly none of the major classic car ins. companies). policing mileage got to be too much of a pain for most companies. plus it's easier to commit odometer fraud on older vehicles.... so classic car insurance companies avoid all of that by simply requiring a regular vehicle per household driver on their regular auto policy.

you're probably just going to have to insure it as a regular car (unless you go with the clunker option). if that's the case, make sure you shop around and find a company that will at least offer agreed value coverage on it. stay away from actual cash value coverage!

And really read te contract on any agreed value policy you purchase. Progressive lets you declare a value on the vehicle but does not guarantee a payout - they can settle for ACV at their discretion. I don't know if nationwide even offers classic car coverage at all since they partnered with hagerty, but when they offered agreed value one of their stipulations was they could opt to replace the vehicle with a comparable rather than pay out (and I'm sure their definition of comparable would be totally open to interpretation)
 
Auto insurance coverage is one of those things that many of us realize that we should get, but might not yet have purchased, its beneficial when something get wrong.
 
I have classic ins for a car at State Farm. Now I have all my other cars there . I pay $210 every 6 mo for $28k of coverage. They required me to come to the office and take pics of it.
 
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