Please tell me about your insurance!

[bitchofanubis]

Hi, everyone, I'm new here. I'm in the process of restoring my 1974 Caddy Hearse. I added it to my other insurance policy with liability-only coverage, just for the safety inspection. (This is through State Farm, FYI) I was told I can't get a full limited-use, classic car policy until the restoration is complete and I have it appraised. This could potentially take a while, obviously.
I have also heard that most insurance companies do not cover vehicles with a Z in the VIN, and when I received my new card, the VIN was wrong and missing the Z.
Long story short, I really need advice on a new policy to provide me with more coverage during the restoration while still acknowledging the classic-vehicle, limited-use status, and with a reasonable premium (my State Farm premium is almost $400 for six months, which is outrageous from what I've read). The Hearse is not stored in a locked garage, which I understand could be a problem but hopefully not a huge one.
So...who's your provider, what do you love/hate about them, what does it cover, and in what range is your premium? Thanks in advance for your help!

[HellCat]

Hmmmm We have State Farm on our 1969 hearse I just paid $149.27 for six months in GA. Just liability as well.

I'm not sure of your situation, but with State Farm they do discounts to policies for many reasons: multiple policy discount, age, after a policy is over 10 years old with no claims you get a discount.

In our case David is 41, the policy is going on 10 years and we have multiple policies with State Farm.

****The VIN # on our hearse begins with a Z.

[Haunti]

I have my coach insured with Hagerty. It's something like $127/year for liability, uninsured motorist and medical.

[travlinman]

insurance

Hello there, do a search for insurance, this was discussed a while back. Some pretty cheap ones came up. I. like You added mine to My pick up policy with SF. It runs $273. for the 6 months. Libility along with a few extras I wanted, and Yes, the ID card does have the Z, lol. I had to get a new card, as They put a O instead of a Q in mine. You got to watch that as I got a letter from the State saying I didnt have any coverage on the caddy and it was all because of a mistake on the vin number when the agent typed it wrong. No coverage matched My actual vin number, good luck.

[northgahearse]

same with me i got 4 on state farm just liability as well i see no need to put anything more on them... if i crash one oh well just pull another one out to play if i get hit then its the whiplash thats going to replace the car ..... and cory has his with geico listed as a hearse..

[kaptinkaos]

Here's my 2 cents;

I have State Farm insurance on 3 vehicles, 2 commercial chassis & 1 non-commercial. All are insured at full coverage. My older 2, a 75 & 77 are insured for appraised value. Both commercial chassis have the correct VIN and coding.
My 75 hearse is down with a blown motor, in the past I have lowered my insurance to liability or fire/vandalism only until the vehicle is road worthy again. This is no longer possible with SF & a few others. SF told me that older vehicles are not worth insuring for more than blue book since repairing them is near impossible & the government has been pushing for a long time to remove older vehicles from the roads. (I'm assuming this is another reason for the removal of higher insurance on older vehicles). I was told that if I lowered my insurance while repairing the car, they would only insure it for liability & then re-evaluate it after that with a full inspection to see if it is worth more than liability.
Right now I have a non-working vehicle that is fully insured with expired tags, the state is fining me for this but the fines are lower than losing my insurance. SF also asked about my 77 truck, about dropping it for the same reason, but it runs & is registered, so it still has full coverage.
A few friends had the same issue with other insurers with their older vehicles. Some have classic or collector car insurance with other companies & they like it so far or until the car is in an accident.

It's another way for big business to make us buy cars that are not fixable by the home mechanic so we spend more money with shops.

I have voiced my protest about this change to SF, but it went on deaf ears.

[jlprigmore]

Haunti already mentioned Hagerty which I've heard great things about, including my brother who has his mavericks' insured through. When I am finally able to get my packard hearse I plan on going with hagerty as well.

[Tweek's Turbos]

I have progressive. It's not cheap for me but they deal with my speeding and driving without licenses I like to rack up.

[bitchofanubis]

Lots of good information, thanks so much everyone! I think I'll look into Hagerty first since I've heard nothing but good things, and go from there.

[Tulsa Guy]

Haggerty kicks ass! I have my '58 Impala convertable covered by them, no complaints other than the once a year bill.
Our Lincoln policy is written by the VIN.....they only know it's a normal Towncar!

[Morella]

I've noticed this trend to total old cars, even if the insurance company has to pay twice what the car is worth, as they did with my truck...$5600 for a 92 Bondo wagon with 200,000 miles on it? They would have given me $6400 had I not paid the $800 salvage value and kept it. Since my Chrysler looks almost new and has no dents, even though I love the car and I built the engine and dash myself, I can't help hoping that some drunk who has good insurance will total it, and I'll get the $7,000 or so that it high books at now.

I insured the hearse as a Fleetwood, but if you've seen it, you know why I keep liability only on it. I just replaced my rear window with 3/8" Lexan because some illegals went around shooting car windows out. Somebody get me the hell out of Arizona.

-denise