[Vwdiesel] Antique insurance

[William J Toensing]

There are several insurance companies  for the auto collector. The 3 largest & well known are JC Taylor (2500 mile per car limit), plus Grundy & Hagerty which have no mileage limit. However you must have a regular driver & the antique insured vehicle is limited to club activates, parades, car shows, & occasional driving, the same limitations most states including Calif. imposes with historical vehicle plates. All my collector cars including my '81 Dasher & '82 Quantum are covered for about $650 a year thru Hagerty which covers 14 cars. The big thing is your collector cars are insured for a stated value. That is, if you insure the car for $5000 & you have a total loss, you get $5000. Ordinary auto insurers will only cover your car for the actual value as determined by your insurance company. You might think your car is worth $5000 but if your insurance company thinks it is only worth $1500, that is what you will get less your deductible. The antique auto insurance companies, that I know of,  all sell no deductible re comprehensive & collision. WARNING: Don't submit small claims. Submit a couple small claims & you may find the insurance company will either drop you or refuse to renew your policy. My agent for Hagerty lives in Arizona but I live in Northern Calif. If you want his name & phone number, I can give it to you. However, I would suggest you first check locally to see if a local person can sell & service your policy. Hagerty will sell direct or thru local agents. Don't know if any of the other collector car insurance companies sell their local agents. I believe JC Taylor is the oldest collector car insurance company in the business & has a good reputation. Don't let the 2500 mile a year per car bother you as they will routinely grant you a special waiver on the 2500 mile limit if you want to drive to a regional meet or a national meet cross country.
Bill Toensing, Nevada City, CA