Antique/Classic Car Insurance Advice

An antique automobile is generally considered to be anything that is over half a century old.

The term “antique” also tends to be used interchangeably with “classic” and ”vintage”, and if you are trying to insure such a vehicle then you will most probably come across a single insurance policy that covers all these terms. Technically however, it should be noted that these three terms, antique, classic and vintage, refer to different categories of vehicles.

One of the biggest concerns for owners of collector cars, is getting insurance coverage for the full collector’s value of their vehicle and not just the book value.

For example, an old classic car may only be worth $500 unrestored, but fully restored, it could be worth $10,000. So to fully insure this vehicle, you need classic car insurance that recognizes the full value of your automobile as regular auto policies may not provide you with the level of coverage that you require.

This however, can make insuring older vehicles slightly more challenging than modern-day automobiles, as this type of insurance tends to be more specialized catering towards a niche market.

As a result, you may have to shop around a bit until you find a classic auto policy that provides you with satisfactory coverage.

In this article, we offer some helpful and straightforward tips on insuring your vintage vehicle so that you will be able to insure your pride and joy for the full amount that it is worth.

Insuring Vintage Vehicles

In order to accommodate the growing vintage, classic and antique automobile market, insurance companies now offer optional car insurance coverage called stated-amount coverage.

In order to receive this coverage for your classic car, you must first send pictures of the interior and exterior of your vehicle in addition to a market-value appraisal to your insurance company. These pictures should include the wheels, doors, windows, engine, seats, steering wheel, dashboard and any distinguishing features that are unique to your vehicle.

Your car will then be listed on your car insurance policy for the market-value you provided, on which you will pay a premium.

However, it is ultimately up to your insurance company to determine whether they accept your market value appraisal, and this will be influenced by factors such as uniqueness, history, the condition of your vehicle and the cost of other similar vehicles.

As a result, if you go down this route, be prepared to fight your corner to get the valuation that you feel is right. You can help yourself in this regard by getting independent auto valuers to provide a vehicle valuation. Doing so should then give you a much firmer ground to stand on when you insure your automobile.

Making A Claim Once Your Auto Is Insured

If you ever need to make a claim on your classic car insurance, for example because your vehicle is damaged or stolen, you will receive money from your auto insurance policy but will not receive the full amount you listed as the market value of the car.

This is an important point to note, because many people who purchase stated-amount coverage for their classic car believe that they will receive the appraised value of their automobile if it is stolen or destroyed in an accident and written off as a total loss.

Stated-amount classic car insurance coverage will always pay you less than the actual value of your car at the time of loss. It also does not pay any increases in the car’s value.

This is one reason why it is important to get as high and fair a valuation as you can when you first sign up with your policy coverage plan. But since you will not be insured for the full amount, it is hard not to feel cheated especially if you were expecting full coverage when you made your claim.

Fortunately, there are a few additional steps that you can take to ensure that you get the most amount of money back during claim time, which, unsurprisingly, not a lot of people tend to know about.

Is There A Better Way To Insure Antique Cars?

Clearly, the current insurance policy for insuring classic/antique/vintage cars in not an ideal solution, because you are not really getting the level of coverage you should be getting which then leaves you at risk financially.

As a result, if you are looking for antique car insurance it is recommended that you adopt the follow strategy:

1) Avoid Optional Stated Amount Coverage

Instead of purchasing the optional stated-amount coverage, go for the usual actual cash value coverage that comes as standard with a classic car insurance policy.

In the event that you do need to make a claim, this will help to increase the amount that you receive.

2) Keep Your Classic Automobile Pictures Secure

In the event that you need to make a claim on your antique car insurance, you will need photos of your car as evidence of your claim.

Keep pictures of the interior and exterior of your car in a secure location and not inside your vehicle.

One of the safest places to keep such photographs is to post them to your own personal email account online. You can then keep the physical copies in a secure location, such as in a safe deposit box or fire-proof home safe.

Claiming Insurance On Your Antique Vehicle

If your car is stolen or irreparably damaged in an accident, the insurance company is obligated to pay you the actual cash value of your car. In most cases, this means the market value of your vehicle on the date of loss.

It is during this time when you make your claim that your photos and market appraisal value will be required.

Before handing in this documentation however, you must get a new appraisal in order to ascertain the current market value of your vehicle as this is the value that you will be compensated for and not the historic value.

As you may have already noticed, taking out an actual cash value policy will help to safeguard your vehicle against potential losses due to rising market value, which an optional stated amount coverage policy leaves you vulnerable to.

What this means is that if you do make a claim, you will get what your automobile is currently worth. Of course, whilst it is true that the market value of your vehicle can go up, it is also important to remember that it may in fact go down.

However, this is generally the best strategy to adopt when buying insurance for antique, classic or vintage cars, as it will allow you to save paying the extra insurance premium that is normally charged for stated-amount coverage whilst maximizing your returns during claim time.