Lets talk insurance

[netcsk]

I have state farm, liability only.
In the past few months I've had my car painted (~$3k) and have put new wheels on it (~$1300). Not to mention I have rare m-tech 1 parts and a rare hartge front valance with my euro bumpers and all that other jazz.

Ok, I've finally invested enough money over the years to warrant full coverage insurance. I called state farm and asked if I could get some kind of an appraisal for my car that would be covered if I got in an accident. She informed me that they only do this with classic cars, and anything else is up to the 'value' at the time of the wreck.

We've all heard the horror stories of insurance paying $2k for an e30 with $10k + in it. I couldn't stand losing this car, much less getting a kick in the face by insurance.

Do any of you guys have any experience with dealing with insurance after a wreck or know of an insurance company that will set a price without the car being classic?

[LaserAWD]

I have Liberty Mutual and they've told me in the past that I could get coverage based on what parts I have on my cars. They would need receipts showing what I paid and what install cost for everything and then they could make a custom profile for my vehicles based on that info. Of course the premiums I would have to pay would be custom as well.

[Charlie]

How old/what is the car? Find a policy that does "Agreed value" coverage.

-Charlie

[netcsk]

How old/what is the car? Find a policy that does "Agreed value" coverage.

-Charlie

Its an 86 eta. I'm trying to find an agreed value coverage and was hoping someone here had some experience.

[Charlie]

Its an 86 eta. I'm trying to find an agreed value coverage and was hoping someone here had some experience.

http://www.hagerty.com/Auto/vehicle_70s.aspx

Worth a shot, I have them on the '02, I'm satisfied so far. They do agreed-apon coverage, you have to submit pictures and such.

-Charlie

[nando]

you can get the car appraised by a third party regardless, and use it later if you get into an accident. They aren't going to have very many 86 etas in their databases these days..

[netcsk]

http://www.hagerty.com/Auto/vehicle_70s.aspx

Worth a shot, I have them on the '02, I'm satisfied so far. They do agreed-apon coverage, you have to submit pictures and such.

-Charlie

Hmm. Thanks for the link! It doesn't look like they would delve into my car, but I'll give it a shot.

you can get the car appraised by a third party regardless, and use it later if you get into an accident. They aren't going to have very many 86 etas in their databases these days..

Yeah, I guess that would be a good way to do it. State Farm just told me to save receipts and things (which I always save electronic copies).

The question about an appraisal is when I get it done since the car is never really finished :).

[nando]

just get it done. it's not that expensive (around $100) and it would be better to do it now than try to wait until you are "finished" and end up in a total loss accident. you can always redo it later if things change significantly.

[netcsk]

just get it done. it's not that expensive (around $100) and it would be better to do it now than try to wait until you are "finished" and end up in a total loss accident. you can always redo it later if things change significantly.

Sounds like a plan. What helps an appraiser? Do I need to provide anything but the car? Receipts? Title? Birth certificate?

[hye d]

Try American collectors ins. in cherry hill n.j. Have agreed value of $10k. for an 88 325ic.

[Naplm00]

hey hyd

is your car a DD?

[z31maniac]

http://www.hagerty.com/Auto/vehicle_70s.aspx

Worth a shot, I have them on the '02, I'm satisfied so far. They do agreed-apon coverage, you have to submit pictures and such.

-Charlie

Hagerty has some great, affordable coverage.

But when I talked to them they have very strict mileage/storage conditions. They told me "has to be garage kept, no more than 3k miles a year, and we don't insure stuff with a roll bar/cage."

The same guy that is doing the cheap track day insurance that I posted up a few months ago is also working on getting coverage for those with highly modified cars that actually use them.

[nando]

Sounds like a plan. What helps an appraiser? Do I need to provide anything but the car? Receipts? Title? Birth certificate?

receipts for everything, pictures if you have them. I gave mine a 1/2" stack of receipts and a DVD of pictures, he did the rest.

[BlackSpeed66]

It is a bit difficult with these cars since they're not quite "classics" yet (as defined by certain other entities). The specialty insurers can be hard to work with because of the aforementioned and "regular" insurers equally so since e30s are just old. I work for one of the major auto insurers and our standard personal auto policy affords one $1000 in Custom Parts & Equipment (CP&E). Obviously a set of nice wheels and tires and a couple other goodies might put you over that (I'm about to find this out myself) so I believe the next step is adding a rider of a particular dollar amount to your policy for the extra parts. This will most likely increase your premium, so be prepared if it happens and save your receipts!!!

If your car should be declared a total loss (not too hard with an e30) and you don't agree with the offer presented, the claim rep should give you an opportunity to present some documentation or ads of comparable vehicles for sale in your area. If this doesn't work, our policy has a third party appraisal clause in which we hire an appraiser and you hire an appraiser (paid for by YOU) to assign a value to a car. If an agreement can't be made then, the decision is forwarded to a third party "umpire" to make the final call. I've only seen it go this far once (on a Maserati).

Now: I don't work in policy services - a lot of this info is what I've gleaned in the four years working claims. I've got to believe that policies with other insurance companies have similar clauses and such but don't quote me on that. Hopefully some of this will help?

[netcsk]

receipts for everything, pictures if you have them. I gave mine a 1/2" stack of receipts and a DVD of pictures, he did the rest.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.