Jones

I'm new to 928 forum.

I am interested in purchasing a 95 GTS. I have couple which I'm considering, with low mileages, which are in the upper $40k's.

I checked with my insurance company, Allstate, on the premium and coverage. I would end up paying 50% more on premium than for my new bmw, but the collision coverage is only upto either market value or KBB value. The current KBB value only $20K. I don't mind paying a little extra for insurance, but only if it covers for the full value of what I paid for. My insurance agent could not confirm whether my purchase price of $40K plus would be recognized as market value. His answer was basically, you'll find out if and when you fill out your claim...

Is this what I should expect from other insurance companies? Is this the cost of owning a rare low mileage classic, higher insurance premium with only 50% coverage?

Thanks in advance.

jheis

Dump Allstate ASAP!

I was with them for years and got nothing but crap from them. My premium actually went up when I dropped the coverage on one of my cars! Still had two insured - so I wasn't going from multiple vehicles to one. No one at Allstate could - or would - give me an explanation that made any sense.

I've now got Ameriprise (American Express through Costco). Twice the coverage for half the price.

James

evozine

My car is much less valued than yours, but I when I bought it last week I added it to my triple A plan. They have a collector car insurance policy for cars driven fairly low miles.

-The annual insurance premium for my 84 928s is $93 dollars/year,
which covers theft...
-The replacement value is $13,800 dollars- not a bad deal...

Al

jsherid1

I use Hagerty for my Shark and my old Cadillac. Combined premium of ~$400/year for agreed value insurance (You could insure a GTS for $40K replacement with them if you wanted). The hitch is that you have to show that you have daily drivers and that these cars are just toys and not used as regular transportation.

rixter

I use Allstate and have no problems, my cars are insured for market value or what I can show I have "invested" in the car, whichever is higher
you should have a sit down with your insurance agent

Jim bailey - 928 International

There are ONLY three options......" 1 , Actual Cash Value (ACV)This coverage can usually be provided by standard auto policies. At the time of a complete loss the insurance company claims adjuster will decide what your car is worth. You may have some input, if you do not agree with the claims adjuster, but in the end the insurance company decides the final settlement. If you don't agree with the settlement, you may have no choice except to seek legal action, or arbitration if specified by your policy agreement.
2 , Stated Amount or Stated Value This policy is often misunderstood, and frequently used for collector cars. Most insurance agents represent stated amount or state value policies as being the same as "Agreed Amount." It is not!

A "Stated Amount" policy usually says the insurance company will pay the lesser of: The Stated Amount or The cost to repair the covered auto not to exceed the "Stated Amount" or The "Actual Cash Value"

The "Stated Amount" helps determine the premium cost but is no guarantee of the settlement amount of the car if a total occurs. The "Actual Cash Value" is explained above and allows the claims adjuster to determine the loss often for less than the "Stated Amount". Most insurance agents are not aware of this claims detail. Many agents, unaware of the actual policy language, will insist if your collector car is stolen or totaled, you will receive the stated value. They are Wrong!

3 , Agreed Amount or Agreed Value Policies are the only guarantee in writing of the amount you will receive if your car is stolen or totaled. There is no "Actual Cash Value" clause in the policy. The "Agreed Amount" policy says the insurance company will pay you, the lesser of: The "Agreed Amount," or The cost to repair the covered auto, not to exceed the "Agreed Amount".

With an "Agreed Amount" auto policy, your agent and you must agree together what the "Agreed Amount" should be before the policy is issued. The "Agreed Amount" should represent the true market value of the car at the time the policy is written. If the market value changes during the policy period, the "Agreed Amount" can be adjusted to reflect any market changes during the policy period and should be reviewed at renewal....."

Trust me on this one if you have an ACV policy which most everyone does the adjuster is going to pull up KBB (private party sale) or other service , adds from Craigslist and make you an offer based on that. Some will add back recent repairs upgrades as well but they are only on the hook for ACV...Settlements vary greatly since it is a very subjective appraisal by the adjuster of what your car was worth. Stated amount as pointed out is nearly meaningless it just make you FEEL better until you have a big claim and increases your premium The Agreed amount policies tend to cost a lot more ......WHY because the insurance company has more money at risk . That alone tells you that ACV is often way below "replacement cost" . And if you do not like the value your policy probably provides for arbitration. If not you have three years to sue. Also worth noting that NOTHING THE AGENT SAYS MEANS ANYTHING !! What matters is what the POLICY SAYS in writing .

bgibby

We insure our cars with USAA (must have or have had a family member in the armed forces to qualify, I think) & they have very good rates for auto insurance plus we get a yearly dividend return of about 5% to 10% of our premiums.
They also offer collector car insurance through American Collectors with an agreed value- $25K on my 90GT for $385/year with no deductibles.

Brian

90GT

Jones

Wow! Thank you all for your input. Jim, that is very informative and educational. Thanks again, all.

Lopez

Just want to add - I have "Agreed Amount" insurance with Hagerty as well - it's super-cheap ($120/year) but as well I had to show proof of coverage for my daily driver w/ another carrier to demonstrate the Porsche is just an occasional-use toy...

Jim bailey - 928 International

Collector car insurance..."Collector insurance rates are typically so low because specialty providers place certain usage restrictions on insured vehicles, thus limiting the insurer's risk of loss. The restrictions generally include: limited pleasure driving & hobby use only (no daily driving, commuting to work, running errands, etc.), no commercial use, and vehicle must be garage-kept. .." often restricted to 2,500 miles per year PLUS your real cars need to be relatively new ( reliable ??) The question becomes one of what happens if you drive it to work one day (for fun) and a meteorite falls from the sky Answer is they usually will pay it but then cancel the policy but technically they are NOT required to do so ...

Lopez

Jim, the Hagerty guys asked me if I would occasionally drive the car to work, I told them yes and they didn't seem to think that would be a problem (I said 1 or 2 times per month). They were pretty paranoid about using the car as a daily driver, though. The fact that my car's agreed replacement value is relatively low ($8k, much less than for a GTS) could be a factor in their lax attitude...

Jim bailey - 928 International

Chris you were talking to someone whose job is write policies who gets evaluated if not paid based on writing policies ... they might just SAY anything to write the policy but when push comes to shove it is the written language of the policy that matters.

89 928 turbo

I dream about owning a rare car......but Insurance!!! This is almost organized crime...

Jim is absolutely correct....the main thing that I always try to remember in dealing with insurance companies (not just cars) is that policies are really not meant to insure you as much as they are documentation to limit loss (theirs).... and it's just a starting point in the negotiation when you actually suffer a loss.

Insurance companies jobs are to make money, and they do this by asking you some version of how many tickets have you had in the last 5 years (or three), how many miles you drive (and what the current mileage is) to get you into any higher category, get you to sign something with an escape clause for them in the fine print and then let insurance horrer stories scare you into not filing claims except for some catastrophic loss, involving others property and liability.....We come back with "yes, it has seating for four and I drive less than 7,000 miles and less than 7 miles to work one way".

If you have access to an attorney who deals in any of this kind of litagation, just ask them what major companies to avoid....it will be a very long list.

In the event of a loss, I know that at some point in the conversation, someone is going to ask about modifications...."Gee, we were insuring a stock 928 and you say this was modified for 500hp to the rear wheels with a what? an RMT?"

I am sure I'll be standing there with my you know what in my hands.....

WOW, I guess I didn't know how much passion I have for these folks.....I haven't actually had to deal with a lot of claims but know I am pretty soured on insurance companies, and in the end...I just want to get my plates...and pass emissions....and try to manage my cost to a level that I can argue the point if given half a chance....but then I am not into a one of the rarer breeds (MY)'s....just a streetable car that won't get me into too much trouble....

I think that no matter what you do, your pretty stuck...IF you have a loss, otherwise it's just part of the monthly payment for how much fun we have fooling around with these cars.

Bill Ball

We've had recent examples of this.

I avoid the whole discussion by self-insuring for collision and comprehensive. If you can't afford to do this, you should question whether you can afford the car. That's one reason why I have a relatively inexpensive 89 instead of a GTS.

morganabowen

I would suggest to you and anyone else that wants to pay a fair price on car insurance, use Wawanesa. They were suggested to me by other P-Car persons, and they saved us almost 50% on the premium Good luck!