Mike in Chi

This is likely pertinent for only a portion of the board -- those who have a form of club-member limited-usage coverage.

Also, it will depend on whether or not you drive your car in winter, but in some cases it's a good enough deal to make it worth switching coverage.

Since I bought my first Porsche, a 951, I'd been using one of those specialized insurance programs that are sold to members of car clubs.

This kind of coverage comes with lots of limitations, restrictions and stipulations. No daily driving. No driving to work. Very limited annual miles. Must be in a locked garage. And on and on.

If you're willing to live with those restrictions, the difference in cost can be a thousand dollars or more when the car is new.

Since I only use my cars for weekend enjoyment, and rarely in the winter, it had always worked for me.

But as we know all too well, the valuations on aging Porsches have come way down.

Which led to a happy discovery for me.

A move necessitated my notifying the broker who handled my specialized club insurance.

It's long and complicated, but I decided to see what the company that covers our daily drivers insurance would charge.

What a difference a little time and depreciation make!

The company that covers our daily drivers gave me a quote for six months that was less than the specialized, restriction-filled insurance's cost for a year. No restrictions. No signed and notarized agreements. No recorded phone call every time I ask a question. No nagging feeling that they will fight me should I file a claim. And I get 7500 annual miles (three times the allowed miles of my specialized coverage).

Yeah, but that's for six months, not a year, you say?

Here's what makes it work. Remember, I don't drive my car over those long winter months. Now I will park the car, during which I only have to carry comprehensive coverage (theft, fire, vandalism, etc). This is fine with my general insurance company. And the cost is minimal.

When the weather turns bad, the cars will go into storage, just as they always have. When it turns nice, they come out of storage.

Net net, for a year of covering the car the way I use it, it only costs a little more than the specialized, club-member insurance. For that little extra money, I get considerably better value. Much better usage terms and mileage limits, no restrictions, and a much easier to deal with agent.

If you have the specialized club member insurance, and don't drive your car all year, it might be worth calling your regular insurance agent to see if the numbers work out for you now. If you do drive year round, but want to be free of all the restrictions, the price may finally be attractive.

(no affiliation, ymmv, yada, yada, yada)

Bull

I agree that it is an interesting and useful way to look at car insurance. I have always had the restrictive "collectors" insurance on my 356s, although Grundy seems less restrictive than some like Leland West. I would rather trade a no-drive winter for the freedom during the driving months....or just pay for full regular insurance with mileage limits year round, than live with year long restrictions, which is what I do for the other p-cars.

2Many Cars

Just be careful that your coverage is as good as it was under the old collector policy. Many of the collector policies are "agreed value" which means if you total your car (easier to do as they depreciate) you'll get the value you agreed the car was worth when you took out the policy. Regular auto insurance will work off the NADA "book" value which is a problem if your car is better than average and/or has any upgrades. The burden will be on you to prove the value of the car and if the insurance company disagrees your options are limited.

steve g

Good thought Mike. I have a really good regular insurance agent and last year she asked me if I really drove my P-cars in winter since she knows I have 'seasonal daily drivers' (her expression that certainly describes my 240D and 325IX) and recently had to complete a questionaire regarding how many miles we (my wife and I) drive each of the cars in our fleet. Upon her suggestion, I did exactly what you're recommending - keeping the fire and theft, but cancelling the comprehensive on the P-cars during the 6 month/year that the cars are garaged in fall and winter. It saves a few hundred dollars for each car 6 months a year. She also told me if I ever wanted to take the P-cars out during that same 6 month period to simply to leave her a voicemail and I would be covered if anything happened.

Mark Harris

I have to agree with 2manycars. Being a newbie (but familiar with insuring collectibles other than Porsches) on advice from this board I called Leland West to insure my 96' 993 C4S.

After asking relentlentless questions, I wanted to know what the total amount they would pay me if I was involved in a total catastrophe. Fire, flood, car accident in which my 993 was totaled, etc. After what sounded like a 18 year old part-timer came back from checking with a manager I was told $32,000.

Hmmmm. That would leave me (conservatively) $16,000 short of what I consider replacement value.

If you think you can negotiate an additional $16,000 from an insurance company AFTER a disaster you will be sadly mistaken.

So, after an appriasal, and having my local agent take his own pictures of my car he happily wrote a "replacement value" policy. Yep, its costing me double what the Leland West quote was, but I don't have $16K to risk on the craps table.

Bull

Definitely all policies must be at agreed value.