How do most people handle insurance on classic cars?

[mjr24]

So I’m in the process of restoring a 1988 325i convertible. I paid $8500 for it but will end likely putting another $30k into it when it’s all said and done with redoing basically everything. This is redoing all bushings, interior, exterior, new wheels, everything….this isn’t performance upgrades or anything.

Is this something I need to specify to my insurance company or is this really only something I’ll ever have to get into if it’s involved in an accident?

Obviously they have formulas that would likely say a 40 year old car isn’t worth much at all. That obviously isn’t assuming it’s being completely renovated, though.

Any advice on this?

[Phillies8008]

You want to use an insurance company that specializes in classic cars, like Hagery or Grundy (there are others). With them you can specify a guaranteed payout, so if you get to the point where the car is worth $38,500 due to work you've put into it, you can have them insure it for $38,500 – if something happens, that's what you'll get.

A couple of caveats:

1) It cannot be a daily driver and you have to have at least one car (other than the one you're insuring) per driver in your household.

2) Some of them put a per year mileage restriction on the car, mostly to ensure that it's not being driven daily.

3) The car needs to be garaged (though I'm not sure how strict this is, and I doubt they have any way to enforce it).

They've got some other options as well, such as covering parts that aren't on the car yet and allowing you to keep the car after it's been totaled and paid out.

Check your regular insurance as well – they may have a collector's car policy or rider you can add. For me, Hagerty was far cheaper than adding it to my regular policy (State Farm). YMMV.

[ppointer]

Yes, what Phillies8008 said. I have four cars with Hagerty, where each car has a specified value. Oldest is a 1967, and newest is a 2013. Combined those cars see about 4k miles per year.

I also have those cars listed under my umbrella liability policy with USAA. That insurance provider requires certain minimums on coverages, which Hagerty was able to match.

When I spoke to a rep at Hagerty to set the value, my strategy was to compare to actual selling prices from Bring A Trailer. I got no push back. I imagine if I had said my 60k mile '01 M Roadster was worth $100k, they would have politely declined, but I will never know.

[alex2364]

Find a policy that lets you set an agreed value for your car. Other than the ones that have already been mentioned, State Farm and Cincinnati Insurance both offer agreed values for classic cars.

https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/...e-classic-cars
https://www.cinfin.com/cincinnati-pe...auto-insurance

[Phillies8008]

I'll also mention, FWIW, that Hagerty is super-easy to work with. I've never waited more than about 30 seconds to speak to someone, and it's always a live person based in the US. The only downside, if it is one, is that you do have to call for most things; they have an app, but there's not a whole lot you can do in it.

[swcrow]

Used to have a '29 Ford and insured it through Grundy....phenom insurance company. Picked them up during a classic car show in Louisville and insured it for way more than I bought it for.

[DocL]

I've been using Grundy for 15 years. I did have an unfortuante incident with my 1994 NSx, and they paid me agreed value at the time 10 years ago. They great to work with, and the restrictions are very easy to live with. I currently have a 40yr old Maserati insured with them.

[KevinC]

I had Grundy on my last Z4M Coupe. Cheap, great terms, good service. Would use them again.

[Phizzzle]

Chiming in to say we had Grundy insure our Hellcat a few years ago. Great company to work with, and was the only one to insure me at the time (young owner). They also matched a pretty big policy we have for our second car and gave us a yearly amount that was nearly 3x cheaper. Highly recommend.

[swcrow]

Originally Posted by Phizzzle

Chiming in to say we had Grundy insure our Hellcat a few years ago.

wait what? you serious? I never knew they did anything other than classic/hot rod insurance....game changer

[Phizzzle]

Originally Posted by swcrow

wait what? you serious? I never knew they did anything other than classic/hot rod insurance....game changer

Yeah, they classify hellcats as hotrods. If it wasn't for them we probably wouldn't have purchased it.

[mjr24]

Awesome, lots of helpful replies on here. Thanks guys!

Curious what some of the classic car insurance companies charge you in relation to your normal car insurance?

[DocL]

Originally Posted by mjr24

Awesome, lots of helpful replies on here. Thanks guys!

Curious what some of the classic car insurance companies charge you in relation to your normal car insurance?

A fraction of a normal policy. I pay $310/yr for my collector car that I valued at $20k. I pay $500/mo for my F80 as a daily.

[JABCAT]

I have Grundy agreed value collector car policy on my Callaway Carbon Z06. With only 3 in existance, it really is unreplaceable.

I don't have mileage restrictions like some other collector car policies, and while it says you can't drive to work or "run errands", who's to say I wasn't out cruising & needed to stop by Home Depot

I pay $1,063/yr for a $95k policy.

[M-technik-3]

I have my E30 M3 and E36 M3 with Grundy.

[MJBO]

Originally Posted by DocL

I pay $500/mo for my F80 as a daily.

Um, what???

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by MJBO

Um, what???

Standard vehicle insurance, depending where you live, has gotten completely out of hand. My rates have increased 20-25% every 6 months for the last 3 years. No accidents, no tickets, top tier credit scores, I have a PhD, wife has a Master's, both of us professionals, etc. Add in homeowner's insurance that also continues to almost double at every renewal. I'm paying almost $16k a year for insurance on a '23 M2, '22 X3MC, 2003 Wrangler, and my home. It's ridiculous.

[davidrw]

Hard to give a solid answer without the exact fault codes or any logs, since a lot of F48 issues look the same at first. I’d run a proper scan ISTA BimmerLink any BMW-capable reader, then post the codes plus mileage and recent work so people can point you in the right direction.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Standard vehicle insurance, depending where you live, has gotten completely out of hand. My rates have increased 20-25% every 6 months for the last 3 years. No accidents, no tickets, top tier credit scores, I have a PhD, wife has a Master's, both of us professionals, etc. Add in homeowner's insurance that also continues to almost double at every renewal. I'm paying almost $16k a year for insurance on a '23 M2, '22 X3MC, 2003 Wrangler, and my home. It's ridiculous.

Holy crap. Is this with with super-high coverage rates (there's a better term, but it's failing me right now)? I thought SC was bad, but hoo boy.

And we wonder why so many people are driving around with little or no car insurance... Which, of course, makes it more expensive for those of us who do have it – I know on mine at least the "underinsured/uninsured" portion is a not insignificant amount of the total.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

Holy crap. Is this with with super-high coverage rates (there's a better term, but it's failing me right now)? I thought SC was bad, but hoo boy.

And we wonder why so many people are driving around with little or no car insurance... Which, of course, makes it more expensive for those of us who do have it – I know on mine at least the "underinsured/uninsured" portion is a not insignificant amount of the total.

Normal coverages. Tbh, my house has almost tripled in value since we purchased it in 2016 & it is drastically under- covered. We're planning to sell next year so I'm leaving the coverage where it is.

I will say there's a racket going on with inflation, price gouging, etc. Here's an example on my house. Roof replaced due to hail in 2019 - total replacement costs with a couple broken windows, solar screens on all the window, my fence (500 linear feet) was damaged and garage doors = $36k.

Same thing in 2025, same exact damage & replacement = $70k. Also in TX if your roof is more than 4 years old when you go to sell they make you replace it or the buyer's insurance won't cover the house - at least that's been my experience on the last 2 homes we've purchased.

Re: the autos, we're with State Farm but have checked all major carriers plus some random never heard of them carriers & rates are the same or higher if we switch.

[Henn28]

Sat next to a re-insurance guy on a plane and took the opportunity to ask him why rates for almost everything have been skyrocketing over the past 15 years or so.

I’m not saying we aren’t being g milked as consumers, which seems to be the default position of most industries, but his explanation made lots of sense. In a nutshell, insurance companies used to be able to spread their risk predictably throughout the country…i.e. fire season out west, hurricane season in the south, Midwest tornadoes and hail, etc. Increasingly they are unable to do this because the risk has moved to everything, everywhere, all the time.

He used my city as an example. We used to have a very weak tornado once every few years, at most. Now we are seeing at least one strong tornado that kills people and causes lots of damage almost every year. This is going on with almost all risks he said.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Normal coverages. Tbh, my house has almost tripled in value since we purchased it in 2016 & it is drastically under- covered. We're planning to sell next year so I'm leaving the coverage where it is.

I will say there's a racket going on with inflation, price gouging, etc. Here's an example on my house. Roof replaced due to hail in 2019 - total replacement costs with a couple broken windows, solar screens on all the window, my fence (500 linear feet) was damaged and garage doors = $36k.

Same thing in 2025, same exact damage & replacement = $70k. Also in TX if your roof is more than 4 years old when you go to sell they make you replace it or the buyer's insurance won't cover the house - at least that's been my experience on the last 2 homes we've purchased.

Re: the autos, we're with State Farm but have checked all major carriers plus some random never heard of them carriers & rates are the same or higher if we switch.

Yeah, State Farm is the best I've been able to find as well, and it's still expensive. Of course, having two under-25 males on my policy ain't helping. Just crazy.

Originally Posted by Henn28

Sat next to a re-insurance guy on a plane and took the opportunity to ask him why rates for almost everything have been skyrocketing over the past 15 years or so.

I’m not saying we aren’t being g milked as consumers, which seems to be the default position of most industries, but his explanation made lots of sense. In a nutshell, insurance companies used to be able to spread their risk predictably throughout the country…i.e. fire season out west, hurricane season in the south, Midwest tornadoes and hail, etc. Increasingly they are unable to do this because the risk has moved to everything, everywhere, all the time.

He used my city as an example. We used to have a very weak tornado once every few years, at most. Now we are seeing at least one strong tornado that kills people and causes lots of damage almost every year. This is going on with almost all risks he said.

I can see that and would believe that it's a little of column A and a little of column B.