Regular Use Insurance for Hot Rods (Ontario).

here is a copy of my policy for my 48 Ford coupe..I have never had any problem ..drive anywhere anytime..But I have to keep it insured year round ..but no problem insuring and the yearly rate is not all that bad..

I removed the pic as it had personal information that I did not wish to have here forever..It was just to show you my policy..

v8deuce said:

I had Hagerty on my 32 with no restrictions,they did want at least one other vehicle in my name (regular car) for the others in my house to drive so the 32 wasn't the only one but other than that no restrictions on use that I knew of.I had an agreed value of 100k for a little less than 2k a year, free flat bed towing and a few other things for free. I could have had a couple others at half the price but lots of restrictions. I sure can't tell you to be dishonest but I think the government is as crooked as a dogs hind leg and they expect everyone else to do the same

Randy

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Randy, I just got off the phone with Hagerty. They told me they offer no such insurance plan. I actually read your post to them and they said they do not offer anything like that so for your own protection, you might want to check with them.

Hagerty told me they only offer collector car insurance for cars used in "a collector manner". By their definition, that means going to car shows and for the occasional Sunday pleasure drive. They offer no 'regular insurance' for 'normal cars' (ie: If you had a 2010 Chrysler and wanted regular run-of-the-mill insurance). They are collector, restricted-use-only insurance.
Thanks anyway for the tip though ; I appreciate your input.


********
The broker that has theoretically been working for me wrote me today and told me this:

"The only way you can drive with no restrictions would be to insure your classics as regular vehicles and pay the full premium’s which some companies are hesitant to write."

As of yet, he has not been able to find an insurance company that will write my cars.
Also, according to the broker, "regular use" is defined as anything other than collector-car usage.
If you are NOT going to or from a car show or 'car event', the insurance company classifies your usage as 'regular' which no classic car insurance company in Ontario will touch.

The fine print on Classic Car Insurance programs reads as such:
"I declare that the automobile will not be used or driven for regular transportation, such as travelling to and from work, shopping or vacation, or used in any speed test or race.
The automobile will only be used or driven for hobby and/or collector car purposes. This includes being used or driven in exhibitions, parades, tours of similar functions organized by a properly constituted automobile club, car shows, including driving directly to and from one of the events; or for the purpose of repair, testing, or demonstration for sale."
Some but not all policies may include, "An occasional personal day outing, such as a pleasure drive, is permitted."
To them, "Occasional" means AT MAXIMUM once a week and only in nice weather.

So essentially, there are a lot of us running around Ontario with insurance policies that WILL NOT cover us in the event of an accident.

Keep that in mind the next time you take your '55 Chev out for a joy ride. If the accident is bad enough, you may well lose everything you own in the ensuing court battle when your insurance company denies your claim.

Some insurance companies will allow you to add an old car to your existing policy as long as the vehicle has not been modified from original in any way.
If you've got a hot rod or a custom or kit car, don't even think of asking for coverage, they'll show you the door.
In fact, if you've upgraded your single-port master cylinder to a dual port master cylinder, that counts as a modification and they won't insure it. If you dumped the bias plies and upgraded to far-superior radial tires, it's a modification too and that's not acceptable.

If you feel comfortable trusting your insurance company to cover you in the event of an accident then don't worry about it. If you're like me and don't think you can trust them for a crap, you'd better start thinking twice about this old car thing.


Fatchuk,
Thanks a million for the info on your insurance. I called them, they are looking into insurance for me and the girl promised me she would call me back with her results. Thank you very much.

Chop-chop said
Fatchuk,
Thanks a million for the info on your insurance. I called them, they are looking into insurance for me and the girl promised me she would call me back with her results. Thank you very much.

You are welcome my friend..If you need any more information you can find me over on http://ontariorodders.activeboard.com/ same user name "fatchuk " we have private messaging on that forum so I can send you some more information via some privacy..if you need it ..I just did not want all my personal stuff all over this site..best to you..

fatchuk

EDITED:

Chopchop said:

Randy, I just got off the phone with Hagerty. They told me they offer no such insurance plan. I actually read your post to them and they said they do not offer anything like that so for your own protection, you might want to check with them.

Hagerty told me they only offer collector car insurance for cars used in "a collector manner". By their definition, that means going to car shows and for the occasional Sunday pleasure drive. They offer no 'regular insurance' for 'normal cars' (ie: If you had a 2010 Chrysler and wanted regular run-of-the-mill insurance). They are collector, restricted-use-only insurance.
Thanks anyway for the tip though ; I appreciate your input.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct in that Hagerty will not insure a regular car for regular use.

What they are asking about the others cars is to make sure you have another regular/normal daily driver in your name and have insurance on that vehicle for some time.
I think you may have mis-understood what V8deuce was trying to say.

As to yearly mileage, Hagerty has no restriction what so ever, whereas as some have a 5000KM limit and if you want to go on an extended trip and it will exceed your yearly limit, then its usually $25 or $50 per 7 days to go over.

Right but Hagerty has severe restrictions on the allowed usage of the vehicle.

They may not have a mileage restriction but as far as usage, they only allow, "the occasional Sunday pleasure drive."
He said he had Hagerty on his 32 with no restrictions that he knew of. So just in case he's driving it wherever and whenever he wants to, I wanted to give him a heads up that he's not going to be covered in the event of an accident.

Regardless, I'd like to PM Fatchuk. Can anybody please explain how I can send a PM?

Thanks,
Dave

Chopchop said:

Right but Hagerty has severe restrictions on the allowed usage of the vehicle.

They may not have a mileage restriction but as far as usage, they only allow, "the occasional Sunday pleasure drive."
He said he had Hagerty on his 32 with no restrictions that he knew of. So just in case he's driving it wherever and whenever he wants to, I wanted to give him a heads up that he's not going to be covered in the event of an accident.

Regardless, I'd like to PM Fatchuk. Can anybody please explain how I can send a PM?

Thanks,
Dave

Click to expand...

Dave,
Unfortunately, no PM's on this board.
Look in Fatchuks last post. OR You can get a hold of him through this link .

I don't think v8deuce is worried about that now as he has sold his 32.

As I am anxiously looking forward to this years hot rod tour and reading these posts I started to wonder if my insurance coverage would cover me on the road once I left the confines of my humble abode! I am insured by hagerty and figured a call would be in order to see if I am still going to hit the road. I was told that I can go anywhere I wish even to the states. They consider a hot rod tour a car show and as such it is ok. I was told that I could even compete in the race across America if I wished. The criteria for your classic car coverage is that you have another vehicle that is your primary mode of transportation and insured separately. Your classic cannot be your daily driver or sole mode of transportation. I went from paying around1200.00 per car to around 500.00 for both. Pretty good deal I think!! Any doubters out there should check with their insurers to confirm.

they are weird ,that is why I leave my 32 in ariz. would love to hav it here but mods would be $$$$ and hagarty is bs

Thanks 58Chev. I went to that board but I'm not a member there.
I guess I'll have to register there and try that way.


Timmins57, Hagerty's insurance does cover you for virtually any legitimate collector car event (ie: functions organized by a properly constituted automobile club).
They won't cover you if you use your car to go grocery shopping or to go to the mall (like I do). The vehicle must be used in a "collector car manner" (direct quote from Hagerty).

When I told them I use my heavily hot-rodded truck to haul junk to the dump, the woman said, "Oh no. We definitely wouldn't cover you to do anything like that."

She wasn't too keen on the idea of me using my old TBird as a winter driver either. Despite the fact that I have TWO good snow tires on it!!


From what the insurance brokers have told me, I'm the only one they've dealt with that wants to drive his car whenever and wherever he wants. Other car guys just want to use their cars to go to car shows and for them, collector car insurance is PERFECT. Nice and cheap and agreed value.
If you want freedom though - you're screwed.


Additionally - just a heads up - the vast majority of insurance companies will not cover vehicles over 20 years old. If you already have the 19 year-old car on the policy, they generally won't cancel your policy when the car hits 20 but they won't add another 20+ year old car to your policy.


I still have 3 brokers looking for companies to play ball with me but if I can't find anything, I'm seriously thinking about selling out and buying a newer Lotus or Cayman. After a lifetime of loving and playing with old cars and building all kinds of really cool stuff, I don't want to fight anymore.

I don't want to sell out but at least I'll have a car I can insure and drive.

chopchop

A PM is like an email to a single person. You must join
http://ontariorodders.activeboard.com/ and then find a posting by fatchuk. Click on his name and options come up including PM.

After following this thread earlier, I wrote this on Ontario Rodders. I had received a letter from Lant two years ago stating the same thing and so I called the other day to confirm:

I've been seeing a lot of chatter again on the forums regarding collector car insurance lately. I'm with Lant, have been since 1988, still paying about $10-$11 per thousand on my 62 Cutlass and have 30K building coverage on Dog Spit for a total of $386 a year. I just talked to Lant regarding use and was told pleasure use, not for daily shopping or work. I can take it to the US, I can travel to BC if I want, |I can go on vacation if there is potential for attending a cruise etc. When I joined Lant in 1988, my fee was about $68, about 6 months later, my windshield got broken and it was necessary to bring one in from California. The bill totalled $1500 which they paid, no questions asked. It took them a long time to recoup that money. Lant is a big supporter of the classic/hot rod culture in this country and have been for along time. Lant is owned by Aviva, a Canadian company, not Hagerty. Their relationship with Hagerty is an agreement so they can offer Hagerty's road side assistance. Many of my friends have jumped to other companies for reduced rates only to have that company disappear shortly thereafter. I just don't like to see a good company's name slandered, I'm sure others feel the same about their insurer.

Note again, I had this in writing.

wuga

Wuga,


Thanks for the info on the PM's.

You did a lot better with Lant than I did.


Years ago I had all my cars insured with a broker ('61 Olds, '72 Triumph, and an early '90's Mercury).
One day I received a registered letter from the brokerage saying my insurance company would no longer insure my '61 Olds and my '72 Triumph.
Up until this point, my '61 was my daily driver back and forth to work for probably five years. My '72 was used in the rain / snow and colder weather for a solid 10 years prior to this. I never drove the Cougar to work and had no accidents, tickets or claims.

I called the brokerage and they told me that the company no longer wanted to insure "old cars" and I'd have to go to classic car insurance. This was my first experience with classic car insurance. The brokerage suggested Silver Wheels.

So I called Silver Wheels and they explained to me that with their plan I could no longer drive my "old" cars to work or for shopping - which is 99% of my driving. They told me I could not leave the cars parked in an unattended place (like a store's parking lot) and the cars had to be kept in a secured, locked garage and could not be left outside overnight (an obvious problem when you have three vehicles and a one car garage).
Lant told me that I was allowed an "occasional pleasure ride" every now and then - just like you wrote. I specifically remember the conversation I had with Lant.

I said, "So I can take the car out to the ice cream place and there's no problems with that, right?"

Lant : "Right, as long as it's only every now and then and not all the time."

"What if I'm driving home from the ice cream place and I decide I want more ice cream so I stop off at the grocery store to get a carton of ice cream?"

Lant: "Oh no, you can't do that. You can't use the car to go shopping or for that matter, leave it unattended in the parking lot."

"What happens if I'm driving home from the ice cream place and the car quits on the side of a county road and I have to leave it there while I walk to town to get help?"

Lant: "That's okay."

"So I can leave the car on the side of the road but I can't leave it in the parking lot at Zehr's."

Lant: "Right because Zehr's is a store."

"What if I leave the car on the side of the road and walk across the road AND parking lot into the Zehr's store to get my ice cream?"

Lant: "You can't do that."


When I told them I didn't have garage parking for my cars, they told me they wouldn't insure my cars -- which was okay with me because at that time their rates were more money than it cost me to insure them with the brokerage as regular-use vehicles.

The best part?

For the previous 5 years or so, the brokerage had my house and cars insured with a 'normal' car insurance company - Aviva.

So Aviva told me they wouldn't insure my old cars and that I had to go to classic car insurance and THEY were the underwriters for said classic car insurance. What a coinky-dink!
Lant had severely restricted usage, higher rates and the cars now had to be kept in a locked garage. Yeah, GREAT insurance company!

100% I-swear-to-God-TRUE story.

How's that for slander?


Everybody's hung up on the cheap insurance rates. Paying less money is ducky but I don't give a rat's ass about cheap insurance rates. I'm more than happy to pay full rate to insure my cars as long as I can drive the cars whenever and wherever I want.

Everybody who's tickled pink with their cheap classic car insurance policies need to realize that "old cars" are no longer acceptable means of regular transportation. By going to classic car insurance, we've all pigeon holed ourselves into NOT being able to use these cars as a 'normal' vehicles and consequently, we have made our old cars only usable as classic vehicles.

If you're one of those guys who fires the car up so he can drive 5 miles to the A&W on Wednesday night then classic car insurance is just the ticket for you. (And there's nothing wrong with that!!)
I, however, want to use my cars as I have my entire adult life - I want the freedom to take a few days off work, jump in my hot rod and drive 1000 miles to nowhere in particular just because I can.

Classic car insurance doesn't let you do that and I know have three perfectly good cars that are virtually unusable to me.

Send your insurance company a registered letter stating you will no longer be dealing with their company for all your insurance needs due to their no longer covering your older vehicles and that you will now be shopping around for another company that will. If they don't get some flame feedback, they pat themselves on the back and keep signing their bonuses...
We noticed we had a soft spot on our roof that although was not leaking, was a concern, so we called the insurance people. They sent an adjuster who brought his buddy and looked at it from the ground. Denied claim, so we fixed the problem area ourselves. When renewal time rolled around, they wanted us to sign a waiver for no insurance coverage of our roof unless signed off by a professional roofer. We argued for a while until I marched into their office and declared I had found a solution. We now insure with a different company that has no issues with it other than wanting photo's of the roof. Most of their customers heard the whole thing..... Not our loss.

Russ