You have a few options when it comes to insuring a 20+ year old car. If its beat up and rusty with a million miles on it you can simply throw it on your regular auto policy with minimal coverage and call it a day. But what if you have a beautiful 1960’s piece of engineering mastery that has been kept in perfect condition for over half a century? Now it goes from no big deal to something that is near and dear to your heart. Vehicles like that are a labor of love that have either painstakingly been put back together piece by piece or that have been kept in pristine condition by family members or other car enthusiasts. So here’s what you need to know when it comes to Insuring these beauties. 

The most important part of this process when looking for insurance companies is how they determine the vehicle’s value. How do they determine the amount of money you will receive in the event of a total loss? There are a few ways insurers do this but there is only one that should matter to you. Agreed Value is the amount that you tell he underwriters the vehicle is worth. They then do their research and approve or counter the amount you gave them. They obviously aren’t going to insure a vehicle worth 20k for a million dollars just because you said that’s what its worth to you. But when price fluctuates so much on classic cars and there are massive variations on quality, enhancements and performance, they’ll find a price both of you can agree to.

The next most important thing is going to be garaging conditions. How you store the vehicle is huge in this process. It must be in a locked garage that is more or less dedicated to that vehicle staying in pristine condition. Paint cans on a shelf over the hood of your car is an obvious way to get DQ’d right from the jump. 

Pictures of the vehicle and garaging space are very important in this process and these underwriters are sticklers! These are a few of the important pieces of insuring a classic car. We gave you to extreme ends of the spectrum with an old junker and a perfectly done classic. Most classics fall somewhere in between and that is where we come in to help you out. If you or anybody you know has a classic, give us a call and let’s make sure it’s done right!