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insurance help for kit cars

T

thestevie

Member
my sterling is almost road ready.
they nly things that are keeping it from the road are the canopy is off and it has no seat belts. i havent gotten it inpsected so im pretty sure the list is longer...

now there is two ways i can do this. i do whjat i did when i first got my 240Z
just drive it anyway (this is how i got it impounded) or i could do everything im supposed to do.

im 23 so i know im paying alot of money.
but i am in the military so it could be lower if i get the right bank.
but i dont know if they insure kit cars. i can find out though.

what does everyone use?
how hard is it to going to be?
 
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
It's going to come down to how it's registered. Will it be special construction or as a modified VW? I've used Grundy insurance for years, since they were one of the few companies that would cover kit cars. For my Sterling with an agreed replacement value, it ran me all of $230/year, unlimited mileage. I currently have both my '85 VW Rabbit (!) and my Manx through them, and I just can't beat the rates or the coverage!
 
Unofun

Unofun

Member
Places to insure

In the past I have used the following to insure my sterlings.
Progressive
Statefarm
Gieco
allstate
and allied
and have had good to great dealings with all of them. Just shop around ( concider it paying yourself)

The best route is to tell them It is a vw based kitcar, and if you want comprehensive ask for a stated value policy were you pay a very small percentage of the Insured value of the car.
 
T

thestevie

Member
thanks for the info hopefully ill have the car on the road with the month
then i can take it to florida wuth me*proud*
 
B

Brastic

New member
I have my car registered as a show car. This keeps the cost down, but I cannot drive it as a daily driver. This is not a issue for me as the car is a toy for me. (Cheap shot from Greg to be inserted here) When you do go to insure the car, make sure to have a set value for the car. It is a good idea to have a professional appraisal if you think that it is worth more than ten grand. The last thing you want is to get into an accident and have the insurance company value the car as a 73 bug for $500.
 
Y

ydeardorff

New member
true true!

However be careful on listing it as a show car, or antique with some companies. I tried that for my tricked out 61 California edition bug, and the premiums jumped to exotic car levels, as the car became so valuable is wasn't worth driving it.
If you were to price say a replacement body and or pan, the premiums could jump astronomically. Especially when your talking 20, 30 , 40 or more thousand to fix it.
 
T

thestevie

Member
i did he grundy quote online

they will not insure someone under 25
thanks for the lead though letterman i told my parents about it...
they are looking into it for the Z
 
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Be careful Ken. Grundy came back and bit me with the Rabbit. I had to pull it off the register since it's a daily driver - Grundy won't allow dailys to be insured (even backup cars). It has to be a collector car or a show car.
 
T

thestevie

Member
ohh its a good thing that they will not insure me then.
but i found out usaa will insure kit car but i have to have another car.
hopefully that will happen soon...
 
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
Hagerty's won't cover kits, either. Oddly, Geico might. They had a couple odd items that I didn't think would be insurable.
 
B

Brastic

New member
Make sure that you get "agreed value" and not "stated value" insurance. The agreed value means that both parties agree on a set value for the vehicle. The stated value means the car is valued by the insurance company at the time of the incident. This means that they could total your Sterling for the cost of the VW bug. ($500-$1000)

The other big thing to do is get a professional appraisal. I liked dealing with Auto Appraisal Network - Auto appraisals for your custom muscle cars or specialty vehicle as they valued the car on the cost to complete and not the current sale price.

Now go back and read the difference between agreed and stated values.
 
T

thestevie

Member
i finally got it insured as a 61 beetle with usaa lucky me.
i love that bank by the way.
for some reason the title to it was in my dads name.
mean i had to get it transfered from kentucky to new jersey in his name.
thats alot of money buy the way. then we had to transfer it to my name.
not really all that much.
im never taking my dad to the dmv with me ever.
he had to point out to every one that it was not really a beetle but a kit car.
 
letterman7

letterman7

Honorary Admin
thestevie said:
he had to point out to every one that it was not really a beetle but a kit car.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on getting the insurance. While you're father might have been a pain, he might have been trying to prove a point to the insurers - if it's insured as a Beetle, and you wreck and the adjusters come out, there's going to be quite the confusion in trying to justify the policy. Some insurers will drop you on the spot and refuse to cover anything. Just be careful!
 
B

Brastic

New member
Assume nothing with the insurance company. Have you read though your policy yet? Make sure that you have a "assumed value" policy and not a "stated value" policy. The stated value policy will most likely end up being $500 if something happened. I have not appraised my Sterling yet, but when I do it will come in over $10k easily. If would kill me to have someone run a red light and total my Sterling and then only get $500. Take a lot of pictures of the car and do a complete write up of everything on the car and a little history. Send a certified letter to the insurance company with the write up. Time for some big CYA here.
 
K

kirk

Member
I know this is an old post but I just joined and will give my knowledge of insurance. Check out american Collectors Insurance


these guys insure kit cars and classics as well as custom builds. I insure my Jeep at a value of 30k for only $500 a year. My insurance would only cover it for book value which is probably around 2000 tops. hell I got more than that just in wheels and tires.
 
S

sebringkrazy

New member
kirk said:
I know this is an old post but I just joined and will give my knowledge of insurance. Check out american Collectors Insurance


these guys insure kit cars and classics as well as custom builds. I insure my Jeep at a value of 30k for only $500 a year. My insurance would only cover it for book value which is probably around 2000 tops. hell I got more than that just in wheels and tires.
Click to expand...

I have several vehicles with American Collectors Insurance. You're right they do insure kits/replicas!
I just purchased a FiberFab Aztec 7 - beautiful finished car that I insured for 10k at $289.00 per year.
I've never had a claim so I have no idea how they are when you need them.
*insane*
 
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