Has anyone insured their car while they were in the middle of restoring/building? I've called my regular DD insurer (Allstste), and they do not insure vehicles that are in my position (middle of rebuild). Not even as a "rider." I also called Haggerty, and I was told that "90's cars must be ~70% complete and running to insure." Since I'm not there, I don't apply. The Haggerty rep. suggested I call Grundy or Chubb.
Does anyone have any experience here? Thanks in advance.

 

If your car is in a safe place, there really is no need to insure it until the restoration is complete. It cant be driven off right?? I wouldnt insure it until it was ready to go back on the road.

 

What about comp coverage Adam? It's been so long I can't remember details, but it seems like I insured an antique car of mine while it was under the knife. I think my logic was to cover it in the event of fire (welding/grinding etc) or the building it was in suffered some disaster. Years before that a commercial building owned by my dad was hit by a tornado and none of the cars inside were covered by the building's policy. Not arguing...just asking. That antique car may be disassembled again as a retirement project, so the issue might come up again.

 

Before I put mine under the knife I had full coverage with USAA and then I just transferred it to
'storage" coverage which still protects it from almost all situations...I just can drive it again until I reinstate the non-storage coverage.

 

This is what I was getting at. It's in my garage, which I consider safe, but I want it covered in the event of a fire or something else happening to the garage (it's detached).

 

I suggest you find another carrier if Allstate wont help you out. Geico insures all my cars, along with full cov on the FD

 

Does your car run? Allstate will sell me insurance all day if it runs and operates like a normal car. These auto insurers don't seem to cover cars that don't and are "in the process" of being restored.

 

You could try adding the car to your policy for all coverages, then removing everything except comprehensive. They might not like it, but they might be required to to do it at your request.

 

While i was restoring mine i had it insured, my Wife found me insurance thru classiccollectors.com

 

same as above. I had mine with USAA "storage" and it was literally like 6$ a month and covered like fire, theft, floods, hail, windstorm, someone else hits it, tree falls, ex girlfriends........ anything that wasn't me driving it. and I just hop online and click it over to full coverage again when I was ready to drive and off I went. haven't drove it for 2 months and back to "storage" it goes

 

It is definitely possible to insure. My brother had to leave the country for half a year so he had to park his Accord in my driveway. Called up his insurance (GEICO) and they changed his coverage. He is protected against thefts, fires, etc as long as no one is driving the car.

 

Just finishing my build now but state farm gave me comp only for 6 bucks a month in VA. I also went back and forth with Hargerty (worst place i ever called) trying to get a guaranteed value policy for the raised value of the car. The didn't want to insure it if i was going to drive it over 3k miles a year. State farm is going to set me up under a classic car policy with guaranteed value as the car is considered a "limited production model" by there definitions. Hope this helps.

 

Going off-topic, but Hagerty was entirely painless for me. Applied on-line, uploaded a couple pictures and done. With no meaningful mileage restriction. I did get a call that same day from a guy who asked some easy questions, made sure I knew it wouldn't be insured on a track and made some small-talk about how much he like the FDs. The only other thing that might have been in my favor is that I already had an antique car insured with them for several years.

 

Hagerty does insurance for race cars during transport to and from track and while they are in the shop. Might be an option for you, quichedem.

They are the only ones I've found (in Canada) that will insure a race car for limited street use.

I am in the same boat with my ranger. Had it on parking insurance for a couple years, but my company wanted a safety inspection. Tough to pass without wiring or exhaust. so my policy lapsed and now I'm looking for something else. Glad to hear Hagerty is generally easy to deal with.

 

Hagerty is a joke. Way over priced. Turned my vehicle down because of a comprehensive claim on record for a windshield repair.

Check out private insurance groups that resell insurance. Many of these private groups will set you up with a solid policy. The private group I utilized insured the vehicle through an American Modern policy with a stated value. The deductible and premium is less than half the price of Hagerty and nearly as cheap as the previous Statefarm policy (with KBB policy of 13k)

When the 20b swap was started, there were thousands of dollars in parts, more valuable then the car itself sitting near the car. It doesn't matter if the car can be driven or not, the parts could easily be stolen, car could catch on fire, etc. Accidents happen. If you have a good deal of money invested in the car it could be wise to purchase a stated value policy. It bring me peace of mind to have a stated policy at $40,000 replacement, when we know these cars don't resell or KBB at that value (what the standard companies will give you).

 

Not selling them but Hagerty had a check to me in 2 business days for a broken WS. And premium was halved over my traditional insurance...with no comp deductible. No joke.

 

Not to hijack, but I'm getting mine out of salvage title, any idea if i can get it insured since it's not technically registered? Driving it for inspections, nervous.

 

^^ phone calls are your friend.

i mean yes, i'm sure there is coverage for something like that, but you will have to call around.

 

I feel the need to elaborate. My car has no engine, which seems to be the biggest problem. If the car was "driveable" I could get insurance without issue. Since the year is too new to be considered a "classic," Hagerty and the like don't want it unless it runs at least. Allstate and that category require it to run. I think my best bet is to just do as others have suggested and add it with minimal coverage under my main auto policy.

 

(clarification, my above reply was to tsmith94FD)

quiche,
Is it stored in a garage? What about insuring the garage for hazards (e.g. homeowners/renters insurance) and considering the car as property inside?

 

I pay 10 per month for comp only. with agreed value.

 

Yes, in a garage. I haven't looked into anything with my homeowner's policy, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to hear something along the lines of, "that's what auto policies are for."

It's a gap within a gap, meaning that it's not a 25+ year old classic, so it needs to be more "complete" to be insured by classics insurers, and it doesn't run/without engine, so the main auto insurers won't touch it.

So far, the best answer I've seen, from adam c, is, "You could try adding the car to your policy for all coverages, then removing everything except comprehensive. They might not like it, but they might be required to to do it at your request." An "It's my car, so insure it" approach.

As the parts get added, the car becomes more valuable. If my garage catches fire, or a tree obliterates it, or some other catastrophic even occurs, I want to be able to get the value of the shell plus whatever parts would be installed in the car at that point.

 

FWIW I have progressive and I have one of my cars on comp only since it's mid build. It's about $74 every 6 months with a $100 and $0 glass deductible. You can't do that part online though. You need to call them to set it up.

 

It is always important to keep at least comprehensive coverage on your car even while in storage or working on it. Most people dont know, but if you are working on your car and lets say a jack stand slips out, the resulting damage is covered under your comp coverage. Also if something falls on your car or your house/shop burns down, you have coverage. I would NEVER have anything less then comp only coverage on your car at all times.

But you can call me over protective, I have been in the auto insurance industry for 10+ years.