Trying to determine the best car insurance company is no easy task.  Not all insurance companies operate in all states and what might be a great company for me, might turn out to be a terrible choice for you.

However, I’ll try to cover what to look for, and I’ll give you a list of some of the best rated companies.

Just because an insurance provider spends a lot of money on advertising doesn’t mean they’re actually the best or even all that good.  For example, the only one you’re likely to see plastering the air waves with their advertisements that ranks in the top 5 in customer satisfaction is State Farm (#2 in 2009, Amica was #1 if you’re curious).

Two methods for finding out who is good to work with in your state is to head to your state department’s insurance website and check out the consumer complaint ratios.  Just about every insurer is great to work with if you never have to file a claim, the consumer complaint ratio tells you who’s still their for you when you need them the most.

If you have a body shop you trust or know someone who works at one, you can also ask them who they recommend.

Doing a search online yields plenty of lists with rankings and isn’t necessarily as reliable as you’d hope.  For example, the first one I found rated eSurance as the best insurance company.  However, they had a clear commercial stake in recommending them as the best, and a little bit of searching reveals that eSurance doesn’t perform all that well in independent third party reviews.

Two that consistently get the best ratings are Amica Mutual and Erie Insurance.  I did have Amica in the past and can personally attest to them being extremely easy to work with and their rates were excellent.  The only reason I switched (I have State Farm now) was because I bought a motorcycle and they wanted no part in insuring a vehicle that has virtually no safety features, goes 0-60 in 3 seconds, and tops out around 166 mph.

The Top 5 auto insurers according to J.D. Power and Associates (2009):

• Amica Mutual
• State Farm
• Shelter
• Auto-Owners
• Erie Insurance

Notable exceptions:  Allstate, Geico, American Family, Progressive, Nationwide, Esurance.

Two others that get extremely high ratings are the USAA, but it’s only open to U.S. military personnel and their familes, and New Jersey manufacturers Insurance which is only open to assocation members.  If either are available to you, you’ll probably want to use them.

While a lot of standard insurers like the State Farms and Allstates of the world will insure a collector car, you’re likely to get coverage more appropriate for your collector if you choose one of the collector auto insurance companies.

First of all, let’s cover how collectors and classics should be insured since it’s different than your standard daily use vehicle.

The vehicle you take to and from work today very likely has an “Actual Cash Value” policy.  That means should there be an accident, the amount of money you get will be paid on a depreciated “book” value.  The older the car is, the less it is going to be worth.

For obvious reasons, that’d be useless in the collector world since the majority of them are already pretty old and essentially worthless based on that model.

Stated Value can be a better choice, but since it can also depreciate, it’s probably not what you’re looking for.

What you want is an auto insurance company that will insure your car based on Agreed Value. You and the insurer will agree on the value of the car and that’s what you’ll get should you ever be in an accident.

Of course, there are plenty of guidelines and restrictions that come along with that so I’m going to go over the common ones so you know what to expect.

No “Daily Driver” Vehicles - The majority of speciality insurers (can’t think of any off the top of my head) will refuse to insure your car if it’s going to be a daily use vehicle.  They’ll require that you have other means of transporation for daily use.

Mileage Restrictions – The mileage you can rack up on your car is going to be limited, usually to about 2,500 miles a year to qualify.

Public Interest – Some policies get really restrictive and will only insure your vehicle for “public interest” events.  That means things like car shows and parades and while it’s in transit to and from such events… and that’s about it.  You shouldn’t need to resort to this, but just be aware that it does exist as a restriction in some cases.

You’re not going to be allowed to race and expect the car to be covered.  So just keep that in mind, if you’re at the track playing around and you put it in the wall, all of that is coming out of your pocket.

Also, commercial transportation of goods or people isn’t going to be allowed so if you were thinking of opening a bed and breakfast and using a GT-350 to take people to and from the airport as a courtesy car, you’re going to need a different policy.

What’s a Collector?

While there are cars that are obvious classics and worth of the “collector” or “antique” designation like the iconic ’57 Chevy, the Ford Model T, and the  Ferrari 250 GTO; there are plenty of other cars that qualify.

The rule of thumb typically applied is a car that is at least 25 years old.  There are exceptions of course, especially in the exotic market.

For example, anything that rolls out of the plant at Bugatti, Saleen, or Pagani will qualify as a collector even if it still that “new car smell” and has only seen the test track because so few are made.

The easiest way to find out if your beauty qualifies is simply to call up the insurance company and ask.

I do recommend going with a speciality insurer for a few reasons.  The first is because they’ll insure your vehicle based on Agreed Value.  The second is that the speciality classic car insurers tend to have far lower premiums than standard auto insurers on classics, collectors, antiques, and exotics.

Here are some of the big collector car insurers to look into – all of them offer “Agreed Value” insurance policies:

• Hagerty
• Heacock
• Grundy
• American Collectors
• Classic Auto Insurance
• Rally
• Condy & Skelly
• Sneed

When it comes to car insurance, there are certain things we all know.  If you get in an accident, full coverage means that after you pay your deductible, your insurance company will pay the rest for repairs or for replacement of your car.

If someone gets hurt, liability insurance pays that.

However, there are several things that are often covered on your auto insurance policy that you might not know – here are my top 7 (these assume you have full coverage):

1) Pet Injuries

Even I was a little surprised to learn this one.  Pet injuries are common in even minor accidents because Rover typically isn’t strapped in by the seat belt like you.  Your insurance will typically cover the vet bills up to a certain amount, $600 seems to be common, which in the animal health world is usually enough to patch Rover up and make him good as new.

2) Friends

Imagine this – your uninsured friend borrows your car to go pick up a pizza and instead of picking up the pizza like he’s supposed to, he runs it into a light pole instead.

Now what?  Fortunately, as long as you’re insured, since it’s your car, you’re covered even if they aren’t.

3) Lockouts and Flat Tires – Roadside Emergencies

A lot of vehicles make it downright hard to lock yourself out of your car these days… that doesn’t mean you can’t do it, though.  Heck, I did this about two weeks ago with the engine running (and it didn’t have an auto unlock feature).

If you have roadside assistance on your car insurance policy, this will be covered, as will flat tires or even if you manage to run out gas on the highway.

It pays to ask here.  Sometimes it’s built right into your full coverage policy, but others will have it as an inexpensive add on.

And it’s not just auto insurance companies like State Farm, Progressive, Geico, American Family, and Allstate that offer it – even my cell phone provider (Verizon) has an “emergency roadside assistance” option I can add to my monthly plan.

4) Windshield Replacement

This isn’t covered by all insurers, but many do.  If you get a crack on your windshield, it’s not as safe as it was because it’s structural integrity has been compromised (that’s a fancy way of saying it’ll break easier if it hits anything else).

Some policies will cover it without any out of pocket costs to you – others will cover it if you pay a small deductible (smaller than your actual deductible).  However, if you have a chipped or cracked windshield, it never hurts to ask your insurance company if they’re willing to foot the bill.

5) Meteor Strikes

Okay, you’re vehicle probably isn’t going to get hit by a meteor, or even blown up by terrorists, but if it did, you’d be covered… usually on the comprehensive portion of your policy.

The comprehsnsive policy also covers you if you hit a deer or other large animal that damages your car.  If you have full coverage, you have comprehensive coverage, if you have liability only, you don’t.

6) Sales Tax On A Replacement Vehicle

Here’s the list of states that require your insurer to pay for the sales tax on your new or used replacment car: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin

Even if you’re not in one of those states, ask anyway.  Most insurers will pay it if you ask.

7) Car Rental Insurance

If you rent a car, the rental agency is going to offer you an expensive daily insurance policy.  It’s a major money maker for them.  However, if you have full coverage on your vehicles, you might already be covered or it’s very cheap to add to your policy – far cheaper than the insurance offered through rental agencies like Enterprise and Hertz.  Take the couple minutes to call up your insurance agent and ask, it might save you a hundred dollars or more.

In the world of auto insurance, you’ve got options… plenty of them.  There are dozens of providers, and many more who do specialty coverage.

Today I’m going to break down the difference in full coverage and liability only insurance.

Liability Coverage

Each state has their own minimum guidelines for liability coverage that is required before you can legally drive your car.

It’s broken into three numbers, typically expressed like this:

25/50/25

The first part covers injuries and medical payments.  It’s the amount that your insurance company will pay for injuries sustained by a single individual.  In the example above (I used Nebraska’s minimum requirements), that means you need to have at least $25,000 in coverage to pay for any injuries to one person caused by you if you’re found to be at fault in an accident.

The second number refers to the maximum amount that your insurance company will pay for all injuries in an accident.

The third number is to cover property damage (the other persons car, for example).

Using the numbers above that means $25,000 of bodily injury coverage per victim, $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident and $25,000 of property damage coverage per accident.

Remember that the legal minimum is just that, the very least required by law.  In most cases you’re going to want more than that, a lot more.

Let me explain.

Let’s say you’re in an accident with a Porsche 911 Turbo with two people in the car and there are injuries and you’re only covered by the legal minimums.

Let’s say both people are injuries the first person only has minor injuries and their injuries are total $2,000.  The other person is more seriously injured and has $100,000 in bodily injuries.

The insurance company will cover all injuries of the first person since it’s covered by your $25,000 per person.

The second person, however, has $75,000 in injuries your insurance company won’t cover.

Let’s also say the car is totaled… I’ve got some bad news for you, you just wrecked a $125,000 car and you only have $25,000 in coverage for property damage.

You’re now on the hook for $175,000 ($75,000 from injuries sustained to person 2 and $100,000 for property damage).

That example might be a little bit extreme, but a good percentage of cars, like a Ford Explorer, on the road cost more than $25,000 to replace.  Keep in mind medical costs are typically the biggest cost in a serious accident so make sure you set those well above the legal minimums.

Full Coverage

Now let’s talk about “full coverage” car insurance.   Full coverage actually refers to a combination of three policies: collision, comprehensive, and liability.

Legally, you’re only required to have liability insurance.  However, if you have a loan on your car, then you’re required to have full coverage.  It’ll be written into the terms of your loan.

Collision covers just what it sounds like.  It covers damages to your car in the event of an accident where you’re at fault.  If you only have liability coverage, the other person’s car is covered by the property damage portion of the policy (provided you have sufficient coverage), but your car isn’t covered at all.

Comprehensive coverage can also be referred to as “other-than-collision” coverage.  I’ve also seen it called the “acts of God” policy, but you’re never going to see a policy referring to anything as an “act of God”.

The comprehensive policy covers things like theft, fire, and weather related damage.  Comprehensive also kicks in if you hit a deer or other animal that causes damage to your car.  I’m not sure why an animal collision goes under comprehensive and not collision, but that’s where it goes – I think the logic is that an animal collision is less likely to be your fault than a vehicle collision.

Full Coverage Or Liability Only – When To Make The Switch

Making the decision to switch from full coverage to liability only coverage is a decision only you can reach.  However, my rule of thumb is that once your vehicle is worth less than $2,000, as long as it’s paid off, you can drop full coverage and just stick with liability.  Above that and you’ll probably want to keep full coverage on your car.

If you’ve made it to this page, you’re probably giving serious thought to the idea of buying some kind of exotic car if you haven’t done so already.

So in this guide, I’ll do my best to give you the resources you need to insurance one of the exotics.

They Cost More To Insure

You’ve probably assumed as much, but any exotic car is going to cost a lot more than you’re used to for insurance… especially if you want full coverage.  Not only are the parts for the car expensive in the event the vehicle is damaged, the massive horsepower and speed many of them can achieve makes them a risky proposition for any insurance company

Perceived Risk

You’d think for companies whose business is risk, they’d be willing to take some chances, right?  As it turns out, not so much.

Most regular auto insurance companies simply won’t underwrite a policy on anything truly exotic.  Heck, they start to get a little weak in the knees when you ask them to insure a luxury or mass market sports car (Ford Mustang, Dodge Viper, Chevy Corvette, etc).

It all comes down to perceived risk.  They figure that if a car is capable of being driven at high speeds, it will be.  They’re assuming (and often correctly) that you want a car that will go fast so you can drive it fast.

That means you’re more likely to wreck it… or wreck someone else.

And on some cars, the parts to repair it range from extremely difficult to impossible to find (they’d have to be custom machined).

Oh, and keep in mind that taking your car to the track for “performance testing” isn’t going to be covered by anyone.

Getting The Best Deal / Getting A Policy At All

For some cars, the following tips will help you get the best price on your insurance policy.  For some, they’ll be the only way to get a policy… at all.

Mileage – To qualify for most policies, you’ll have to agree to drive it less than 10,000 miles a year.  If you can do that, some collector car insurers will take you.

Security – Security is a must.  If you own a highly desirable car, it’s highly desirable to steal.  That means it’ll need to be stored in a locked garage and when it’s out in the untamed wild, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a company approved security system.  Ask your insurer, but they usually want Lojack or some kind of engine immobilizer to be included.

Are You A Safe Driver? – If you’ve got a sketchy driving record, you’re shooting yourself in the foot here.  You’re taking a difficult task and making it nearly impossible.  You want to have a clean driving record – no accidents – no tickets.  Keep the high speed driving to the track, ok?

Owners Clubs – Every car on the list below has an owners club.  Join it.  They’ll be able to point you in the right direction for someone who will insurance the car you’re driving.  I know – it needs to be insured before you can drive it at all so call them up and ask who you can get insurance through.

You can also find insurance online and I do have some resources posted on this site, most of them are mass market auto insurers, though there are a few speciality insurers, and it’s free to get a quote so you could give it a try – when you do, post in the comments and let me know who covered you.

Hard To Insure / Unisurable Cars

This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but owning any of these cars is going be expensive… for many of them, you’ll only be able to get basic liability insurance and only through a specialty provider and even that will be expensive.

Also, keep in mind that the high end of many mass market manufacturers (BMW, Mercedes, Acura) will be on this list as well.

Then again, if you can afford to buy one of these cars, you should be able to assume the risk yourself, right?

• Aston Martin
• Bentley
• Bugatti
• Delorean
• Ferrari
• Land Rover
• Lotus
• Lamborghini
• McLaren
• Porsche
• Rolls Royce
• Saleen