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

One of the most useful facets of many classic car insurance policies has to do with the idea of flexible usage. This unique idea allows drivers to attain full coverage at a variable rate depending on how often they drive their car and in what situations. Most drivers with antique automobiles drive their vehicles over less than one thousand miles each year, but some collectors drive up to five thousand miles a year in their prized cars. Some drivers are extremely careful about distance because of its potential wear and tear on the vehicle, but just as many classic car enthusiasts are more concerned about what kind of situation they are driving in than how far they are driving.

Many vintage car owners only take their precious vehicles out for special events like auto shows or parades, but there are some drivers who enjoy taking the occasional drive outside of the umbrella that these events provide. With an insurance policy that supports flexible usage, a driver can pay only for the coverage that he or she needs to cover his or her classic car driving habits. This means that a driver who enjoys a leisurely weekend afternoon of driving through town in his or her car will be able to do so without risking the investment that the car represents, but also that a driver who only starts the engine during a special event will not have to pay extra money for open road privileges that he or she won’t use.

In addition to what is and is not covered, there are many conveniences that a classic car owner can enjoy by having classic car insurance instead of a standard auto policy. For one thing, having the agent who is responsible for the policy be knowledgeable about and sensitive to the needs of classic car owners can save quite a bit of hassle and phone time. Vintage car collectors are understandably very selective about where they get their cars repaired, and often will be unwilling to let anyone but their personally trusted mechanic look at their car. The reasons for this fact will be obvious to an agent who understands the needs and desires of people who own classic cars, but for an agent who is not experienced with these kinds of customers it can be a difficult fact to swallow.

As far as getting collector insurance, it’s easy to find it online.  You can also start by checking to see if your insurance company, whether it be State Farm, Progressive, Esurance, Geico, Allstate, or someone else; offers a policy specifically for vintage or classic cars.  Many do, but not all of them have competitive rates, but I always prefer to start with the company I’m already dealing with.  If you’r'e part of an owners club, many of them will have access to discount rates from a speciality insurer worth checking out.

You can also get free quotes from the various companies on this website – you’ll probably have to spend a little time manually comparing quotes since, but your little restored beauty is worth it, right?