Leland-West turned me down!

[porschenut]

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to post this, but I called to get a quote from Leland-West for my 86 Carrera, and I passed all the requirements. After putting me on hold she came back and said "Unfortunately we can't offer to insure your car because your OTHER car is not comparable to the Porsche". Huh?? I asked her to explain that but she ended up spouting policy instead of a logical explanation. My other car is a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport. Not good enough?

She gave me the numbers for JC Taylor as well as Condon&Skelly, but JCT will only insure a car 19 years or older and at least $25k. C&S will only insure a car over 20 years old.

Mine is only 18 years old and worth <25k, so what am I supposed to do? Regular insurance won't cut it. Heeeeeeeelp!

[Paul_Heery]

Leland-West covers my Porsche and my other car is a VW Passat. Maybe it's OK since they are both German? My Porsche is 30 years old.

I think we're missing another part of the picture. There has to be more to their reasoning.

[Silveresrty911S]

They covered me and my second was a Ford F 350 4x4 crew cab, I'm now with Hagerty Ins. Better coverage and lower cost, has to be your second, classic, Sunday driver type car and not real strict with milage. YMMV.

[porschenut]

I seem to remember her babbling something about "not tempted to drive the Porsche", but don't they do something to check your mileage when the renewal comes up anyway? I should have asked to speak to her supervisor and get a better explanation, but it seems to me that the temptation should be MINE to deal with. I've asked for an application from American Hobbyist, who doesn't have a strict mileage limit. I can't imagine going over 5k/year at any rate. Plus, the American Hobbyist quote was half of what L-W wanted.

[Jon Hile]

Try Haggerty

[Wavey]

I'm with Leyland and they've been real sticklers - they really want to cover themselves. They definitely want you to have another daily driver in your stable for everyone on the policy. Maybe they don't see the Jeep as a daily driver? Makes no sense since more than half the vehicles on the roads are SUVs and trucks. I'd stay on them for a full explanation.

[Oldporsche]

From my experience with insuring the Porsche's over the years, its the agent you are talking to that makes the decisions. If the person is a squirrel, you will get a squirrel answer.

I worked for many years with my State Farm Agent. He has been a friend of the family for years. My late Brother In Law introduced us. Brother in Law had some questionable "losses" , however they stuck by him. That impressed me.

I was involved in an accident where the guy that hit me ran a stoplight and I got a ticket! I was so mad, I told my agent not to pay him a dime. My agent stonwalled the claim. The guy was really pissed because I had insureance and he couldn't sue me and couldn't find out the name of my agent.

Alas, after many years of insuring the Porsche for six months at a time, and watching this board, I got the itch. I started looking for insureance on line for collector cars. I found Hagerty. After filling out the form and gathering up some insureance information, I had insureance at a very low rate that matched the use of the vehicle, well for the most part.

In a conversation with a former Porsche owner, he mentioned that his business insureance was done by an independent that was an agent of Hagerty. I called the agent and we had a pleasant conversation. I told him at renewal time, I would do it through him. He told me that I needed to sign a form with him to make him the agent of record. Renewal time came and I went over to meet the guy. He's a hot-rodder himself. Complete with a '55 Chev Nomad. His business car is a leased Infinity M45. This thing will bark the rear tires on upshifting!

By being a local agent of Hagerty, he can handle any claims locally. This will make a big difference if anything does happen.

I think if you look around at independent insureance agents that represent several lines, you can find a sympathetic insureance agent that can help you.

State farm still insures my daily drivers. He's happy because I'm happy. He doesn't worry about me driving an underisured vehicle and not being able to pay his bill.

There are others insureors out there that are comparable to Hagerty's. You will find insureance agents out there that won't touch you unless you lay serious money on them. It's more of a risk for them if they don't know you and the circumstances. One of my friends is a Shelter Insureance agent. He drive's a '64 356. I can't afford him as a daily driver for the Porsche. He does quote me a good rate on the daily drivers however.

You will find auto insureance agents out there that are car guys. Seek them out, they can help a lot in getting the proper coverage.

Good luck,
David Duffield

[pwd72s]

I'm still with Leland-West, but thinking of another carrier if they don't allow me to bump the coverage next time I renew. I'm currently covered for $13,000 less than serious offers for my car that I have turned down. But, my other cars are a semi restored, semi hot rodded '77 Dodge Power Wagon and a '99 Ford Ranger, Cindy's "chick truck". Both are covered by another carrier, and Leland West has said nothing about either. I'm confused here...were you also going to insure your Jeep with Leland-West?

[SRISER]

USAA insured my 911 with no problem. Full coverage. Replacement value.

[porschenut]

pwd72s, nope, my Jeep is covered by another company. I'm still struggling with L-W's answer, but if they're more interested in covering themselves than covering me, they won't have my business. I'll check out Hagerty's.

[schulr]

Try Parish Heacock, they will cover p cars under 20 years and their language is less tight on occasional use.

Bob

[fred cook]

Dave,

I have State Farm insurance on my (1980) 911 coupe. With full coverage and $500 deductible, it runs me about $240 every 6 months. Since you do have another vehicle (which you could/should list as your primary driver) the cost to insure the Pcar should not be too bad. The advantage of not having to meet a bunch of "guidelines" and mileage limits is worth a few extra bucks. If you have any other insurance needs such as house, apartment, personal liability, etc. sometimes a bundled set of policies will also save money.

Good Luck!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

One thing I like about Hagerty is that they allowed me to specify the value of my car. I've insured with them a well-modified '83 911SC at a value of $35,000, at a reasonable price and without mileage stipulations. Obviously it has to be a for-fun-only car, but with three other cars--a total of four for the two of us, including my wife's Boxster--that's not hard to maintain.

Stephan

[Big Ed]

Hagerty's web site says car must be 25 years old? It looks like several of you recommend them and have newer cars -- is this correct?

[samh]

I have both my p cars insured with grundy. No problems and low premiums.

[304065]

I insure my '71 with Parrish Heacock with their "STP" policy- covers it during storage, transit and while in the paddock. Not covered on the track.

However, I asked them to quote my '91 C2 Cab and they refused, because:

1) Every driver in my household must have ANOTHER car in addition to the insured vehicle. No matter that we have a BMW as daily driver, and that the C2 is stored outside the city, and that I ride the NYC Subway to work. They assume that if the BMW gets written off, I would somehow be tempted to drive the C2 to my office, even though that would mean a three hour round trip to avoid taking a 12-minute, $2 subway ride; and

2) When I attempted to explain this to P-H's "Head Underwriter" he remarked that they would only accomodate a car like a C2 if I had a number of other "collector" cars on the policy. He said that if I had a '73 RS or other type car, they would be more inclined to write the C2 as an accomodation to me, even though the C2 would be "declining in value." His response to my query, "Is this the type of underwriting criteria your business uses?" was inadequate.

It is frustrating: my C2 is damn near concours and driven during summers only, and as an anal-retentive enthusiast you would think they would want a guy like me in the risk pool. But due to these inflexible underwriting criteria, they are missing out on my premium dollars.

I'm going to try Leland, Hagerty and American Hobbyist and report back.

[MMGM]

Has anyone made a claim from Hagerty and, if so, what was the experience? Also, does anyone know the financial rating for them?

[porschenut]

I ended up going with Hagerty. American Hobbyist sent me an application but I never filled it out. Their quote was a few dollars cheaper but after two weeks of searching I was out of patience.

I guess it's good that L-W spurned me. Otherwise I never would have found these others that are significantly cheaper.

[jryerson]

Went thru this same BS with them awhile back, they actually require your driver to be less than 2 years old, try Accordia also.

[schulr]

porschenut, did you place your 86 p car with Hagerty recently? I understood that either Hagerty wanted a vehicle to be 20 yrs + or 1973 or later, can't remember which one applied. I went with Parish Heacock and everything has been fine and very responsive.

Bob

Go Georgia Tech - NCAA champs!