5 Things to Know About Classic Car Insurance
How to Find Classic Car Insurance
Are you one of those people that never has anything bad happen? If so, you may not care about this info. The rest of us need classic car insurance.
Once a year, you get a letter from your classic car insurance carrier saying it’s time to renew. For the last several years, I wrote the check. For me, it was less than $200 and since I’d never used it, it was working just fine! Trouble is, since I got my roadster upholstery done, I really wanted to increase the the agreed-on value. That’s when I found Condon & Skelly. I needed new insurance and they needed to find new ways to get the word out about their insurance products. Condon & Skelly advertises here now, but that happened AFTER purchasing my new insurance.
Why change insurance? For me, it was simple:
- I got the higher value for my roadster I wanted, no questions asked
- I got better insurance coverage overall
- Coverage went from $100k to $500k
- Same deductible
- Price went down by $10!
Finally, I received great service! I contacted Condon & Skelly from their Twitter page! Yea! And I heard back from them the same day and had my insurance card in less than a week, delivered by email. Done. That couldn’t have been easier or more convenient.
Too many places offer a mediocre product with crap service. Not here. I noticed and I’m happy to tell you about it. So how’s your service?
To get you thinking next time your renewal letter comes, here’s some more info:
Classic Car Insurance “5 Things you should know” from Condon & Skelly
1) What kinds of answers surprise classic car owners?
Classic car owners are almost ALWAYS surprised to learn that the insurance for their hot rod is much less than their everyday cars. The value of their classic cars could be higher, so they think the insurance will be as well. Not so. Since most enthusiasts:
- Drive their cars much less than 5,000 annual miles and when they do,
- They take extra care and effort to keep them safe.
Most are show vehicles and used at events and car clubs.
Many classic car owners are also happy to learn that we encourage them to drive their vehicles – take them to shows, car club events, show them off! As long as our customers are not using their vehicles for everyday use we’re happy to see them on the road.
2) What’s better about Condon & Skelly insurance?
At Condon & Skelly we pride ourselves on our Service Team. We’re confident that no other classic insurer has the experience and love for classic cars like we have here. Most of our team has been with Condon & Skelly for over 20 years, and our Underwriters have over 120 years experience between them in the classic car business. We understand that owning classic cars is fun – and we want to make your experience with us just as fun. We joke that our Underwriters are actually “Funderwriters” and that we like to “go the extra smile”!
Classic car guys are straightforward, handshake type deal makers. We still, every day, have customers come into our New Jersey office to make payments, show off their new ride, increase their values, etc. We love it! Getting to know many of our customers on a one on one basis is really cool in this industry, and we welcome the interaction. Additionally, we’ll be at more than 30 local and national car shows, car club events, fairs and road rallies this year meeting enthusiasts and talking rides.
3) What kind of things compel people to change or at least review their current insurance coverage?
Some people change or review their insurance because of price. We are extremely competitive with price and with Condon & Skelly we will not raise your premium each renewal, unlike many competitors. Our customers come to us because a friend recommended Condon & Skelly or a car club member has their vehicles insured through us. As you know, word of mouth is huge in the car business and a positive claims experience or fast and fun service is something that car enthusiasts will share with one another. (Like I am now)
4) Any other cool features with Condon & Skelly insurance?
Free Identity Theft Coverage – Our classic car coverage includes Identity Theft protection Services – at no extra cost. This is a service we offer to all of our customers and it’s pretty cool. If your identity is compromised we’ll get a one-on-one specialist to assist you with things like filing police reports, placing fraud alerts, law enforcement review, credit monitoring and more.
5) How about some tips to getting great coverage?
First off, I always tell classic car enthusiasts is to get classic car coverage – your everyday vehicle policy probably is not providing coverage at the real value of your classic car, especially if it’s modified. Next, ask your friends and family who they use, what they’ve heard… then ask people you trust about their experiences. Ask about raises rates annually, rescinding coverage and who makes filing claims difficult? Those are keys to getting great coverage.
Next, find out the truth about mileage limitations.
Mileage what? At Condon & Skelly we have loosened our restrictions and have no mileage restrictions on any of our policies. We’re comfortable doing this because we truly underwrite our policies in the beginning, meaning we do our best to only allow collector and classic car enthusiasts into our program. If someone is a true collector and car buff, they will not be driving their prized possession into the city for work or up and down the turnpike to go grocery shopping. Our customers are true enthusiasts and we do want them to use the cars for shows, events, cruises, etc. so no mileage limitations with us!
Finally, Establish the true value of your ride.
We use Old Cars, NADA, CPI black book, etc to confirm the values of our classic cars. If someone thinks that their vehicle should be valued higher – and this happens often – no problem at all. We usually ask for an appraisal or garage receipts showing additional work. We want to insure our cars at the correct value, and if our customers think the true value of their cars should be a little higher, we almost always agree. As a matter of fact, we’ll even help our clients secure an independent, third party appraiser if they cannot find someone in their area.
At the end of the day those of us in the office feel lucky to be working with so many great car people. We love looking at, admiring, discussing and even driving a few of our favorite cars. We do our best to make each experience with us fast, fun and as easy as possible. After all, we are Funderwriters!!
Condon Skelly is the official classic car insurance company of MyRideisMe.com.
Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Thank you for sharing that. I have done my own research on vintage car insurance, but I stopped here, cause you guys made it pretty clear.
Thank you,
Alin
A post like this would have helped me a few years ago, lol. We insured our 31 Model A with classic car insurace, but over the phone. Searching online makes it a lot easier.
A 24 ft. moving van decided to kiss the rear of my 1963 Corvette convertible resulting in some serious damage to the rear end. Date of accident 10-8-16. Today is 11-29-16 and the Condon and Skelly adjuster is still trying to select an appraiser on their “approved list” after sending out a complete moron, who had to come out twice (his camera “died”) and talked my ear off as if I was his friend. This delay is inexcusable and I do not recommend them to anyone. Once I get the check for the body repairs, I will be moving on to another classic car insurer. You have now been warned!