Getting Insurance: Grundy vs Hagerty

I've worked with both Haggerty and Grundy on many occasions. They are both top shelf insurance companies. Grundy presently insures 3 cars for me. Two have a mileage cap, the 3rd does not. I've never had a problem contacting Grundy in the past but it's been a while. Maybe it's a sign of the times with the present economy.

I've done post accident work for both. Every time I get to the insured persons home to inspect the vehicle, they already have a check in their hand. My purpose is to see the pre-accident condition of the vehicle. In most cases, they might need more money to get their classic fixed properly. No problem. Try that with State Farm, Allstate etc. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with either one. :bigthumbsup

Grundy was recently purchased by the Philadelphia Insurance Company, so that would probably explain the problem with the hold on the phone. My 65 coupe is insured through Grundy, I have 6000 worth of coverage for 134 bucks annually with no mileage limit. I have 2 points on my license combined with the fact that I'm 27 years old, Hagerty's quote was about 75 bucks higher than Grundys.

After reading Kenster and Brians posts, I called my agent since I have 3 cars insured with Grundy and tried to get some info. This is clear as mud but it might help a little.

Philadelphia Indemnity has owned Grundy Worldwide since around 2006. Grundy is not licensed in many states so they were using Philadelphia to do the underwriting. California is a good example. Your policy and paperwork says Grundy but your "Proof of Insurance" card says Philadelphia Indemnity. Apparently this is common in the insurance industry.

There is a separate operation called Grundy Insurance. Both are connected and out of the same office in Horsham, PA. Grundy Insurance was running the day to day operations for both operations. Philadelphia Insurance could not come to an agreement with Grundy Insurance about running the operations. So they took over the operations but still operate it under the name Grundy Worldwide. Hence your phone problems.

Rumor has it that Grundy insurance is trying to find a way to still write classic car insurance on collector vehicles. My agent said that Philadelphia assured him that nothing in coverage would change and rates will remain the same. You can take that for what it's worth. So far, I have no reason to switch from Grundy but I will keep my eye on it.

I was talking to an independent insurance agent last night who was a neighbor at a coworker's get together last night. When I asked about classic car insurance she had very good things to say about Hagerty. She said they were 'very, very good,' everybody who has them love them, and 'they take very good care of you.'

Hagerty is also only a name. The insurance company is actually Essentia in Traverse City, MI. (I was able to locate a list of every one of their agents, about 20?, on the WWW which even they didn't know was out there.)

I was all ready to sign up everything I own with them but I am 'not qualified' because I have old cars. :headscratch: Its nonsensical but the company who is supposedly so gung-ho to support the old car hobby (drive your cars) essentially told me I don't qualify since all 5 of my cars are 'old' and I might have to drive one of them. They had no explanation as to why. My newest car is 23 years old and to have their insurance I would need a car less than 10 years old for each licensed driver even though I am retired and have no place to drive to on a regular basis. BTW, they required I send a check for a full year's insurance BEFORE they would officially tell me I wasn't qualified.

After refusing me they continued to pester me daily to 'sign up' until I finally told them to quit bothering me. "We might change our mind" was their sales line. They very successfully turned a potential customer into someone who sees them as agents on commission who will say anything to get your name on the line, and check in the bank, whether you 'qualify' or not.

Makes sense to me. If insurance companies give us a special, and very cheap, coverage you are suppose to agree that this is not a daily driver. They require you to have a daily driver in order to insure you. I guess they don't consider another 'antique' vehicle a daily driver unless you are carrying full, regular coverage on it, not antique/classic (restricted mileage) coverage.

At least that's how I understand it.

With the extra details I didn't include: No, it does not make sense.

Even with my daily driver covered by State Farm, Hagerty wouldn't cover my other cars. And within a few $$ their coverage wasn't any cheaper than I already had on them from State Farm. "Special" and "very cheap" were not words I would use. Hagerty was actually gonig to cost a couple of bucks more.

BTW, for someone who may only drive ANY car a couple of times a week, define 'daily driver'.

Agreed, then, that it doesn't make sense for them not to cover you when you do have a separate driver car and it's covered.

I got full coverage with American Collectors Ins on my new 68 'vert for $159 a year, zero deduct. 2500 miles a year, no towing. We pay almost $1100 total for full coverage on our other two vehicles so for me $159 is very cheap. Grundy was about $280 and Hagerty was $205 for the same coverage.

Are you able to garage all of your 'classics?' That's usually a requirement, too.

6 car garage, never park on the street overnight unless I am out of town. And, yes, Hagerty requires garage parking. The only thing I could come up with is they don't really want you to drive your old cars (I could understand that) and if they think you really might more, than rarely, they don't want you as a customer no matter what they advertise and say. Looking again, you had to have a car less than 20 years old to drive - I don't.

Premium from any of them depends upon value. For a $25k car it was going to be around $200/year with Hagerty but there is a 'once-only' liability of $52 which you wouldn't pay on additional cars. An additional $50k car was going to be $286 additional.

Especially if its parked in a garage, nothing rusts in NM so you can drive a car forever if you want which is sort of what I do. I still drive the first new car I ever bought in 1971. All 5 of my cars (average age 1966) are driven low miles/year and with the discounts from SF for multi-car, homeowners, etc., I pay less than $1200 a year for all five cars. They know I drive all over the country about once a year but its randomly in a different car every year. Grundy didn't want me to ever drive anywhere other than to a car show. That wouldn't cover much of my driving.

I registered just to say I was also denied by Hagerty and JC Taylor for having too old of a daily driver.

My daily driver is a 1983 Mercedes 300CD
My garage queen is a 1991 Formula with 40k orginal miles.
I've never had an accident or 1 single insurance claim ever! (i'm 38 years old).

Yet I was denied coverage because my DD is over 10 years old.......

Newer Vehicles: limited production, exotic & special interest

That's kind of a strange rule for 90's and 00's vehicles. Looking under their "do I qualify" area it just states this:

Regular-use vehicles

All household members with a valid driver’s license must have a regular-use vehicle for daily driving. Motorcycles and public transportation are not considered regular use vehicles for our program. Applicants must also maintain regular-use insurance in his or her own name.

Glad there's no age limit for classics, my daily is 13 years old now and I plan on keeping it a few more years.

they both suck

Ken, they both suck, if you actually want to drive. I've also been told that my daily drivers are too old ( 1991 crown vics ) and they both have LOTS of restrictions- ask them detailed questions, and don't give up till you get answers. They will quickly not look like much of a bargain. Why these folks are well thought of is beyond me. They both want more for extremely restrictive coverage than I pay for DD insurance now ! WTF ?!


LSG