Classic car insurance quotes can be a lot cheaper than owners realize. If you are shopping for a 1968 Ford Mustang but are worried about insurance prices, it may feel good to know that classic car insurance on a 1968 Mustang will be more like 1968 insurance prices than insurance prices today for a daily driven vehicle. There are a few reasons for this. Mainly, classic cars are not driven like a daily driver vehicle. Classic cars are not driven to work or parked in parking lots or streets where it can get damaged. Collector cars are also not driven in the winter time, especially in northern climate states, meaning they are garaged for sometimes up to half the calendar year. All this makes for a very small liability for the insurer, enabling them to charge very small premiums. Compared to a daily driver vehicle, premiums are very low on classic car insurance claims.

There are a few catches to securing these low insurance policies. Because the insurance company is insuring your car as a collector car, your yearly mileage is restricted. Most classic car insurance policies allow up to 250 miles a month or 2500 miles a year. Keep inmind that some insurance agencies require yearly odometer readings. Age restrictions are usually required as most classic car insurance policies require the insurer to be at least 30 years old, with a fairly clean driving record. Another requirement is a garage, but if your car has any serious value to it I can’t see it sitting out in the backyard or driveway. The last requirement is proof of another vehicle for your daily driving. This does not have to be insured by the same insurer. The collector car insurer just wants to make sure you will not be using the collector car as a daily means of transportation, and use the collector car for only pleasure cruises.

Before contacting an agent, you should have a rough idea of what your car is worth and how much you want it insured for. Average insurance values and amount rewarded to a daily driven vehicle is somewhat different than a collector car insurance policy. On a new car, the car value can depreciate over time, and the insurance company will use a standard payment amount depending on the year/make/model, etc. and you do not have any say as to what the true value is, they determine it. This program is called an Actual Cash Value, and should not ever be used on an older classic car. An insurance policy with a collector car insurance agency will set up an Agreed Value Policy, meaning you and the insurance agent agree upon the value of the car beforehand, and this will not change due to depreciation, etc. You will get the full value you agreed upon in the case of theft or total loss. A cash value policy, which some classic car owners have with their current daily driving auto insurers, could actually pay only a tiny percentage of the true value. Collectability, rare options, and other details that make collector cars more valuable may just not be used in the Cash Value policy. Just don’t do it!

Most collector car insurers allow you to use any shop you want for repairs. It is your baby, and you should be allowed to use what shop you want. Make sure you ask this of your potential insurer, as not all of them allow this. Since most insurers do allow you to select your shop, it is advisable to move on and find another insurer if they do not follow this procedure. Hot rod insurance is just as easy to acquire, but it may be more work to prove the value of your hot rod. Proof of the purchase price and all receipts of labor and parts for building and restoring the hot rod will make the process a breeze.

As you are looking to buy or restore an old classic, do not overlook the insurance coverage. Even though classic car insurance claims are extremely low compared to standard auto insurance, the loss of a classic car is likely to be more than a standard auto. If your classic car could be worth tens of times more than it is now if restored, it may be worth looking into insuring it for the full value once restored. This is especially true if it is going into a shop to be rebuilt. Many classic car car owners assume the body shop has insurance, and that insurance agency will cover the car. This may be true, but if somehow the shop goes up in flames, likely other cars will have been damaged and destroyed as well. If the shop only has a certain dollar amount in coverage, but the inventory that was destroyed was worth more than the policy, someone will be short changed. Don’t let it be you.