My dad has a 1990 750iL with about 63,000 miles that has been garaged since day one, never had an accident, maintained fanatically and he considers it the best car he's ever owned. On the negative side, insurance costs the same as my mom's 2008 335i (about $1100 a year) with the difference being that should anything ever happen to the 750, the insurance will probably write it off and give my dad a couple of grand at best for it (or the equivalent of 2 years' premium if he's lucky). He no longer drives the car as much as he used to, putting on maybe 1,000-1,500 miles a year. He figures that if he's going to pay that much to insure a car, it should at least have a decent replacement value or he should not have to pay so much to insure it. He's currently with State Farm. I checked with Haggerty but they won't insure anything newer than 1986. Any ideas?
You do have a few options available Considering how little these cars are worth these days, it's more than likely cheaper to replace the car outright. But that aside, you do have a few options available. A) You can purchase what's called antique car insurance, which is basically "stated value" coverage. That is, you and the insurance company agree to a set value for the car to be insured at. This is the amount you will paid if a covered incident reduces the value of the car or totals it complete. The one limitation to this insurance is that the vehicle can no longer be used as a daily driver or primary transportation, with exceptions to driving the car in a parade or to special events, usually no more than 3 to 6 per year. Most of these policies will also limit usage of the car to 500 to 1,000 miles a year. The insurance company may also document the car's mileage to make sure it doesn't exceed the agreed upon limited usage of the vehicle. The insurance company may ask to see proof that the car will no longer be the primary vehicle, via a second registration for another vehicle insured under your father's name, for example, or insuring both cars under the same policy. This insurance is actually pretty reasonably priced, and that's because the mileage limitation also limits the car's risk of being lost, stolen, or damaged. If your father is willing to accept limiting his use of the vehicle, thereby lessening his risk to the insurance company, he may get a better deal on insuring the car. B) Continue to pay for full coverage on the car. As long as the insurance company agrees to pay the agreed upon value of the car if there is a catastrophic incident that totals the car, this is probably your best bet if your father doesn't want to accept limiting his use of the car. C) If you're looking to reduce the cost of your insurance, and you are ok with taking a chance on not having anything bad happen to the car, drop the collision insurance, and just pay for standard liability. This will save you hundreds of dollars a year, but the downside here is that if the car is lost, stolen, wrecked, etc., your father gets nothing. D) If neither of the above options are acceptable, call your insurance agent and see if you can negotiate a better premium. If not, you can try Progressive and Geico. You can also check to see if BMWCCA offers some kind of insurance for your father's vehicle. Hope this helps. You may need to contact an antique car insurance specialist for more details. P.S. I agree with your father. These ARE the best cars ever made!
Yes.. in addition to Brian's suggestions - shop around more. My agent doesn't seem to have any problem finding companies to cover my 20+ yr. old cars; Here in Ohio I'm currently covered by Grange Insurance.
Thanks guys, I checked with his agent and he said that all cars insured at his address have to have the same coverage so he's shopping around for another insurance company.
He's insuring multiple cars with them & they still won't give him a $ break? Definitely time to shop for another insurance company. Shouldn't be too hard to find an insurance company that wants his business, especially covering multiple vehicles. Between discounts for multiple cars, passive restraints (airbags), and ABS brakes, as well as a safe driver discount, shouldn't be too hard to find a better alternative. Good luck!
