Who can appraise my GN?
- Thread starter Loosenut
- Start date
1987BuickGN
Just a member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2004
AGREED value policy is what you are seeking I hope, heres some info I copy/pasted. Do a search on these boards, its been hashed out before:
If you are insuring a specialty vehicle such as an antique vehicle, a street rod, a motor home, a trailer, a home-built vehicle, or any other vehicle that is not normally bought and sold on the motor vehicle market, you need to be especially careful when buying collision and comprehensive coverage. WHEN BUYING COLLISION AND/OR COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE FOR A SPECIALTY VEHICLE, BUY ONLY "AGREED VALUE" COVERAGE. Your regular auto policy has collision/comprehensive coverage known as A.C.V. or Actual Cash Value coverage. It means that they will pay for covered repairs, less deductible, or in the case of a total loss, the actual cash value of the vehicle, less deductibles. All A.C.V. coverages contemplate significant reductions in the value of your vehicle based on it being worth less every day you own it (depreciation). Many specialty type vehicles actually appreciate in value, although mine never seem to. You don't want to argue with your carrier if the vehicle you paid $20,000.00 for last year, burns or gets stolen, and they offer you only $12,000.00 for the vehicle, saying that their investigation indicates that your "pride and joy" was only worth $12,000.00. If you don't agree with their valuation, you can hire a lawyer, and sue them (at your expense, of course). Generally, the amount of depreciation your insurance company can saddle you with is directly proportional to how much money they figure it will cost you to sue them and their judgment as to whether or not you are able to hire counsel to sue them. The people you have to deal with concerning a claim are never the friendly folks you bought your policy from. No matter what your financial situation, you cannot outspend your insurance company when it comes to litigation. Another term you will see when talking about collision/comprehensive coverage is "stated value." "Stated value" is a term which, in my opinion, was created by insurance companies in order to separate you from your money. I imagine that this thought process went something like this:
All people who insure specialty vehicles out there know what actual cash value means, and they probably also know that they will be seriously financially injured if they insure their specialty vehicles under an A.C.V. type policy and suffer a total loss. Now, some of our competition are insuring such vehicles at "agreed value," meaning once the company accepts the value given by the car owner and insures the car for that agreed value, then, in case of a total loss or theft, absent fraud, that is the amount they must pay. We'll be really clever here, and we will start insuring our customers specialty vehicles for "stated value." It sounds a lot like "agreed value," but we can define that term in our policy to mean virtually the same thing as A.C.V., but most of these folks will like the sound of "stated value," and, since most of them rarely actually read their policy terms until sitting in their lawyer's office, we'll get more business because we can charge a lower premium, and our customers won't really figure it all out until it's too late!
Yes, the foregoing is a gross simplification of the difference between stated and agreed value coverage, but, always buy agreed value coverage if you possibly can. If you want to have some fun, ask an agent to explain to you, in plain English, the difference between an agreed value policy and a stated value policy. If the agent is honest, he or she will tell you that a stated value policy will pay up to, but never more than, the stated value, but will not necessarily pay the stated value in the event of a total loss or theft. Have fun with this, but remember the difference when it comes time to buy the policy.
If you are insuring a specialty vehicle such as an antique vehicle, a street rod, a motor home, a trailer, a home-built vehicle, or any other vehicle that is not normally bought and sold on the motor vehicle market, you need to be especially careful when buying collision and comprehensive coverage. WHEN BUYING COLLISION AND/OR COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE FOR A SPECIALTY VEHICLE, BUY ONLY "AGREED VALUE" COVERAGE. Your regular auto policy has collision/comprehensive coverage known as A.C.V. or Actual Cash Value coverage. It means that they will pay for covered repairs, less deductible, or in the case of a total loss, the actual cash value of the vehicle, less deductibles. All A.C.V. coverages contemplate significant reductions in the value of your vehicle based on it being worth less every day you own it (depreciation). Many specialty type vehicles actually appreciate in value, although mine never seem to. You don't want to argue with your carrier if the vehicle you paid $20,000.00 for last year, burns or gets stolen, and they offer you only $12,000.00 for the vehicle, saying that their investigation indicates that your "pride and joy" was only worth $12,000.00. If you don't agree with their valuation, you can hire a lawyer, and sue them (at your expense, of course). Generally, the amount of depreciation your insurance company can saddle you with is directly proportional to how much money they figure it will cost you to sue them and their judgment as to whether or not you are able to hire counsel to sue them. The people you have to deal with concerning a claim are never the friendly folks you bought your policy from. No matter what your financial situation, you cannot outspend your insurance company when it comes to litigation. Another term you will see when talking about collision/comprehensive coverage is "stated value." "Stated value" is a term which, in my opinion, was created by insurance companies in order to separate you from your money. I imagine that this thought process went something like this:
All people who insure specialty vehicles out there know what actual cash value means, and they probably also know that they will be seriously financially injured if they insure their specialty vehicles under an A.C.V. type policy and suffer a total loss. Now, some of our competition are insuring such vehicles at "agreed value," meaning once the company accepts the value given by the car owner and insures the car for that agreed value, then, in case of a total loss or theft, absent fraud, that is the amount they must pay. We'll be really clever here, and we will start insuring our customers specialty vehicles for "stated value." It sounds a lot like "agreed value," but we can define that term in our policy to mean virtually the same thing as A.C.V., but most of these folks will like the sound of "stated value," and, since most of them rarely actually read their policy terms until sitting in their lawyer's office, we'll get more business because we can charge a lower premium, and our customers won't really figure it all out until it's too late!
Yes, the foregoing is a gross simplification of the difference between stated and agreed value coverage, but, always buy agreed value coverage if you possibly can. If you want to have some fun, ask an agent to explain to you, in plain English, the difference between an agreed value policy and a stated value policy. If the agent is honest, he or she will tell you that a stated value policy will pay up to, but never more than, the stated value, but will not necessarily pay the stated value in the event of a total loss or theft. Have fun with this, but remember the difference when it comes time to buy the policy.
Thanks for the info.
Yes, that is what I'm looking for. I didn't want to get collectors insurance because they limit where, when and how much you drive the car. With the agreed value insurance they dont care where you drive but do watch the mileage.
If something ever happened to my car, I dont want the insurance company saying "Its only a 86 Regal with the turbo package, We will only pay $6,000"
The only nice thing about standard insurance is that I can drop the collision in the winter months when the car is in storage.
Andy
Yes, that is what I'm looking for. I didn't want to get collectors insurance because they limit where, when and how much you drive the car. With the agreed value insurance they dont care where you drive but do watch the mileage.
If something ever happened to my car, I dont want the insurance company saying "Its only a 86 Regal with the turbo package, We will only pay $6,000"
The only nice thing about standard insurance is that I can drop the collision in the winter months when the car is in storage.
Andy
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