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Hagerty Insurance - 20 years in I had a claim and...

4K views 27 replies 21 participants last post by  Klutch 
#1 ·
Short answer: No notable issues with claim. They were MORE than fair.

Long Answer: After 20+ years of using Hagerty to insure my 1965 Mustang Convertible, I finally had a claim. I was driving on a state highway one Sunday morning, last month, when a light mist started falling. As I approached a steep incline (going 45 in a 45), I gave it a bit of gas, my transmission downshifted and immediately the back end broke loose (347, 3.55's, Auburn posi, road is slick as snot...you get the picture), the rear swung left and headed me toward a guard rail, I corrected into the skid and the rear swung back to the right, passed me, and I continued to slide backwards, uphill, across 3 (THANK GOD) empty traffic lanes. The rear of the car mostly jumped a 4-foot road ditch and the car came to rest perfectly perpendicular to the highway with the front wheels still on the shoulder, the *** end buried into a grassy embankment, and me sitting about 4-feet above the bottom of the road ditch needing a tow.

There were 2 cops there (both off duty) within 2 minutes of the crash. An on duty officer arrived 3 minutes later and evaluated me and then kept me company (and kept traffic flowing) until the roll back got there. He winched the car straight across the ditch. It sort of skidded out on my subframe connectors until the back wheels got across the ditch and out of the air. The only damage underneath was a crushed oil pan.

Out back, the rear valence was crumpled like a beer can. The fuel tank had a dent in it (minor)...and not much else. Even the rear bumper was unscathed. BUT these mustangs are floppy as hell, especially convertibles, so it didn't take the blow without issues. The passenger quarter panel ended up with a dent in it where it flexed and didn't come back. The front of both quarter panels pushed forwards into the door jams hard enough to take paint off the quarters, the doors, and even a few flakes off the fenders at the door seam. I mean, basically the car needed a new rear valence and 10 square inches repainted. But that repaint included spots on both rear quarters, both doors and both fenders.

The rolllback dropped my car off at my house ($150), and I immediately called Hagerty. They made sure I was OK (only issue was a deep depression over tearing up my baby) and got some preliminary information to get the process started. On Monday they followed up to let me know when an independent estimator would be there to see my car. In the meantime, I took the old valence off and zip tied the license plate to the car to get it driveable (the oil pan crunch did not affect oil pressure) and drove the car to my body shop guy.

He looked at where the paint was jacked up and said, "I want paint the whole car". I was floored, but I learned a long time ago not to tell experts how to do their job when I have no idea how to paint a car. So....I asked how much? He gave me a ballpark (base coat/clear coat no color change), and I went home to wait on the appraiser.

The appraiser came and looked at the car. We ran it up on my lift so he could see the oil pan needed replaced. He also noted the gas tank would have to be replaced to make it right (I didn't end up doing that). The exhaust system under my 4R70W was banged up in spots...but I told him to ignore that. It's been like that for a while (car is low. stuff happens.) I told him my guy said it needed a full respray. The estimator was non-committal. He neither confirmed or denied, he just filled out the paperwork. He was very thorough though and professional.

Several more days passed and I finally got a call from Hagerty. They had reviewed the claim and indicated they would be cutting me a check for right at $2000 more than my guy ballparked me for the respray (keep in mind I also had an oil pan to fix and there was credit for replacing the gas tank, and a tow bill that was not in the body shop's number...which was only a ball park.) They further informed me that the claim could be adjusted if any hidden damage was found during repairs.

So, I called the body guy and he ordered the paint (materials were well over $1000 to paint the car). I got with NPD and ordered a repop GT valence, backup light assemblies, new rocker moldings, and one of the all metal hood scoops ('cause I've always wanted one....and seems like this is the only time to do it). The check came made out to me. I swapped out the oil pan with a scott drake 6 quart pan, fel pro 1 piece gasket AND an upgraded (+25%) oil pump while I had the pan off. Then I waited for my appointment and dropped it off at the body shop.

While I was waiting, I had the local glass guy come over an replace the windshield. The oem one (original) has been scratched badly from the time I bought the car in 1994. Figured I had a few extra benjamins here, so I might as well fix something that needed fixed.

The body shop kept the car 9 days. I picked it up yesterday. They did a great job. The scoop is going to take some getting use to I have to say, but that has nothing to do with the wreck or the claim. The actual price ended up being $500 LESS than the ballpark. (Remember up above when I called the guy MY bodyshop guy. That's why he is and will continue to be until he retires someday).

I haven't run the whole list yet, but at the end of all this I can say:

1. I messed up and wrecked my car.
2. My car now looks better than it has in at least 10 years (the old paint was about 15 years old).
3. I got a new windshield.
4. I got an upgraded oil pump and upgraded oil pan that doesn't leak and I now have 40 PSI of oil pressure at highway speeds...was more like 25 PSI) which I feel better about.
5. I got a scoop. Not sure I like it.
6. I've still got more than 2 grand left.
7. The whole process was slow...but it's not like there was ever a big rush to fix this car. I did miss one parade that I had promised I would haul the festival chairperson in...but she found a t-bird to ride in...so all remained Ford and all was good.

I have to say that went a lot better than I had any right to expect it would.

Phil
 
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#5 ·
So great to hear a good insurance outcome. You so often hear of the nightmares. I would be sure to write them and thank them for their excellent handling of your case and the very professional job done by the adjuster
 
#9 ·
Good to hear about hagerty. They are on my short list once my car is done.
As others said...
this thread is useless without pics.
 
#14 ·
I would politely suggest you not wait until your car is done. You can insure your car while it is in "Project" status and it's not very expensive. It would really suck if your project was damaged in a fire, stolen or fell off a trailer and you lost everything you put into it.

We're drifting a bit here, but since people are once again asking about classic car insurance:

I have Hagerty and over the years I have politely grilled them every way from Sunday about their coverage. Obviously, one must check everything in writing, but here's the deal:

- My Mustang must be typically stored in a locked garage.

- My Mustang cannot be my daily driver.

- If I want to occasionally drive my Mustang to work, it's covered.

- If I want to drive my Mustang to an event or just on a trip and I need to park it overnight at a hotel, it's considered "In Use" and it's covered.

- If I drive my Mustang on a race track, it is NOT covered. Although technically it's not a race track, pretty sure this includes Autocross events. (You can buy track day insurance, but it's typically over $1,000 a day.)

- There is no annual mileage limit; period. Never mind what people from "back in the day" say about coverage horror stories. My Hagerty policy does NOT have mileage limits. They've never even asked me for an odometer reading or pictures of my Mustang.

- Hagerty insures my Mustang for just over $46,000 (that was Hagerty's value). The cost is just over $500 a year. Keep in mind insurance prices are all over the place. There are many variables to include where you live and even your credit score. It's not fair, but that's the way it is.

Nobody is perfect, but I've talked to multiple people who filed claims through Hagerty and all of them were pleased.
 
#12 ·
Don't want to thread jack too much, but does anyone know the max miles they allow per year?
I tried to use their online calculator and when I put in 10K they said there was no plan available.
 
#16 ·
When mine went in the body shop after a wreck (admittedly much worse than yours) it took about 4 months to get it all done.

I love having a scope (not much functional difference, but looks great IMO).
 
#17 ·
This is good to hear, I am getting ready to renew my Hagerty policy for the second year. I had tried to get Hagerty many years ago but they weren't taking "project cars" back then as they wanted to know when it would be complete. We all know these cars are rarely ever "complete" so I had to stick with conventional insurance.
 
#18 ·
Answering a couple of questions above:

The delay between calling Hagerty the first time and getting the check was about 2 weeks. That was not an issue for me as this is not a car I depend on every day. Obviously, if this was my daily driver and I had to have a rental car until it was fixed, this would have been an issue. But that's not what the Hagerty policy is for anyway.

Regarding values...I don't think my numbers would be helpful to anyone other than for curiosity sake.

What would be more helpful is to tell you how I've handled setting up the agreed value number.

I've updated it every 4 or 5 years since I bought the policy and each time that has meant an increase as I look at the market and I've continued to make an upgrade here-or-there on the car. The car is insured for less than I have in it, but probably about top-of-the-mark for what it would reasonably sell for based on KBB. The first several times I worked on establishing a value, Hagerty required me to have a dealer appraise the car. The last couple of times I wanted to make a change, they've just asked me to justify why and have gone along with my suggestion. Just bear in mind "agreed value" means "Agreed to by both parties". They have to agree to the number as well, and your premium goes up to pay for that risk to them.

For this claim, the agreed value on my policy was much higher than the claim, so it really didn't matter too much.

Phil
 
#20 ·
I'm glad everything worked out well.

I've had a collector car policy for over 20 years and noticed the premiums keep going up. It's getting close to the premiums on my regular car insurance. That policy has no mileage limits, usage limits, and storage limits (has to be parked in a locked area).

I may switch out on the July renewal.
 
#21 ·
Congratulations!! I've been with Hagerty for about 22 years and have also had a claim...I stupidly ran over a garden hoe in my garage and messed up my fender and surrounding paint. They were very attentive and straight forward with everything. I emailed them an estimate from a local body guy and had a check in my hand within a few weeks. My insurance didn't go up at all!


I love Hagerty!!!

I also am a firm believer in getting any project insured as well...I had an uncle who had a 1957 Mercedes 190SL stored for over 35 years in rural PA. In 2007 we pulled it out of storage and sent it to someone he knew who worked on old German cars. Fast forward 5 years and the garage where it was being "worked on" was burned down by an arsonist...the guy working on the car didn't have insurance and it turns out my uncle never listened to me and didn't have insurance on the car either! He took a 100% loss on what was a very original and unrestored appreciating classic! Don't be like Uncle Russell...get your car project insured from day 1!!!
 
#24 ·
No. I don't think it's that at all.

I would highly suspect someone has noted a statistical correlation between credit score and claims risk. I can think of a couple of reasons for that, but it doesn't really matter what the reasons are. If an insurance company noted that correlation and started using it to price policies, other insurance companies would have to follow along to compete.

Companies that hire people these days sometimes look at prospective employees credit scores as well. They aren't looking to extend credit to these people, but it's more a function of what credit scores when averaged over a large population correlate to in work performance. Not saying it's right...but as credit scores are widely available, they are going to get used in all kinds of ways that they were never really intended to be used.

Phil
 
#23 ·
I'll share my Hagerty experience, and let you know why I dropped them. I was a Hagerty Plus member for 12 years, and never had a claim or used any service of theirs until last year when I used their roadside tow for my 14k-mile '98 Cobra (fuel pump). Their roadside assistance which is part of their Plus membership covers flatbed trailed with certain guaranteed things like the use of soft straps, use of only "the most experienced" third parties, etc, etc, etc. Well the driver they sent to tow my '98 used chains, and when I got the call there was an "incident"...I met the driver to see my car against the front of the bed, and saw that all four wheels were tied to the front! So that amounted to $5K damage (front bumper, cracked paint on hood, creased fender near headlight and cracked paint, a chain gouged underside of rear bumper).

Was Hagerty the one who did the damage? No. BUT....they selected the clown, and more importantly I had to fight Hagerty for weeks trying to get them to even waive my deductible! So let's see...customer for 12 years, never filed a claim but regrettably decided to finally use their roadside service which maybe saved me $50 from paying a tow company myself, and in turn they hand me back my low-mile Mustang that's no longer original paint, etc, that was damaged because they decided to use a service that clearly didn't provide what they state in the policy...and they want to charge me $1000? So could I recommend Hagerty to anyone? Definitely not. Hagerty didn't damage my car, but I think it's safe to say they couldn't possibly have handled that claim any worse.
 
#26 ·
Love Hagerty! I've had two claims with them. Both were handled quickly, fairly, and without much stress. Compared to my claim with Safeco :mad:, it was a night and day difference between the two companies.
 
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#27 ·
You know as well as I that it's just a way to stick to people for more. I can take the same statistics and make it look like something else. Sort of like political poles and how one says A is leading by 30% and the other guys say B is leading by 30%. Just more stupid-ness in life. I have good credit but I take issue with how companies do business. They don't have any business looking at someone's credit score for insurance. Just a way to to take in more money.....
 
#28 ·
Wow, it's rare to find someone more cynical than I. :wink: I understand where you're coming from, but in this case, I don't think that's the way it is. Insurance is about risk analysis. No doubt risk analysis shows "low credit score equals higher risk". That's it. Similarly, insurance in Los Angeles will cost more than insurance in Council Bluffs Iowa. LA has more traffic and more theft which equals higher risk.

As for polls, yeah, they sometimes get things pretty wrong. But those too are based on statistical analysis. What's really scary is how accurate they're getting.
 
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