Insuring your classic car is not the same as a normal everyday car insurance.
There are many factors which put your classic car outside of the standard arena of car insurance, including:
Run-of-the-mill car insurance might be great for insuring your family car, but it’s a far cry from what’s needed in the specialist market.
To cover this issue, specialist classic car insurance companies exist to help you pay a reasonable amount for your classic car insurance.
Just like owning a normal vehicle, a classic car must be insured at all times. Unless you have a SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notice) for your car (which may have been the case while you restored it to its former beauty), you will need full insurance for the entire year – even if you keep your car in the garage for most of the time.
Specialised classic car insurance is offered by companies used to dealing with the complexities of people needing custom insurance.
One of the big problems is that the list price for your vehicle could be far off the mark from the real cost you would put on replacing the car should it be involved in a collision or stolen.
A specialist classic car insurer will work with you to arrive at a valuation for your car which accurately represents the cost of having it replaced.
Remember, the more value you place on the car, the higher your insurance premiums will be – but it is far better to be insured for your car with an amount that actually helps you if you need it, than to have a nominal amount assigned and be left upset and out-of-pocket should the worst happen.
There’s every chance that your classic car will only be driven for a few thousand miles over the course of a year – maybe less. Standard car insurance is usually for values of 10,000 miles and you can save a huge amount on your premium by accurately estimating your mileage if it is considerably lower.
Remember – less miles driven means less time on the road and thus a substantially lower risk for the insurer.
You may be the type to want to restore your classic car to a showroom setting – finding original parts for a vehicle which matches an original in every way.
Or you may be interested in driving something that has all the style and power of an original, but with a few modern comforts inside.
If you modify your car in any way, be sure to tell your insurer as it will affect your premium – and it could be in your favour. Adding improved locks, or an alarm system is going to help your costs more than hurt them!
You may be taking your car to rallies to show it off or using it as a vehicle for weddings – while these are both legitimate uses for the kind of unique vehicle classic car enthusiasts own, they also require a specialist level of insurance.
Discuss your needs with your insurance company and get the right cover for you.
Being part of a classic car club can help drive down insurance premiums – as well as being an avenue for finding the right insurance company for you.
There are plenty of like-minded enthusiasts, no matter what car you are a fan of, and joining a club can help you in many ways.
