Anyone with experience with USAA Car Collectors Insurance?

HonaloochieBoogie

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We’ve been with Hagerty for over 10 years (currently covering 4 cars) and have always been happy, but someone at the Vintage was mentioning how much they saved switching to USAA. I called and got a quote that’s roughly 25% lower than we’re paying for the identical agreed values. The major difference in the coverage is in liability coverages. Our Hagerty coverages for bodily injury and uninsured motorists are for $500,000 each person AND 500,000 per accident. The closest USAA can come to that is $300,000 per person and $500,000 per accident.
Any thoughts on both USAA and the coverage differences?
 

Dick Steinkamp

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USAA insures collector cars through American Collectors. If you are not already a USAA member, you might want to try going direct with American Collectors. You can get a quote at their site on line.

If you want (or need) that amount of liability on your collector cars, you might consider a liability umbrella policy instead of those high limits. They are generally written for the amount of your net worth.
 

lip277

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Just for grins and giggles - I went to the link Dick has above and put in the three cars I have. I received a quote about 33% less than what my premiums are with Hagerty (same values for the cars). Will talk to my insurance guy to see how this company 'works' - presuming he knows.. Interesting.. Thanks
 

Arde

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We’ve been with Hagerty for over 10 years (currently covering 4 cars) and have always been happy, but someone at the Vintage was mentioning how much they saved switching to USAA. I called and got a quote that’s roughly 25% lower than we’re paying for the identical agreed values. The major difference in the coverage is in liability coverages. Our Hagerty coverages for bodily injury and uninsured motorists are for $500,000 each person AND 500,000 per accident. The closest USAA can come to that is $300,000 per person and $500,000 per accident.
Any thoughts on both USAA and the coverage differences?
500k is a lot. Typical liability for daily drivers is around 100k. Why would you have more liability for a car that is driven less and more carefully?
 

JFENG

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$100k doesn't go as far as it used to if major medical treatment is needed. Inability is generally pretty cheap so I carry $500k on my auto policy.
I got a quote from Grundy last month and it was 15% more than Hagerty.
 

HB Chris

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Well, it all depends. My father-in-law was hit on his bike on the 101 west of a Santa Barbara in January by a 65 yo woman with $100K liability. He broke both bones in left leg, seven ribs, punctured lung and other injuries. Her insurance wanted to send a check for $100K quickly, they realize his medical bills will be in excess of that. And Medicare wants to be reimbursed for their payout. I upped mine to $500K and bought an umbrella policy too, I have should have done that when my kids were still at home, I got lucky. And I just switched from Hagerty to Grundy and saved 15% for my coupe and NK.
 

bluecoupe30!

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Umbrella is the way to go. No matter what your premiums are with whoever insures your rides, the extra coverage is so important in today's legal environment. pays to research and interview and cover all bases.
 

lip277

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You need to have sufficient coverage for all your different exposures..
The policies on all my cars, homes, boat and such all are under my umbrella (and that coverage amount is significant).
Being careful - sure. That helps reduce the risk of something happening, but -you never know.
Should something silly happen that you are deemed responsible for - the $500k or $100k or whatever limits as shown above are not going to help you if you get a judgement that exceeds that amount.

And - Even $500k is not really all that much these days. My umbrella is well above that.
 

CSteve

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I learn something new everytime I click on. Now I will call my agent first thing Monday and see what my umbrella is covering. Thanks!!
 

Arde

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Well, it all depends. My father-in-law was hit on his bike on the 101 west of a Santa Barbara in January by a 65 yo woman with $100K liability. He broke both bones in left leg, seven ribs, punctured lung and other injuries. Her insurance wanted to send a check for $100K quickly, they realize his medical bills will be in excess of that. And Medicare wants to be reimbursed for their payout. I upped mine to $500K and bought an umbrella policy too, I have should have done that when my kids were still at home, I got lucky. And I just switched from Hagerty to Grundy and saved 15% for my coupe and NK.
That is interesting. The hospital and Medicare cannot possibly depend on a third party being insured above the minimum the law mandates. They have to deliver the care. Who would sue the third party beyond her insurance? You father-in-law, the hospital, Medicare?
I tried to get an umbrella policy and the application was intrusive as heck going into my kids as a risk even though they are independent.
 

HB Chris

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Nobody is suing, but if resources were there then Ron would be covered for his pain and suffering and Medicare could recoup some of there payments. We are lucky he is alive
 

verde2002

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I was also with Hagerty for almost a decade, rates continued to go up annually to a point where I was paying triple of where I started. I am now with Grundy with identical coverage with a premium that is half of what Hagerty was charging me. As a courtesy I contacted Hagerty to see if maybe they had made some miscalculations or mistake but they didn’t seem to have any reason for the sharp increase in premium or be very concerned they were losing a long term customer. Definitely not the same car people or care Hagerty used to be.
 

Gary Knox

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lip277, et al,

I've been insuring my 'hobby cars and track cars' with American Collectors for nearly 20 years. Had one track incident with a Porsche 928 (my fault) and my wife had one street incident with the BMW e31 (not her fault, but no coverage from other driver). They were straight forward and paid what was required (minus my deductible). The track car was totaled, and their buyback price was very reasonable, so I got to keep all my special stuff and use the rest as an organ donor items for other owners.

Very pleased with both service and annual premiums. They were recently bought out by another company, and the annual mileage allowance was raised to 7,500.

Gary
 

Dick Steinkamp

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"Anyone with experience with USAA Car Collectors Insurance?"

I can give my experience with USAA. I've been a member for 51 years. It is a first class operation in every way. Price, service, responsiveness, communication, etc. I've never had a bad experience with them in 51 years.

They are ranked #20 as the Worlds Most Admired Companies by Forbes
They are ranked #19 by Forbes as the Best Employers in the US.

Ranked the Best Insurance Company of 2021 by US News

"With an average annual rate of $875, according to our study, USAA is by far the cheapest of the major auto insurance companies we rank. That rate is also 40% less than the national average among all the companies in our rankings. "

"When it comes to customer friendliness, this insurance company again ranked in the top spot among all the companies rated in our study.
Of the USAA customers who filed a claim in the past five years, more than 80% reported being completely satisfied with the company’s ease of filing a claim."


Here's the downside...

"Generally, USAA membership is open to active, retired, and separated veterans with a discharge type of “Honorable” from the U.S. military and their eligible family members."
 
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Arde

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Nobody is suing, but if resources were there then Ron would be covered for his pain and suffering and Medicare could recoup some of there payments. We are lucky he is alive
Sorry to hear that Chris. Hope Ron recovers.
Even if the offender had an umbrella policy it is not up to him to release payment for pain and suffering, you would have to sue. There is something wrong with a system where pain and suffering payment depends on the assets and insurance of the offender, not of the insured.
 

Stevehose

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I was also with Hagerty for almost a decade, rates continued to go up annually to a point where I was paying triple of where I started. I am now with Grundy with identical coverage with a premium that is half of what Hagerty was charging me. As a courtesy I contacted Hagerty to see if maybe they had made some miscalculations or mistake but they didn’t seem to have any reason for the sharp increase in premium or be very concerned they were losing a long term customer. Definitely not the same car people or care Hagerty used to be.
Exactly my experience
 

JFENG

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Grundy with identical coverage with a premium that is half of what Hagerty was charging
I haven’t figured out why Grundy’s quote to me a week ago was higher than Hagerty. Are you sure you did n apples to apples comparison?
John
 

glenn in encinitas

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I’ve been with USAA for a long time. As is noted above, they don’t sell collector insurance directly. While pleasant, their adjustors have low balled me on two cars- a 2002 and an e28. As for coverages, as someone who deals with personal injury litigation on a regular basis, I would never be insured for less than $1M. Liability, umbrella, combo-doesnt matter. My $0.02.
 

HB Chris

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Sorry to hear that Chris. Hope Ron recovers.
Even if the offender had an umbrella policy it is not up to him to release payment for pain and suffering, you would have to sue. There is something wrong with a system where pain and suffering payment depends on the assets and insurance of the offender, not of the insured.
Thanks Arde. He had a second surgery and is now finally at 100%. Her insurance company knew bills would be over $100K and thus would pay quickly. And yes without the umbrella there was nothing to sue for and who wants to ruin someone financially. He was in the hospital for a month.
 
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