Thread: Insurance
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Old 02-13-2004, 03:13 PM
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StephenC StephenC is offline
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Location: East Lansing, MI
Cobra Make, Engine: SPF #1696, 427 Shelby aluminum 462 stroker from Southern Automotive. 1967 GTO and a '98 'Vette. Life is good.
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Unhappy Uh Sir, That's Your BEST Story?

Craig:

No need to connect the speedo as long as you're sure you will never file a claim. LOL Being invloved in a crash with a car that has 000000 miles on it shouldn't be too hard to explain. Should it?

Steve:

I got to thinking about the guys who claim mileage limitations can't be enforced. These are the very same guys who will laugh and tell you "use" limitations can't be enforced either. They think they're fooling the insurance company when they're only fooling themselves.

By "use" I mean restrictions on how and when the car can be driven. Many "collector-type" policies limit the car to being driven to very specific types of events (car shows, concours, club activities, parades, etc.) The policies go on to prohibit driving to work or school, errands, common use, or a whole lot of other types of driving. Guys seem to think if they have an "accident" while engaged in prohibited driving (maybe like just cruising around), the insurance company will never know or accept some lame story the car was being driven to a car show at 11:30 PM on a Tuesday night. Remember, these policies are generally much cheaper than "regular" insurance for a reason. A great deal only IF you stay within the restrictions.

Bottom line: If your claim is big enough (death or injury involved?), an insurance company will go to great lengths to investigate, hoping to find you were in violation (ANY violation) of their policy. They have, or will hire investigators, who will talk to your neighbors, check your car club's activity schedule, talk to your mechanic, talk to your boss and check your timecard, speak with the kid who carried out your groceries and stood and talked to you about your car, and anyone else who can show that your story just doesn't add up. It takes a skilled investigator less than an hour to disprove most of these concocted stories. An unskilled investigator, maybe two hours.

Often, these investigations are over after the first meeting. You know, the one where the investigator explains to the owner the concept of "Insurance Fraud", a crime in most states. I know, a lot of retired police officers go to work for auto insurance companies as investigators (mostly related to vehicle arsons). The last thing insurance companies do is write the check.

Best piece of insurance advice I ever got? Insure the car for how it will be used. If you're not sure what your policy says, get it out and read it. If you don't know how your company defines certain terms (like pleasure driving or regular use), find out now, before it's too late. Compared to what most of us have invested in these cars (both monetarily and emotionally), good insurance that fully covers how the car is used isn't that expensive when compared to the alternative.

But, none of this matters if you're never gonna' file a claim.



I'm not trying to scare anyone or trying to force my ideas on this subject on others. I just don't want anyone to be disappointed when it comes time to get their "baby" repaired and their insurance company says, "No way, not gonna' happen!".
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Steve C

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Last edited by StephenC; 02-13-2004 at 04:04 PM..
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