This has been a very interesting/informative thread....This is going to be a somewhat long post, so beware, and IT IS NOT meant to start any kind of argument, I will try to present what I know....
I do not own a Cobra and probably never will, so I have NO dog in this fight, but I feel for the Cobra owners and Midwest Classic brings up some valid points.... If some things do not change,Cobra owners will face very high premiums when they can find them and some will not be able to insure their cars, not good for the hobby.....
I do own a 65 Mustang Fastback (GT-350 clone)(insured as a classic car) that is an occassional driver and a 65 Mustang coupe which is not street legal and a dedicated road race car(no insurance of any kind)...I have been to driving schools in the past and will go to more in the future, I have nothing but good to say for driving schools,I always learn something at them, not matter how good I think I am, also learned real quick how little I DO KNOW about high performance driving/racing.....
I work in the automobile insurance industry in claims, been doing this for 14 years now, I work an average of 1000 auto claims a year, so I guess I can safely say I've seen it all.................First off, any insurance company is just that, a company, it has to make a profit to stay in business.... The company I work for is a national company that also sells insurance other than strictly autos, they have to to stay in business....the parish (county) I live in is one of 64 in the state of Louisiana, the company I work for LOSES on average approx. ONE MILLION dollars a year on auto insurance in my parish alone, not all parish's are like this, but many are..!!!!!!!!! the homeowners side of things makes enough money to offset this loss and show an overall profit and that's why they still do business in the state....this is not classic car insurance, but you get the idea....
One post said something to the effect that he never saw an insurance company go out of business, well, in the last 7 years, three have gone out of business in this state and two more have quit doing any business in the state,and two more are cutting back their business in the state and have plans to phase out all auto policies within the next two years, it does happen!!!!!!!!!
another post said something to the effect that 10% of the drivers cause 90% of the claims, I couldn't agree more, in classic car insurance that 10% are COBRA DRIVERS....it is a fact of life, like it or not.... that's why insurance companies are not renewing policies and getting away from insuring Cobras altogether, simple economics.........many varaibles are taken into account when determining the cost to insure a specific car, # of cylinders/hp,body style (sedan,coupe, convertible, station wagon, sports car,etc.),average age of the owners,average number of miles driven a year by the owners, cost of repairs, cost of the vehicle.... Say an 07 Mustang cost the same as say an 07 Corwn Vic and the costs of repairs is about the same, which would be less expensive to insure????? I don't have the figures in front of me, but I think the average age of the owners of the Crown Vic is around 50 years old or a little more, the average age of the Mustang owner is probably no more than 25....which is more likely to have an accident???? You get the idea by this comparison......same goes with Cobras as compared to lets say Street Rods or classic cars built before 1940.....
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don't see anyone offering me reduced rates because I have no accidents or tickets...
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I DO, I've been insured with the same company since the early 90's with my Fastback, fortunetly, I've never had an accident and never had to make a claim on the car and after 3 years, I started getting a 10% discount on my yearly premium and have been getting this discount ever since.................
I'll be the first to state I have done my share of stoplight to stoplight street racing in the past, but after I got into "orangized" racing, the desire to street race disappeared.....I do think the driving schools has helped me to be a better driver on the street and the racing aspect has left me with NO desire to street race....
Go to a local "crusie nite" and watch the participants leave, I have, it's to see who can show just how fast their car is, you-tube is full of these mishaps, three of which I've seen lately were by Cobra drivers in their cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they were being just plain dumb and wrecked their cars!!!!!!!!!!the "ricers" are not far behind..........
I don't have all the answers, but as a whole, the Cobra owners are heading downhill with the insurance industry right now....Driving schools, safe driving records can help, but I really don't see things getting better as the number of Cobras on the road increases every year.....people owning/driving Cobras need to take more responsability for their actions and try to be safer drivers if they expect to keep driving their cars...... How many post's have we seen in the last few years on this forum of Cobra crashes??? how many deaths???? How many were "street racing"???? the numbers may not seem high to some, but compare those numbers to any other group of classic cars and you'll be suprised at how safe some of the other groups are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just like every other Joe here, I have four cars insured and pay enough premium and I for one would like to see my premiums drop, but I'm being realistic about the whole thing, it's not going to happen any time soon.......
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Get the manufacturers and clubs involved big time. Make the insurance provider a "participation" company which pays dividends to their insureds for profits rather than to shareholders. Cap the payout. If you are involved in a serious accident while drunk or drag racing...you have bigger problems than increasing premiums and the insurer should not be paying through the nose for your mistakes. These claims are no "accident". AND...no loopholes are necessary. Maybe not the policy for everyone, but for enthusiasts like me... where do I sign and send my check?
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Realistic Limitations I drive the car on public roads I'm covered...period. Give me a 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 per year mileage option. No coverage for track or comp. damage. As Barber would say "That's Racing!"
Realistic Deductible Give me a $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 option for (not at fault) comp. and collision If its my fault, however, I pay too. Maximum coverage for an at fault accident $50,000 or 50% of the damage. That will keep everyone diligent and on the same team. Anyone that has the time to file a $2.00 claim should not be driving a Cobra. These are Yugo infiltrators that run up everyone elses rate.
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Red; You have made some very valid points and I agree with all of them, especially the drunk drivers, but an insurance company would not sell but a handful of policies like the one your looking for(my guess is they would be dirt cheap), and I would love to see a policy like that offered, NO ONE wants to be held accountable for their actions, just let the insurance company pay for their supid mistakes that's what I pay my premium for!!!!!!!! and in the end you and I and the Cobra community suffer by not being able to get reasonble insurance rates and possibly in the near future not being able to find ANY insruance at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have many times told the undewriting department they should have a "stupidity clause"
in every policy, then when some soccer mom gives her 14 year old daughter(with NO drivers license and NO driving experience other than driving in the pasture once or twice) the keys to her $30,000.00 SUV to go joy riding on sunday afternoon and she totals it, flipping it 4 times and a large tree stopped it from flipping more while doing an estimated 80 mph in a 35 mph speed zone,we could tell her "it's your fault",not ours, so now you pay the damages out of your pocket......total bill including meds was in excees of 50 grand!!!!!!!!!
David