Kirk,
I understand your point, and it is well made. I think one of the differences is that those people have standard auto insurance, and we are looking at classic auto insurance. There is a big underwriting difference. In the state of PA, everyone with a valid drivers license HAS to be eligible for insurance. If they are a bad risk, they are thrown into a pool and given equally to insurance companies who MUST write a policy for them. Classic car writers have much more leeway to refuse a risk. I'd also guess one other difference. A kid has potential to get in trouble no matter what they are driving. A Cobra has potential to get in trouble no matter who is driving it. Kind of the flip side of the same coin. Hence, they'd NEVER insure a kid in a Cobra :D . I've seen the rustbuckets you're refering to also, and I don't think they should be insured or street legal. But I bet they have a low claim rate.


Bumpster, I hope to talk to P-H this week anyway for my work (outside of this whole thing). I'll bring it up when I speak with them.


Dave,
I think in theory your idea is a good one, but here's why I think it would be an issue. State regualtions. To do it, we'd have to apply with the state Department of Insurance for every state that we want to write a policy in. We have to show them financial solvency (which I suppose could be done), but more importantly, we'd have to have a state approved policy for each state, as insurance laws are very different from state to state. There are very few private insurance groups for that reason. The legal issues would be astronomical. I deal with the PA Dept. of Insurance frequently, and boy are they tough. I think we're stuck with the system we have. Good, bad or otherwise.

DV, being damned isn't so bad, is it? :p My wife says something about it all the time, so I kind of figure it's a good thing.

Steve

DV,
you've known us for 3 years now and you still can't get it straight who is who......I'm Dan, Dave posted the above idea! Now I understand why Diane follows you around so closely and you thought it was your pheromones!;)

Left...your other military left... stupid ! :)

Still a great idea though
DV

Here is another point of view...
Are we really paying too much for Cobra Insurance?

There are some of you in here due to unfortunate turn of events, or just plain bad luck have accumulated some points and are considered poor risk or bad risk or high risk.. Let's leave those folks out for a moment.

Let's talk about the majority of Cobra owners who are responsible ( and lucky too) and have in their possesion a Cobra that is built as well as the family sedan.

Assuming your insurance company wants an arm and a leg to insure your prize possesion, the math will show that

1-Most of us have far more invested in our cars than the family car and we want coverage for $50,000 $100,000
2-Indeed tYey are cars more likely to be the target of thieves
3-yes they can inflict more damage to the occupants by the virtue of their power to weight ratios etc.

Now, let's compare that to what we pay for a comparable price aircraft.

I don't own an aircraft currently, ( I am sure there are many who do) and have some aircraft of equal value....What do they pay?
Considering most aircraft is flown around 100-200 hours a year and most are slower than our cars, and very seldom they get stolen and hardly crash into one another, and never get rear ended by an 18 wheeler,these folks pay more ,for less risk than we do.

I insure my boat and it costs me over $2400.00 a year.

Do you guys think we still pay too much for insurance?

If this is a premptive organization attempt to make sure that we will always have insurance available to us, that is one thing.

If this is an attempt to form an association to send dues to, which in turn will get us cheap insurance, it is another thing.

If it turns out to be an attempt to get insurance for those who are having a hard time securing insurance for their cars in spite of the fact that they have impeccable driving histories and yet the insurance companies won't cover them...that is a whole different ball game.

That may come to hound each and everyone of us one day.That predicament will have a wider appeal than just looking for cheap insurance.

What other marquee has been blackballed by the insurance companies, that makes everyone so nervous that they are after us. We will be the first casualty? Then the Miatas, and Z3s, and anything else that is slightly risky will be in their cross hairs.

I personally don't think so.

I think we are spoiled. We want to insure our cars for what we have in them, (not what they are worth) and are up in arms that no one will write such policy for $300.00 every 6 months.

If you have a clean record and have a Cobra valued at $50,000 and willing to keep it housed in a safe enviroment, and willing to pay $1000.00 to $1500.00 a year and still can't insurance, give me a call. I think I may be able to help you.

What? $1500.00 is too much? Why?

I think the aircraft owners are paying that. I know I am for my boat.

I don't believe we are going to beat the insurance companies into submission to do as we please, because we are 400 strong.

What do the owners of Original CSX cars pay to insure their $300,000 and up cars. How come we never hear from them?

We have expensive toys and we have to have insurance, and we must pay the piper. (no pun intended)

TURK

I just browsed through some posts on this thread and noticed some mention of NSRA and ins. costs. New law here in il. has nsra inspectors check car out before it can be titled and lisc. The whole deal was very easy. Inspector even came to my house to do inspection. NSRA is doing alot for street rods and custom vehicles in il. ..I sent a copy of insp. sheet to ins. co. and they accepted it w/no problems. $650 yr. w/a 55k value. If anyone has any questions on laws being passed here or how to get the same done by you e-mail me and I will see if I can help ya out. The guys at NSRA are very helpful in sharing info on getting laws through local gov. They are working on some new ones that would help cobras out a great deal. Strength in #'s .......
And something I thought was funny how people whine about 1k-2k for insuring there pride and joys. Its almost as funny as someone not buying a BB vs a sb because of gas mi.
SPARKS:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

The point is:

Safer cars.

The bonus is:

Continued insurance coverage at reasonable costs.

Personally I don't think $1,200.00 a year is off the wall for a $35,000 plus rocket on wheels. Especially for those lucky enough to drive them year round.

Sparks, I'd love to see or read NSRA's latest. Know anyone I can contact for this?

DV...12 degrees, 2 more inches of snow on the way

Turk,
Point well made and taken. I agree with you that I wouldn't have a problem if I had to pay $1000/year to insure my Cobra (not that I'm ASKING to do that :D ).

What I am concerned with is that so many companies have flat out stopped writing Cobras, and want to try to do something before all the other companies jump on that bandwagon. If we get lower rates, that's just a bonus. I'm more interested in making sure it is available at all.

I do feel that Cobras get a bad reputation due to a few bad drivers out there. I would consider this an effort by those with good records and experience to make sure we are not grouped in with the bad drivers.

Steve

Hello...????

This sure sounds like what this "committee" is trying to accomplish.. and it is already in place...?

...am I hearing right that no one here has talked to the NSRA?

...and they are already doing the job for Cobras in Ill.???
...and doing it dictated by LAW???????

Sparks,
Who was your contact at the NSRA. I'm having a hard time getting someone at the NSRA to talk to. I called them, and the very polite secretary (is it now "administrative assistant") gave me someones' name, but couldn't give me a phone number. :confused:

Steve

A little food for thought here. I went to the NSRA website and found a link to the insurance company they use. I emailed a brief discription of my Unique and asked for any info they could provide. This is the response.

"Thank you for your recent email regarding insurance for your Cobra."

"Unfortunately we will not be able to help as the Cobra is on the insurance companys prohibited list. Call K and K Insurance in Ft. Wayne, IN. They may be able to help."


Once again, thank you
Charlie Spencer
Sneed Insurance

GeorgiaSnake,
Your example is representative of the mounting problems we are facing, and what we have to avoid getting any worse. I actually called that agency myself and left a voicemail for someone there. I want to talk to them to get their insight and who they recommend as a contact at NSRA. I also received a pointer to a subdivision of SEMA and will contact them to get their insight. I still believe we need to form our own group, but getting their input can only help us.

Steve

Steve,
Sounds like you are really on the ball, thanks!

Dan,

Do you really think that DV is giving off Pheromones?
Now that's a little scary....

Message from my Insurance Guy (who's in TCC)
 

Hi Brett Good to hear from you. I hope you are enjoying your cobra. It is true a lot of companies that use to cover Cobras have stopped covering them. There have been more claims this year than usual. I think for now we are safe with American National. Since they are a company that insures other types of property, i.e.; Home and Personal Autos they will be a less of a chance they will stop covering them. I get several calls a week on new cobra owners within the Texas looking for coverage.
Please remember to give me a call when your other insurance comes due, I would like to give you a quote. American National has a number of discounts that when you package your insurance together it really cuts your rates. If you are ever in Tyler, please give me a call, I would love to meet you and your wife and maybe get the Cobras together. I have attached a couple of pictures of my car that I took the other day.

Take care!
Dan Hardiman



Note- he valued my car at $120k, 1000 miles/year, no driving to work, no track time, and my quote was $750/yr.
email- dhardiman@prodigy.net
he's in Tyler,TX.

Just wanted to bring this back top on the forum...

Hi all,

I have just been reading the threads on insurance. My question is, Do the insurance companies Look at the age and driving record of the car owner. I feel the Value of the car and overall appearance`would tell the insurance companies that our cars are road worthy. Most states do have a required safety inspection.

I get the impression from talking with insurance agents, they are of the opinion that most "COBRA" accidents are caused by poor driving skills coupled with lots of horsepower. The cobra gets the blame because of the big engines and light weight ,when in reality its mostly driver inexperience and poor judgment

I think driving record should be coupled with any inspection or should be noted on the inspection and verified.

do they check driving records ? you bet.

at least the better / bigger classic car insurance co's check driving records of you and spouse (and anyone else in the household). depending on the co, they go back 2, 3 or maybe 5 yrs...and no one under 25 yrs old can drive em in most cases.

and , if ya got points most likely ya won't get insurance, at least from the specialty co's ! probably some exceptions depending on what the ticket might have been for...but no exceptions in some cases depending on what the ticket was for too !!

as one classic insurance co owner said : we check the driving history and take only the good ones, even then, 8% of my portfolio is cobra replicas which also account for 40% of my claims. scary , eh ? and that is from a pre qualified 'good driving list' of applicants.

all of a sudden i fell in love with Model A's , Model T's, brass era cars etc as those folks who rarely drive them are the ones that are for the most part without claims which allow you/us/me to be insured...thank everyone of em when ya see em !!! as without em you probably could not get insur or cost would be exorbitant...

bill, be safe out there !

That must be a ship! My 19' Stingray(2000) costs about $300. per year, value adout 18k.

A few thoughts here.

1: With the whatever the group name is, I think an inspection sticker would be good. My NEW insurance company (Wawanesa) sent an inspector to our house to check the car over, take pictures, etc. It provides them with a baseline on the condition of the car. They just started insuring 'replica' cars. They have great rates.

2: When was the last time you saw a 32 Ford at Buttonwillow? Cobras have the REPUTATION of an in-your-face, bare essentials, high performance machine like a Viper, but with 60's era safety equipment. Cobras ARE perceived differently than other self assembled vehicles.

3: A national organization with inspection guidelines can also help with builders/owners whose cars may be unsafe or have unintended safety issues, like an incorrect fuel line, or running the brake lines between the header tubes. This would prevent some claims, further reducing the insurance company's apprehension.

4: I think the driver(s) should also have a rating or 'sticker' for age, experience, driving schools, driving record, etc.

I am a little confused as to how I can help, but say the word and I will do what I can.

I do have to admit I am lucky like Turk. Great rates, no restrictions, and I have no boat to triple my annual premium.

It IS!!

TURK