Thread: Insurance time??

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Originally Posted by erik erikson

If I keep the project cars at my house rather than my shop, my home owners insurance will cover any parts if they are stolen.
I am not sure of the limits.

What you say may be true for your particular policy, however most people shouldn't therefore assume the same of their company/policy. And I would also caution that not all agents give accurate answers when you ask a "Am I covered if...................?" type question. Policy terms and rates are based on "common" similarities based on demographics, and geographic location, among other magic voodoo considerations that are unique to insurance underwriting. Most policies cover "normally" expected things around a home. For example. Nearly every home has a refrigerator and an insurance company can expect to have to pay for one if there's a loss (typically fire for something this size). The difference between a $700 GE and $5000 Subzero would usually be reflected in the valuation of the house which would be covered in the higher rate for the more expensive house. If you try to claim an expensive Subzero in your $100k house loss odds are the Ins. company is going to launch a fraud investigation, or at least make you jump through some serious hoops to prove you had the high dollar ice box.

Expensive car parts are looked at something like what most folks might be familiar with under the jewelery coverage they might have. If you claim the loss of a $100 Timex (if such a thing exists) on your "basic" policy you probably won't get any resistence. However, if you try to claim a $50k Patek Phillippe (like most successful engine builders wear ) then you'd better have it listed on a separate declaration that would entail additional coverage and premium expense. Everything with insurance companies is based on potential risk/loss/exposure calculations. Car stuff has the added "confusion" of automobiles normally being looked at as a separate policy issue. It gets muddled with some companies that may have difficulty distinguishing between the one in your driveway you use every day, and the one blown apart in the garage. Nobody should assume they are covered by their homeowners just because it's on your lot. As an example, a few years ago we had a big wind storm. An 8 foot portion of a tree on the next door neighbors lot broke off and landed on the roof of our daily driver. BIG damage. It made sense to me that his homeowners policy would cover the repair, but no, it fell under MY auto policy. Doesn't seem logical but that's the way the industry has fashioned the terms of their policies.

As for the example I gave, the Grundy rep told me they didn't insure "disassembled" cars because in their opinion it was too difficult to extablish value compared to a fully functional vehicle. Likewise, with the projects on the Hagerty policy, they required me to supply a listing of the major components on hand, similar to the above noted declaration for jewelery.