Insuring a project car that's hardly driven

I've got a project car that's a running/driving long-term work in progress. I'm insuring it along with two other cars that are driven regularly, but it's killing me to pay for insurance when I drive the car less than 1,000 miles a year these days. If it matters, the car is 30+ years old, so there's no way to put one of those OBD spy things on it to report actual miles driven.

Here on GRM, I've seen that Hagerty will insure my old car, for whatever value I want, but I also read that the car must be garaged. Well, my project lives outside (but off the street and under a car cover).

Is it possible to do this less expensively?

They have an insurance for a "parked for awhile" car. Can't remember the name. Ask your agent. I've done it a few times. It was $15 a month 

It used to be called storage insurance around here, but as the name implies, no driving. 

Call Hagerty and explain what you need.

I have insured the MG with my regular carrier and explained that it was not the DD and only used for limited miles. With three other cars in the fleet and only two drivers, the extra car was pretty cheap to insure.

Isn't this exactly what "Classic" insurance is for?

Duke said:

Isn't this exactly what "Classic" insurance is for?

 

Yes, but in my research, it is incredibly restrictive.  With all three that I tried, it was insured for shows only.  If I were to make a claim and it was at work or the grocery store, I don't get paid and I get dropped.

It's one of the reasons I keep regular insurance on the LeMans.  I want to drive it to work, the parts store, vacation, wherever.

If it's not stored inside I doubt any of the collector car insurance companies will provide coverage.

Our carrier has low-mileage ratings, they just send a form annually & I write down the odo reading on the Miata. I think I have it at 5000-miles annually, but I’m not sure I put a thousand on it in 2019. I believe I’m paying around $200/year for full-coverage on it. 

Do you live somewhere warm & salt free, where the car is driven sporadically all year long?  Or are you like me in new England, where it’s driven sporadically for only half the year?

If the latter, find out if you can drop coverage to comprehensive-only during the months that the car is being stored. I do this every year on my two-season vehicles.  When doing this some carriers will require you to sign an “I swear to baby yoda I won’t drive my car without liability insurance” document, which is no big deal… common practice at least here in CT.

therieldeal said:

Do you live somewhere warm & salt free, where the car is driven sporadically all year long?  Or are you like me in new England, where it’s driven sporadically for only half the year?

If the latter, find out if you can drop coverage to comprehensive-only during the months that the car is being stored. I do this every year on my two-season vehicles.  When doing this some carriers will require you to sign an “I swear to baby yoda I won’t drive my car without liability insurance” document, which is no big deal… common practice at least here in CT.

Be aware, at least a couple states (NY is one) don't allow this.  In NY, if you don't have the required liability, etc. coverage needed to drive the car, you have to de-register it and turn in the plates.  If the DMV finds out you've done this while the car is still registered, they can go as far as license suspension.  

Hagerty covered me with a carport, I thought they had an option for just in a straight up driveway too. They're one of the few companies that will.

In reply to rslifkin :

I assumed that might be the case in some places.

Here in CT if you want to drop insurance completely you can bring the plates to your local DMV, and they will put them “on hold” until you come pick them up. 

The comp insurance route saves you from having to wait in line 2x at the DMV, and of course protects you in case of a comp claim (ice covered tree falls on car etc.)

I put under 100 miles on my 900SE 'vert this year. ~1000 on the 95V4. ~1500 on the 900S. Maybe 3k on the C10. They're all insured through Infinity Auto with agreed values. My insurance broker set it all up, and the total annual premium for this year was $255. They're all stored inside and used sparingly. The only limitation on my policy is mileage.

When we went from State Farm and Hagerty to an insurance broker, our premiums dropped over a grand annually. I can't recommend it enough. Hagerty was EXCELLENT for insuring the older cars like my 99s and V4s, but they really didn't seem to want to deal with the later model stuff. The prices they quoted for my EXP and a couple of 900s were nutty.

Independent insurance brokers are the key. They have resources you've never heard of, and they're working for you instead of the insurance company. Give one a call and see what they recommend.

Thanks for all the responses. I'll get in touch with a local broker and see what I can find out.

I have always carried American Collectors Insurance on my cars that I do not drive all the time.

They insured my M5 full coverage for something like $240 a year. 

I have Allstate and do the comprehensive only option for when I park a car for a couple months to do repairs or for the winter etc. Costs me like $6/month per vehicle.

Another option can be self-insurance, but usually requires like $30k in an account, which is like $29k more than I typically have... probably varies by state so may be more or less or a non-option depending on where you live.