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insurance rant and question... sorry!

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: insurance rant and question... sorry!
From: William Killeffer <wkilleffer@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 19:12:31 -0500
Hello,
I know the subject of car insurance has just about been done to death 
here, and that I'm part of the problem. But I'm just a little pi$$ed at 
this moment.

Not long ago, I followed some advice to look into the classic car 
insurance offered by Grundy Worldwide. Their website made it look quite 
promising, but the materials I received in the mail pretty much blew 
that to bits. I was really looking forward to saving a bit of bread on 
car insurance as with four cars, the bill can be a bit much at times. I 
understood that there would be some restrictions on what sort of driving 
would be acceptable use. But the language used on some of their forms is 
worded in such a way that they could possibly deny a claim even though 
you thought you were following all the rules! Of course, that can be SOP 
in the insurance biz, and God forbid that you should actually have to 
file a claim for any reason, but s**t happens and I'm sure that we've 
all had at least one wreck or similar incident. It also took two weeks 
and two phone calls to get the info, but I digress...

It would be nice to think that I would actually be able to drive the car 
from time to time, but with coverage like that, I'll be too afraid to 
take it out of the garage. It will make its gradual evolution into the 
garage and trailer queen that companies like Grundy probably want it to 
be. Our car club is thinking about working with the SCCA in town to put 
together a mini-rally and autocross as there is an element of interest 
and alot of the members used to do stuff like that with their cars. Even 
though it would be a club event, coverage could be denied if something 
happened. Sometimes SCCA has some insurance, but you can't count on that.

Now, I'm about to turn 29 so I can't speak for the really young. I don't 
claim to be cool or hip. But I can tell you that few if any young people 
that I know would be interested in owning a trailer queen. Try and 
overlook some of the odd modifications that some of the "youts" have 
done to their cars and recognize that those cars are driven, used, 
abused sometimes but enjoyed overall. That's what our cars were made 
for. Unless you're like me and you don't like driving the B in the rain, 
there's no reason that your car shouldn't be out in pretty weather. 
Leaving them to moulder in the garage is a terrible injustice IMHO. In 
fact, doing such is probably a danger to our hobby's future. Gary 
Anderson said it very well in this issue of British Car.

I think my ranting is over. Now, my question is will your regular 
insurance company provide enough coverage so that you're comfortable 
driving your British car on a regular basis? I've only got liability 
right now, but I'm about to switch to Nationwide, the same company that 
does my homeowner's coverage. Some people have said that they use their 
LBC as a commuting vehicle except during the winter. If you're willing, 
please send me a private email about some of the details of your 
coverage, what you had to tell the company, etc. I'm not asking to have 
the car completely rebuilt or replaced after a wreck or theft, but it 
would be nice to think that I would have some level of protection, so 
that I could drive the car to work sometimes (the co-workers love it) or 
run errands or just take off for no rhyme or reason to go wherever the 
road takes me. This issue has been burning me up for some time. I guess 
today was the day for the eruption. Thank you all for your patience and 
assistance.
-William Killeffer
1997 Chevy S-10
1993 Ford Explorer
1993 BMW 325is
1974 MGB

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