I carry USAA for all my cars. Since we only have old cars, and drive the
tar out of them, collector policies don't really make sense for our
family. I've had two USAA claims on old cars. The first was my '72 BMW
2002 in a hailstorm around 2001. The coverage was "replacement value" as
is my TR4 now. I had to put in a little time researching and educating
the adjustors, but ultimately it turned out well. Their first offer was
$1250 based on the only rocky mountain region newspaper advert they
could find. Nowadays they'd find lots comparables online. After some
cajoling on the phone, they noticed a collector car value guide laying
around their office and offered $3000, which I accepted. I'd bought the
car for $3500 in '97. They said salvage value was $900, so I kept the
car and got a check for $2100. I drove the car another 2 or 3 years
before selling it for $1800.
Second claim: I ran the Triumph into a Ford Explorer 5 years ago. The
repair estimate was $3500. They had my photos on file, and looked up the
value of the car in their guide then said "yep, that's definitely worth
fixing. We have no idea where to have your car fixed, so just pick a
specialist and have it done." They direct paid the shop, my favorite
local British car specialist, and the guys did a great job. I heard
later they beat up the shop owner on price, but he didn't mention it
till a year or two ago.
A totalled or stolen Triumph may be harder. But if you can prove the
condition of your car -- say with regular photos and car show awards or
whatever -- then it's relatively easy to find comparables and establish
the cost to replace a car. If you spent $50K on a restoration, you won't
get your money back, but you wouldn't when you sold it either. If your
car is mechanically in great condition, and you have receipts to prove
it, that counts a little. Again, you don't get your money back, but you
should be able to narrow the list of comparable cars to those in similar
cosmetic and mechanical condition for purposes of establishing a value.
It might not be enough to restore a family heirloom, but it would be
enough to buy another nice Triumph and drive it hard.
Steven
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