Do you have Insurance on your project truck?

[Alxj64]

Sorry if this is in the wrong subforum but I figured it could kinda fit in here...

Who has insurance on their truck that is in parts sitting either in their yard or their garage. As I start to invest quite a bit of time and money into my Carryall, it has dawned on me a concern of insurance coverage. The truck is being worked on inside of my detached garage but at the same time its still considered a vehicle. I remember when I purchased my homeowners insurance, something about the vehicle in the garage not being covered by the homeowners insurance but the vehicle insurance would cover it instead. This would prevent my homeowners insurance for being liable for someone elses vehicle being in my garage or driveway if the house burnt down. So, with that in mind, I called today to ask about the detached garage and the fact that I have an incomplete vintage WWII truck in a state of quite impressive disrepair. The girl I spoke with informed me that since I now had a legitimate title for the vehicle and the jurisdiction I live in is charging me personal property tax for a vehicle that in order for it to be insured by a policy that it must have an automotive policy on it and that the homeowners policy will not cover it if my garage were to have a tree fall on it, or if the whole place were to burn down. The non-vehicle items in it would be covered such as my tools and materials but anything regarding the truck would have to be under a vehicle specific clause.

This raised another point. The vehicle in question would be assigned a value based on the VIN, Mileage, and year and make. I asked her if she knew what a 1942 WC53 Carryall is and if they even had that in their NADA guide book or whatever. She said that it would take contacting a special agent to be able to assign a value to the truck. One thing that I did do that was smart was when I filled out the paperwork for the title correction, I had the truck changed to Diesel on the title so that way if something were to happen, they would need to find me a Diesel carryall or pay out the value of such a vehicle. This narrows my pool of vehicles to a pretty narrow window. I forsee an insurance apraisalist visiting my home on the regular just to keep myself protected.

I know this seems super paranoid, but the whole reason I was able to obtain this truck was based on an insurance company completely bailing on their obligations to the previous owner and I really don't want something to happen to this vehicle again and for me to be left standing there with a destoyed truck and nothing to show for it.

So who has insurance on their project? Any hoops to jump through? Special policy? Whats your situation?

[Bob2]

Insurance on truck

My homeowners insurance covers mine until I put it on the road. I have Hartford insurance.

[Desoto61]

The same thoughts have bugging me, and I have to say I've been too lazy to delve into it. The easiest way to insure it will be to put it on a Hagerty or similar antique vehicle policy. Most are agreed value policies so you can easily set a higher value based upon the work and money in the vehicle and the prices are very reasonable since its limited use (or no use right now). My Desoto is insured for about $7k and it costs about $150/year.

Now once its done it will be a different challenge. Like you I plan to use this truck regularly, which means you can't technically license or insure it as an antique vehicle. No one would probably ever call you on it around us but per the letter of the law..

I'm not sure I want to know what my regular car insurance company will want for regular insurance on my truck once complete.

[DrPepper]

Desoto has it right.....

Technically it could be considered part of your household and not require "motor vehicle" insurance. But, the minute you move it with licence plate and title it should have vehicle insurance. I got a policy thru Haggarty, stated value of $5500 (3 years ago) at ~$129/year. When I back it onto the street and turn it around it wouldn't bother me if the local fuzz came around the corner and decided to gripe. All the paperwork is in order, no brakes or lights but hay, don't get picky, it's older than most cops. LOL
DrPepper

[Alxj64]

State Farm is the company I am with and they have been fairly good to me so far. The people I deal with directly are wonderful, but the corporate level has tried to run me through the ringer in the past. I fought them tooth and nail and got my way, but it was not without a decent sum of effort.

I spoke with them again about the situation with my truck and am placing a "Comprehensive" plan on the vehicle. I was told that as I restore the truck to keep advertisements for other similar vehicles. This way if anything happens to my truck there is already a reasonable collection of values on components and complete vehicles, etc. The Hagerty insurance probably won't work for me to use mine as my final intentions are, which are long trips towing an Airstream trailer and plenty of weekend trips to the beach. Like you said above though I doubt anyone would check, but then again my luck something would happen and it would come up in court or in some round about manner. And also knowing major insurance companies they would try to sneak out on a "using the vehicle in an un-approved manner" as I imagine their antique clauses per state fall within similar guidlines of usage.

Anyways, the insurance agent told me that the key to having my regular insurance company carry a custom claim for me once the truck is built is to have a ton of documentation of the sale prices of these trucks, receipts for parts, listings for parts, as well as having the truck apraised by an estimator. This works out well even now as I am getting ready to rebuild my tailgate and John Bizel listed some of his on Ebay for $1,500 and indicates that once his are gone there are no-more, so if my rear gate ever gets smashed, I have a 2013 price benchmark on the item, regardless of the fact that I built my own. Also, I have noticed that Legacy has added a Carryall option to their website, and I am hoping that they complete one here soon as I could use their advertised price as a benchmark to compare my truck to. Desoto, it is possible that you could use the details of the Legacy Power Wagon trucks as a comparison for the value of your truck.

However, the downside to using such a high value vehicle for a comparison is you are going to pay premium rates for the insurance. But as long as I KNOW that my insurance company is going to help fix things, or even pay a fair price if my truck needs fixing, then I am okay with paying a high rate on the truck. Its no different than buying a $75,000 car. Its going to cost a lot to fix it so the risk of paying out is higher so the insurance is high. Plain and simple.

[Desoto61]

State Farm blew me off a few years ago so I have no love of them but that's another story. If they are willing to work it out with you then good. I do agree on the type of policy for the type of use we are intending, but while its currently in the build phase I think the antique policy could be a cheaper and easier way to cover the project. Then when the time comes to put a plate on it I'll have to look into a policy with my regular insurance company.