Moved to Insurance Forum. Be sure to check out the previous threads.

 

I use hagerty.

 

Grundy here…

 

Depends on a few things but Hagerty is by far the biggest player in this game; however, they are quite a bit more expensive than Grundy if you only have one collector car on your policy. It gets exponentially cheaper the more cars you have under your policy with Hagerty.

If the Elise is the only car you'll be putting under collector car insurance, I would highly recommend Grundy!

It never hurts to get quotes for both though

 

I have used American Modern, through Classic Auto Insurance Agency in Indianapolis, for many years and am very satisfied with them. Good luck.

 

I've used Hagerty for 25 years and been quite happy with them. I've got 5 collector cars on my policy with a current premium of $871/year. Drivers club is another $70/year upgrade and is worth every cent. Drivers Club gets you a pretty decent magazine, event discounts (this alone saves me more than it costs) and roadside assistance/towing.

Several years back I had a claim on one of my cars that got hit while parked. Hagerty was great to deal with during that process. They made sure my car got fixed and then dealt with the other insurance co. so I didn't have to.

 

Hagerty also offers "Cherished Salvage" which allows you to keep your car if its totaled -without a buy back. I think this is valuable for a Lotus as they are so easy to be declared a total, especially with our clams.

 

I'm currently pricing collector coverage for our Esprit & Elise.

We have used Condon-Skelly though American Family Home Insurance for years. (named value)
In the past they had an association with Lotus, Ltd that provided for unlimited mileage as long as you DROVE to a club event, otherwise 2500 miles each. BUT their price increased 7% last year, and now they want 40% more for 2025-2026!!


This year's research so far, of six insurers, shows a price range of $960 > $1,100 a year. Hagerty and C-S were both ~$960 for two cars. (Who do you know, @JB455 ? And when do your policies renew? )

SO,

My question is, who has needed to place a claim? Any hassles regards the processes? Might come down to that.

 

Haggerty just told me they're no longer writing Elise policies in California

 

I wonder if that is the case for Evoras too; I tried to get a quote online and I was flatly rejected, even though I meet all their requirements and have never filed an insurance claim, ever.

 

Not a Lotus owner (yet) but I've had a good experience with Hagerty. Course I've never filed a claim in the 5 years I've been with them so...basically...they're good at taking my money. Measure of a good insurance company is how easy they give it back if/when you need it.

 

<<RANT>>

It seems that the cost of ALL types of insurance have dramatically increased!

Monthly charges for our health coverage have almost doubled.

And I just read that our municipality is self-insuring some portions of the town's employees, because their premiums increased 40%!!!!

<<RANT OVER>> SIGH

 

Premium costs are driven by two things...increased utilization and cost of care. If you're on a plan with a bunch of older or unhealthy people or folks that like to go to the ER to get medicine for their sniffles.

 

I had a horrible experience with American Collector's. They fought me tooth and nail on getting a proper repair done, because they didn't sufficiently subrogate the claim from the at fault person who hit me. That meant I had to pay above and beyond their settlement to get the repair done correctly. I was shocked by the overall experience, as I am a USAA customer and American Collector's are USAA's recommended classic insurance partner. USAA's claims experience is exceptional. American Collector's isn't. I promptly dropped them and now use Hagerty.

 

I'm also on Hagerty with cherished salvage. Does anyone have experience with claims (road or track), or god forbid actually exercising the cherished salvage?

jc if anyone's run into unpleasant roadblocks

 

My brother had Cherished Salvage on a vintage BMW car that was totaled on the road. They paid out in full in about a week and he kept the car (ended up parting it out). There was absolutely no issues.

 

I don’t think any of the collector car standard policies cover damage during any competition or track event unless you have a special (read very expensive) rider.

 

Hagerty does offer track day insurance. I haven't felt the need to buy it yet, so curious what other folks have been quoted.

 

I was quoted $85/day with agreed value of $30k on '20 Miata RF. Its less if you just accept the totaled value

 

I have Grundy on a Europa. They will let you set your value amount. I pay a little more but it covers the time and money in mods. If my car say, burns or is stolen, I'll be covered much more than blue book.