Gary Gandy, Underwriting Manager,...
Gary Gandy, Underwriting Manager, and Ford Heacock, President, are among the serious car enthusiasts at Heacock Classic. They are pictured with Ford's 1967 air-coupe, which was judged Top Flight by NCRS.
Road side assistance is also offered and that is an option worth considering for older cars. For $10 a year, flatbed towing is covered if the insured car breaks down, needs a jump-start, runs out of gas, gets a flat or the keys get locked inside. If the car isn't ready for the road yet, it's good to know that it can be insured during restoration. For race cars, old or new, Heacock Classic offers a special insurance policy which covers the vehicles during storage, transit and while in the paddock. And for car clubs, they have developed a new program which offers $1,000,000 general liability insurance for car shows.
Heacock Classic is a specialty niche provider that is part of Heacock Insurance Group, which offers all lines of insurance from personal and auto to home and business. Although Heacock Classic doesn't require or even ask car collectors to switch their family auto policies, they do now offer coverage plans for motorcycles and boats (classic or contemporary) as well as recreational vehicles. The home office is in Lakeland, Florida, but they can insure cars anywhere in the country. Customers can deal direct or through any of nearly 2,000 local independent agents.
Collector Car Insurance can help many Corvette owners obtain better coverage and save a lot of money. After all, there are much more pleasant things to spend that money on. New parts and accessories. Road trips. Track time. And if you need any more suggestions on what to do with that saved money, just contact any of our advertisers.
Ford Heacock grew up witnessing...
Ford Heacock grew up witnessing the Corvette racing action at Sebring, which was up close and personal. His grandfather (Ford Sr.) was the first local chairman of the Sebring 12 Hours of Endurance.
No matter what the age of the car, the most important consideration is how it's used. All the drivers in the household need to have a daily driver to substantiate that the car will be used like a collector car. In other words, the car will be used only for special occasions like car shows and Corvette meets. It still can be used occasionally to go to dinner or take friends for a ride, but it can't be used for a daily commute to work.
How the car is used is more readily apparent for some makes than others. For example, there's not much question when it comes to a Ford GT. It's a good bet that it won't be used as a commuter car. However, late-model Corvettes are very user-friendly and easily driven so don't be surprised if an insurance company needs assurance on how it will be used. One thing that is reassuring to the insurance company: more than one collector car in the garage. This is because the profile for the best policy is a person who has more than one collector car.
The documentation required to obtain collector car insurance is straightforward. A copy of the family auto policy declaration page is needed to show the drivers in the household and the cars they use. As mentioned before, there has to be an insured daily-use car for each driver in the household. The declarations page also shows the current insurance limits which helps in choosing the limits for the new collector car policy.
Heacock requires photos of each car on the collector car policy and a photo of the garage where they are (or it is) stored. Heacock Classic seldom needs an appraisal because their team has a broad knowledge of market values. The only time they require an appraisal is when they are not comfortable with the value the customer wants to insure a car for.
The amount of mileage the car is driven each year can affect policy costs. With some collector car policies, the insured can save money by selecting different mileage ranges. The lowest rates are for cars driven under one thousand miles per year, such as trailer queens. However, other Heacock Classic policies offer the choices of 3,000 and a remarkable 6,000 miles per year. There are also special rates for race cars and museum collections.