We all love classic cars, but not all old cars are worth purchasing comprehensive insurance. Many factors will affect on whether it’s worth or not. As you already know, comprehensive insurance protects your car against non-collision damages.
In this article, we'll explore the pros and cons of purchasing comprehensive insurance for older vehicles and provide some tips on how to save money on your insurance premiums.
What is Comprehensive Insurance?
Comprehensive insurance is a coverage option that will protect your vehicle against non-collision damages such as, theft, vandalism, natural disasters (fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes), falling objects (trees, rocks, debris, hails), even your comprehensive insurance will cover animal-related damages like when squirrels or rats bite your vehicle’s electric wires or when you hit a deer in the middle or a boar of the road.
However, all these comprehensive insurance policies have several exclusions so you should check declaration page of your policy. Remember, comprehensive coverage won’t cover collision damages.
You may be interested to read my post related to this question:
The Ultimate Guide to Comprehensive Coverage for Beginners
Why Purchase Comprehensive Insurance for Older Vehicles?
We all know cheap old cars are not worth as much as newer vehicles, but many people those cheap old cars are a significant investment. As mentioned above, comprehensive insurance will cover the repair costs of your vehicle when suffering a natural disaster (just like what every year happens in Florida or California).
Let’s put an example:
You have a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado, that one is quite cheap, it may costs around $4,800 to $5,500. At the same time, this car model tends to be stolen more than others. Someone steals your car and they used it to break into a shop window and seal everything inside that shop. If you have comprehensive insurance, your car insurer will cover all the damage expenses caused during that theft.
Factors to Consider When Deciding Whether to Purchase Comprehensive Insurance for Older Vehicles
All depends on several factors you must consider when you decide whether to purchase comprehensive insurance for an old vehicle or not, let’s explain it below:
The age of your vehicle: If you’re driving a 35-year old vehicle, your car will be considered as a classic, and we all know classic cars may need more repairs and their safety devices won’t be the same than newer cars. You may be interested to read my post related to classical cars: Comprehensive coverage for classic cars: What you need to know
Your old car’s actual cash value: If you are driving an old car that is worth $5,000, you may not be interested in comprehensive insurance, specially when you’re planning to buy a new vehicle soon. However, if you’re driving a 1969 Pontiac Firebird that is worth around $50,000, you should add comprehensive coverage to protect your investment.
If your finances are bad, you’re driving an old cheap car that is not worth $3,000 and you can’t afford to buy a new car in the future. You may consider to add comprehensive coverage to help you paying the repair expenses if you live in a neighborhood where car thefts are common or you live in Florida, as you know Florida faces hurricanes every year.
Alternatives to Comprehensive Insurance for Older Vehicles
If you think you don’t need comprehensive insurance for your old car, you have several alternatives you can consider:
You can just buy the mandatory liability coverage. However, that won’t pay your car’s repair or replacement expenses. This coverage will only pay the repair and medical costs of the accidents that you are at fault.
You can add collision coverage, but that only depends on several specific scenarios such as, you’re going to insure a classic car or your finances are bad and you may need help to pay the repair bills in case you suffer an accident.
You can add personal injury protection (PIP), that coverage option will pay the medical expenses in case you of your passengers suffer an accident while you drive regardless who is at fault.
How to Save Money on Comprehensive Insurance for Older Vehicles
After considering if you want to add comprehensive insurance for your old car, you still can save some money on your premiums:
If your finances are good, and you're a safe driver, you can increase your deductibles. This way your car insurer will now you won’t file a claim that lightly, making your premiums decrease. You can read my post talking about this topic: How to Choose the Right Comprehensive Coverage Insurance Deductible.
Another good way to save money on comprehensive insurance for older vehicles is requesting several quotes, just like 5 or 6 quotes, to different car insurers. This way you can compare the rates from different car insurers, perhaps you find one of them who offers you the same coverage for less money or perhaps they have the same coverage for the same money but they offer you more benefits on your policy. You may be interested to read one of my posts related to compare quotes: How to Compare Comprehensive Coverage Policies.
You can always bundle your homeowner or renter’s insurance with your car insurance, this way you will obtain great discounts.
You can always apply for your car insurer’s discounts. This way you could save some money, try adding good driver discount, early renewal, or paperless discounts. You may be interested to read more about the possible discounts you can obtain on your comprehensive insurance for older vehicles: How to Get Comprehensive Coverage Car Insurance Discounts.
You can always obtain discounts by adding safety devices such as, anti-theft alarm or anti-lock breaks.
When Comprehensive Insurance for Older Vehicles is Not Worth It
Some old vehicles could avoid purchasing comprehensive insurance. Let’s put some examples to explain all the possible situations when comprehensive insurance for older vehicles is not worth:
When the actual cash actual cash value of your old vehicle is not worth $3,000 and you’re going to purchase a new vehicle, you should avoid adding comprehensive insurance. The main reason why is you will have to pay like $300 extra per year for your policy for a car that is not worth the money to insure it with that amount of protection while driving.
You shouldn’t purchase comprehensive insurance for your old car if you’re not going to drive that old vehicle so often, and you’re storing it in a safe place like a garage.
Conclusion
When you purchase comprehensive insurance for older vehicle, you’re protecting that old car from non-collision damages. However, you must consider whether purchasing it for your old vehicle or not, everything depends on some specific situations such as, you’re going to buy a new car soon, the actual cash value of your vehicle or your finances.
As you know, adding comprehensive insurance for your old car will make your premiums to increase, so you should apply for your car insurer’s discounts, increase your deductibles, bundle your policies, or adding some safety devices to your vehicle.
Everything depends on your personal financial situations, if your situation is good, and you’re going to change your vehicle soon, you are not going to drive so often or your then you shouldn’t purchase this coverage option for your vehicle.
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