Grundy Insurance is based in Horsham, Pennsylvania and has been providing coverage to collectors of all kinds of vintage things, from cars to wine collections, since 1955. When other classic car insurance companies were just thinking of getting started, by 1981 Grundy had already written over a million classic car insurance policies. If you’re seeking out classic car insurance, there are reasons to opt for Grundy (hint: the cost) rather than some of the more recognized companies.
If you’ve been seeking out classic car insurance coverage, you’ve probably visited a few forums, or asked a few questions in Facebook groups about it. Invariably, one of the top responses to questions on classic car insurance is Grundy. They’ve been in the collector car insurance business a long, long time, and they’ve figured out how to offer a low-cost policy that still works for its business model. We’ll get to how Grundy does that in a bit.
Beyond the policy premiums, a key difference between Grundy and most other collector car insurance plans is the mileage you’re allowed to put on a car. Like most competitors, Grundy does require that you have a daily driver registered and insured. For most people in the collector car hobby, that’s not an onerous stipulation. Most people who own cars “of a certain age” aren’t really interested in driving them every single day, and usually they have another vehicle registered anyway, whether it’s something newer or a “beater with a heater” that they use to get them through the winter months.
Grundy doesn’t place mileage limits on their classic car policies, though, which is a key differentiator. If you feel like driving your classic car on a circuit of the four corners of the contiguous United States, you don’t have to call ahead to make sure you’re covered. You are, and you can just drive the car and not think about it. Other insurers will either set hard mileage caps, or seriously frown on driving your car more than 7,500 miles a year. If you are thinking about driving your car a lot, the mileage leniency may be your go/no-go indicator.
On the negative side of the ledger, Grundy does require that you have a locked garage to store your car in.
Back to the other key differentiator for Grundy: the low-cost premiums. It’s a little misleading because the default for a policy at Grundy is a $500 deductible. You reduce or eliminate the deductible by paying a little more in the premiums, but that puts Grundy’s rates in competitive distance of the rest of the bigger classic car insurers. But it’s definitely something worth thinking about: If you make a claim against your classic car insurance policy, things have gone really, really badly. According to several people we’ve talked to at the major classic car insurance companies, more likely than not, that claim is going to be for fire damage. The second thing on the list is theft. Classic car insurance claims ares hardly ever for collision damage because people who drive these cars tend to drive them with a lot more care and caution than they do their daily driver. A $500 deductible against a car that might be worth $30,000 is pretty easy to accept if things have gone really haywire.
Like all of the classic car insurance policies worth buying, Grundy writes insurance on an “agreed value” basis, meaning that both you and the insurance company come to an agreement on what the car’s worth. If something bad happens and the car is totaled, you get a check for that amount, less any deductible.
All of the major classic car insurers work pretty much the same. After almost 75 years, Grundy really has it down to a science:
These are the things that are more restrictive than traditional insurance coverage. But their are benefits that hugely outweigh those limitations:
Again, beware of comparing these rates with those of Hagery and American Collectors Insurance, because these rates were quoted with a $500 deductible in place. Nevertheless, they’re significantly less expensive than the competition, and you may be willing to sacrifice the five hundred bucks rather than paying a hundred bucks more for coverage every year.
Vehicle Type | Grundy Worldwide |
---|---|
Spare parts coverage is capped at $500. Restoration coverage included. $500 deductible. | |
1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS - With 90k miles and valued at $10,000 | $120 |
1966 Ford Mustang Coupe - With 80k miles and valued at $17,800 | $151 |
1977 Mercedes-Benz 280SL - With 85k miles and valued at $11,000 | $94 |
1999 BMW M Coupe - With 25k miles and valued at $32,000 | $272 |
1974 Alfa Romeo Spider - With 29k miles and valued at $16,000 | $136 |
1966 MG MGB - With 84k miles and valued at $13,000 | $111 |
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe | $420 |
1970 Chevrolet C10 Pickup | $290 |
Compare quotes from multiple providers to get a good deal.
You can’t answer that without understanding your particular situation. There are times when Grundy Insurance is the best, and others when American Collectors Insurance is better. If you were interested in insuring your entire fleet, including RVs, motorcycles and daily drivers, Grundy may be your best bet.
At a minimum, Grundy covers all cars that are over 25 years of age, collectible or otherwise. Beyond that, they’ll cover anything that’s broadly described as a “muscle car” or an “exotic,” no matter what the year. If you have a 2021 Lamborghini Huracan, they’ll cover it, no questions asked. Maybe not with your 2021 Subaru WRX, though, unless you’re part of the MVP program. That’s where you’ll have to contact an agent and plead your case.
Yes, choosing a classic car insurer is the cheapest way to get insurance, by far. If you go with a conventional insurer, you’re not only going to pay more for comprehensive coverage, you’re going to get LESS for your car if something happens to it. Most insurers are going to give you “book value” for your car, which is almost always less than you paid for it.
With Grundy, it’s anything 25 years old or older. But they also offer coverage on “exotics” and “muscle cars,” but you want to get in touch with them because those two descriptors can be pretty broad.
Grundy is the leader here, because they have no mileage cap. The competitors usually cap mileage between 5,000 and 7,500 miles per year.
You can, but you need conventional insurance to do that.
If you insure through Grundy and you live within the limitations of classic car insurance, you get comprehensive insurance as part of the deal, and it’ll be cheaper than if you just got compulsory insurance through a traditional insurer.