But while we have a strong portfolio of high profile stars and their beloved cars on our books, the bulk of our classic and supercar collection policyholders are not looking to invite TV broadcasters onto their estates to walk them around every last vehicle they’ve invested in. Quite the contrary – these auto lovers want to be left alone to enjoy their cars, safe in the knowledge that they’re fully covered in the event that anything should happen to their collection.
The collections we cover comprise a plethora of Prestige and Classic vehicles, from showpiece supercars to weekend classics to professional high-end vehicles. They start at anything from two cars or more - owned by a single policyholder; that’s because even insuring a collection of 2-4 vehicles can be an arduous process in the hands of an inexperienced or online-only insurer. Such insurers often lack the versality to factor in elements such as individual vehicle use cases – e.g. recognising that a Classic Mustang Thrill sat in its own specially-built garage is not going to be used or treated the same way as a new Tesla Model 3.
No two collections are the same
Creating bespoke policies for vehicle collections has always been one of our specialisms, and we employ underwriters dedicated to understanding the risk behind the most complex collections.
This in turn requires a detailed understanding of every owner’s risk profile. For example, one of our collections is worth upwards of £60 million and includes individual vehicles worth several million pounds each. But of course, these ridiculously high value vehicles are not going to be on the road regularly. We make it our business to work out how an owner intends to use each and every vehicle.
Different vehicle valuations also mean that no two collections look the same; in a larger collection it greatly increases the complexity, particularly if high value cars are stored alongside comparatively inexpensive peers, increasing the exposure of the overall collection, e.g. in the event of a fire.
All factors considered
Equally, there are security risks to consider, raising the question of whether it’s better to house the collection in multiple locations, or to have each location independently surveyed by a qualified professional who can get a better sense of the customer and their individual risk profile. We’ve just partnered with Bloomfield Risk Management for precisely this reason: it’s a conversation that could save the owner a large amount of money in the long-run.
We can then add to this the complexity of having multiple drivers insured against specific vehicles (but not necessarily all of them!). The lower ratio of drivers to vehicles, the lower the overall risk – there’s another conversation that needs to take place ahead of time with the owner in case they’re minded to add every family member to the collection for ease, without realising how much it will increase the cost of the policy.
A safe pair of hands
As you can see, vehicle collection underwriting for classics and supercars requires a competent and assured pair of hands. In the event that the mother of all accidents occurs, collection owners need the peace of mind that they’ll at least be able to claim the correct valuation for the damage – for brokers, this means they need an insurer with sound financial security (such as that guaranteed by a Lloyds A+ rating. More likely, however, is that claims may be made from time to time in the event of damage to individual vehicles. Work with a skilled underwriter to get the overall collection policy right, and you’ll ensure that your customer will be spared the torment and bureaucracy and left free to get back to bask in the beauty of their collection once more.
For Classic Car risks: classicquotes@ers.com | 0345 600 3890
For Supercar risks: prestige@ers.com | 0333 241 2445
