Hagerty Insurance nearly doubled my premium in California

[CDXXVII]

WTF?? Are there any set policies on what an insurer can do? Nothing has changed with me in several years. No accidents, no claims, 53 years old, excellent credit rating, no traffic infractions. What would cause my policy premium to nearly double?

Hagerty has been my biggest bait and switch experience yet. All the other carriers would just slowly up my premium until I would shop it out and change. The options in CA are getting limited as Infinity pulled out last year.

Seems like every year I need to call Robin at Midwest for advice.

Just venting!! It’s tough with everything else this year.

[Ray]

Call Robynn at Mid-West. He found another company for me and dropped the rate by 1/3rd.

https://www.midwestclassicinsurance.com/

Ray

[mburger]

Just curious, and wanting you to make another post to change your count, what was you annual premium and coverage?
I have Hagerty and my annual is $630 ish for $43,000 value. Includes roadside and “drivers club” etc. I’m in FL

[House Money]

Have you looked at Grundy? I had Hagerty for years on my '79 Trans-Am. Switched to Grundy a few years ago for about half price. I have a $25K agreed value and pay $225 a year. Not to the point of insuring my truck yet.

Gary

[Papa]

Insurance premiums are primarily based on risk to the insurance company and factor in not only your records, but also other claims they may have paid in your area for similarly rated vehicles. It's pure voodoo magic!

[NiceGuyEddie]

Very strange - I don't want to post the numbers publicly so I'll send a P/M.

Normally I'd be faithful to to Midwest, but Hagerty was WAY less expensive - even Robbin was surprised. The Hagerty had unlimited mileage and they actually encouraged me to drive the car. I don't drive the car very often.

I hope they don't bait and switch me next year when it comes to renewal in about 8 months.

[CDXXVII]

Very strange - I don't want to post the numbers publicly so I'll send a P/M.

Normally I'd be faithful to to Midwest, but Hagerty was WAY less expensive - even Robbin was surprised. The Hagerty had unlimited mileage and they actually encouraged me to drive the car. I don't drive the car very often.

I hope they don't bait and switch me next year when it comes to renewal in about 8 months.



Hagerty did exactly that to me. Bait and switch. Last year I started getting the run around with Infinity and they delayed getting a renewal to me. They claimed they were no longer writing new policy in California. Regardless, Infinity was required to provide a renewal to me and they were really dragging their feet. Hagerty reached out and gave me a great premium well below Infinity and just like in your case, Robbin was really surprised. No deductibles, better coverage, great mileage, perfect agreed upon value. It sounded too good to be true so I had the agent at Hagerty run everything again to make certain. All was supposedly good so I switched and was as happy as can be. My renewal this year nearly doubled in cost. The agent at Hagerty tried to blame it on the California insurance commissioner and quickly got testy when I questioned him further to explain.

Robbin at Midwest is switching me back to American Modern at a rate I was accustomed to before the stupid stunt by Hagerty. I have no respect any business that pulls this crap.

All is good now and always remember that Robbin at Midwest can and will take care of us.

[CDXXVII]

Call Robynn at Mid-West. He found another company for me and dropped the rate by 1/3rd.

https://www.midwestclassicinsurance.com/

Ray


I did speak with Robbin this morning and all is good. He is switching me back to American Modern. Robbin has been my main resource from the beginning. He was aware about the Hagerty move. Supposedly Hagerty was picking up all the policies from Infinity in California and claimed that this was why the rates were so great. Total scam and I am not too happy with how they tried to take advantage in such a challenging year. Robbin is definitely a great resource and always works in our best interest. Could not ask for more.

One thing that has bothered me the most with insuring collector cars is how volatile it can be. This will be my forth switch with regards to classic car insurers in the past 6 years. These companies are worse than cable TV providers.

[Papa]

I've been with American National for 13 years and have had two different collector cars insured with them over that time. I also have my regular cars and home insured with them and I've never had any problems. I've never needed to file a claim on the collector cars, but have had to file a few claims on the regular cars as well as the home. My house was hit by a tornado that did about $10k in damage to two of my cars that were in the driveway. A year later, my two daughters each wrecked their cars just days apart from each other. One was a total loss and the other about $2k to another car. Two years ago, we had to replace our roof due to hail damage. All these claims were handled without issues and my rates remained unchanged other than normal inflation; no big jumps resulting from the claims.

[Dewey McBride]

I'm in the exact same boat (or car). Hagerty just raised my rates from $349 to $565 with only 3 days notice before they bill me. Robin is changing my carrier as well. I just sent him updated pictures of my car this morning.

What a scam. A 38% increase with no warnings! Looks like I'm going to American National as well.

[NC Cobra]

You might look at State Farm as an alternative. When I bought my car I also checked with Robin but after digging into what was covered with collector coverage I decided to bundle policies with S.F. Rates I pay are very reasonable and they cover more daily driver type of activities like the occaisional trip into work on a sunny day. After much consideration I felt like the coverage they offered was better aligned with the type of use I planned for the car. Strongly suggest that you are upfront in these conversations with the broker so you make sure you get what you think you are paying for. Surprises are not what you want in the aftermath of an accident.

That having been said, I have the utmost respect for Robin. Very nice guy and I think it says a lot that he was so forthcoming as to how his policy was structured. He definately understands the market and our cars very well and is certainly worth giving a call.

[mikey likes it!]

I have had Midwest for 10 years. Last year I received a policy quote from Hagerty for double that of Midwest. This quote seemed to say that Midwest was no longer insuring my cobra thru Infinity. California law says as long as you pay for your insurance policy on time.... You cannot be cancelled. Robin at Midwest confirmed it to me. Soooooo. when you receive other insurance policies, don't pay the amount, and call Midwest to verify that you will receive your annual policy from them and make sure to pay it to continue your coverage thru Midwest Insurance. This is only applicable in California, as far as I know...

[wareaglescott]

I had infinity through Robin and got notice last year they were not doing my state any longer. Asked Robin for the best option and it was Hagerty at the exact same price. That really surprised me because when I was doing the build and looking for insurance Hagerty was much more expensive which led me to Robin in the first place. I am fully expecting I got a one year good deal and they will be jacking up my rate next year.
I now have the Cobra, ‘79 911 and ‘67 Camaro on the policy. Hope I can continue to find what I consider reasonable rates as the years go on.

[Dewey McBride]

Thank you Robin at Midwest! I just got off the phone with Robin and now have a new carrier. Hagerty really did a bait and switch on me by raising the cost from $350 to $565 for no reason. Last year when Hagerty took on all the new policies, they just mirrored them to get the business. After a year the policies are adjusted to normal Hagerty premiums. Now I'm with American National for less than $400.

[Midwest Classic Ins]

WTF?? Are there any set policies on what an insurer can do? Nothing has changed with me in several years. No accidents, no claims, 53 years old, excellent credit rating, no traffic infractions. What would cause my policy premium to nearly double?

Hagerty has been my biggest bait and switch experience yet. All the other carriers would just slowly up my premium until I would shop it out and change. The options in CA are getting limited as Infinity pulled out last year.

Seems like every year I need to call Robin at Midwest for advice.

Just venting!! It’s tough with everything else this year.

It was a pleasure talking with you today. Stay safe out there in the Bay area and if you need anything please do not hesitate to call or email me at robbin@midwestclassicins.com. Have a great week.

Robbin
Midwest Classic Insurance

[JENNY5309]

Your state seems to have a lot of fires. That adds risk. and TOTAL loss claims.
You should have seen this coming.

[NiceGuyEddie]

I hope they don't bait and switch me next year when it comes to renewal in about 8 months.

HAPPENED - Hagerty hit me up with a 72% increase after the first year. There is no mileage limit. I'm asking if there is a lesser policy with say 1,000 mile a year limit, otherwise I'm out. My renewal price is almost as much as my Toyota Tacoma.

[cob427sc]

Is this just a California issue with Hagerty? My car is with Hagerty and did not change from last year when I renewed in July.

[turbomacncheese]

It's pure voodoo magic!

Pretty close. I went back to school late and dropped into an actuarial career. I only sat 4 exams (last one kicked my butt) befit all heck broke loose with covid. At my first actuarial job I got to do a LOT of cool stuff, including pricing (albeit medical, not property). In medical insurance, how long you've been on a plan or since your last underwriting (with exam) correlates to medical costs (aka risk). Doesn't make sense for car insurance (nobody stays healthy forever, and if you're already sick, you probably get better or die, but a safe driver is probably a safe driver and generally incurrs more risk from other drivers by putting more miles on the road).
What DOES happen in all types of insurance, though (except government insurance like Medicaid) is sales. The office will generally push to get lower rates so they can get business, and first year insurance may even be sold at a loss because many people won't bother to shop it the second year, even with a moderate increase. The rate generally consists of the actuarial value (voodoo magic and loss adjustment tables), business profit targets, operating and administrative costs, and sales commisions.
My guess is that they either went real hard on the first year discount, had REALLY bad risk pool experience last year, or somebody pasted a value into the wrong column. I've only seen two types of models so far. Black box propietary software that takes inputs and spits out rates (which makes it impossible to goof up calculations, but difficult to recognize or track down rate change causes) and Excel models (which are easier to track and verify, but also easier to foul up).
I've seen both models screw up rates, but I've also seen administraters yelling at reinsurers over the phone about not being able to get new business thanks to rate increases.

[NiceGuyEddie]

Is this just a California issue with Hagerty? My car is with Hagerty and did not change from last year when I renewed in July.

Yes, there was some kind of weird thing with Hagerty where Midwest Classics was a broker for Hagerty, and one year Hagerty would no longer make new policies in California but they were obliged to honor existing ones. So Hagerty offered me a cheap policy directly. Something like that.

I'm waiting to hear an explanation from Hagerty before I call Robbin.