From the Front Lines: Classic Cars

How did you get started at your agency?

I started working for an insurance company right out of school, and after doing that for a few years, I moved over to the agency side. I was there for about two years before connecting with my current business partner. We started our agency in 2000.

Why classic cars?

We currently have two offices in the Milwaukee area, and between them, we insure about 3,000 households. We deal with a lot of folks in personal insurance who have these collector cars as a hobby.

Biggest classic car changes?

Due to some technological advances, I’d say it’s actually easier to get a policy than in the past. We don’t need tangible, physical photos anymore—a lot of that can be done electronically. It makes that process a little more seamless. It’s less work and just easier for everyone all around.

Biggest classic car challenges?

Even with the customers we have, getting people to understand that the barrier for them to actually obtain a collector car policy and improve the coverage they have is really very low. Some people have just a small hobby car and don’t realize they’re missing out on some better coverages that are available.

Future of classic car insurance?

I think it’s really a generational question. Are young people today going to have the means to pick up a hobby like this? Are they going to want to continue to do that like the previous generation has? With everything that’s available to us as far as hobbies, are people going to want to spend time in their garages and tinker with their cars? That would be a potential concern.

Classic car advice for a fellow agent?

Make sure you’re doing your due diligence, asking the questions, and bringing up the opportunity to the policyholders—that this is an option that’s available to them with little work. It’s not like they have to go out and get a professional appraisal. A lot of the work is done based on the overall condition of the car and certain values that are available.

Favorite classic car success story?

We have one customer who’s got a number of collector cars. He’s purchasing cars internationally, and it’s nice to be able to tell him that as the car is traveling across land and sea, he doesn’t have to worry if something were to happen. Once he purchases the car, we have the information, and once it’s added to the policy, no matter where it is, he will have coverage.

In one case, a car was coming from Japan. We had the information ahead of time, the images, and value of the car, so we were able to get it secured before it even jumped on the shipping container.

Will Jones is the IA assistant editor.