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You can compare all the Meerkats you like... But only club membership and a relationship with a Classic Car Insurance specialist will get you the best of both worlds.

They tempt us with talking robots, Russian speaking cuddly dolls, free cinema tickets and even the Opera… Yes - these days, if we want a quote for car insurance, chances are we’ll try a price comparison site at least once.

And if all of that playful, humorous and sometimes downright irritating sales promotion seems a million miles from the serious and considered world of classic car ownership, and the level of importance we place on the cars we drive, that’s because it is.

When we insure a car, in the main, we insure it for its replacement value.  If it would cost £30,000 to replace, we insure it for £30K.  Additional features like breakdown cover, glass cover or theft of the stereo can be added, but the main thing we insure for is the value of the car.

If this is all you want or need, simple comprehensive cover for the replacement value of your car, then price comparison sites are seemingly the place to go, at least according to the UK’s car owning public anyway. Some 65% of all UK car insurance is sold though these aggregator websites.*

The attraction is as clear as day - getting the best price possible is everybody’s objective when it comes to spending money on something we hope we’ll never need.

So we insure purely to guarantee a replacement of what we might lose – nothing more, nothing less.

The trouble with owning a classic car though, with restoring it, maintaining it, possibly even showing it, but certainly driving it, is that the car’s perceived or emotional value to us is far greater than what it might cost to replace.  Assuming of course that it’s actually replaceable.

If the worst happens to a Ford Focus owner, they get a new Ford Focus. If the worst happens to a TR4 / Pagoda Top / Morris Traveller owner, they just cry.

OK, so maybe they don’t actually cry. But they don’t just shrug and go straight out to get another one, because by and large they can’t. And if they could, it wouldn’t be the same.

It’s when we come to this realisation that it suddenly becomes important for us to know who arranged our cover, and to be able to talk to them and know they’ll understand what we’re on about.  It’s serious stuff, not a 53 plate Focus.

What do we want?

As enthusiasts and owners we have a number of priorities in terms of what we want from our classic car insurance policy.

Replacement value is usually the number one priority, and the sensible among us will usually want to go for an agreed valuation of our cars before insuring. If it’s worth £30K you want £30K if it ever gets written off or stolen and not recovered.

One of the most significant of the other benefits people often choose is salvage retention, whereby if your Elan S3 meets an unfortunate end, you get to keep what can be salvaged, maybe even to drive another day.  In some instances this isn’t offered, but if you’re serious about your car it’s probably something worth investigating.

For a lot of classic car owners this is really quite important, because of the time, effort, care and attention that went in to a restoration or because the car is one that’s been handed down in a family.

It’s here that being a member of a car club also helps, in more ways than one..

If you ‘re ever in the unfortunate position to need to put your car back together you’ll likely need some help from people who’ve done it before. So membership of a car club really pays, especially when you consider that club membership will save you as much as 25% on your policy – generally enough to cover your membership subs and possibly even cover the cost of an additional benefit.

Clubs are also a great source of original parts, and some cost as little as £5.00 to join.

So while the comparison sites will be very happy to sell you a classic policy, only talking to a classic car insurance specialist like Lancaster Insurance can give you all of this.

When do we want it…?

We want it ‘Now’, generally; although different people have different definitions of ‘Now’.

The comparison sites are internet-based, so you can get cover right now from your computer, laptop, tablet or mobile; and here, Lancaster Insurance is no different, with the ability to offer direct customers 24/7 via the website.

Of course there is another way you can arrange classic car insurance from your ‘phone, and if you want to get an agreed valuation or arrange salvage the best way to do it is by calling an experienced specialist like Lancaster Insurance.

*Source: http://www.theactuary.com/