What if someone hits me and totals my car

First of all "liability only" is exactly what I have on the Cougar; just enough to keep it legal for registration until it's ready to go on the road. Costs me something like $80/year; which isn't much compared to the pickups, each with full comp, collision, towing, glass and car rental.

However, when the car is on the road; the insurance is going to go up a little (not just because Tink's little sister will be the driver) as I add a little more medical, prop'ty damage and liability; maybe collision as well. When /if my daughter goes to a new vehicle and I get to "play with the Cat"; I'll be going to a comapny like Hagerty; which will insure based on an appraisal. If I ever get to do what I want to the car (and spend what I want to spend); I'll have as much or more into it than I have in my F150 4x4; and I want to be covered for at least a big part of that expense if some dork tries to drive into/through it!

Reminds me of a story about one of the across-the-street neighbors' kids. Got himself a '65 FB when he was a junior in high school. (By the way, he's now pushing 30 and A CBP agent with a wife who teaches at his parents/mine/his/Cowgirl Tink's old High School). The car was "40 foot cherry"; typical problems here and there; not too bad for a then-30 year old Stang. All it really needed was centered around getting 1/2 of a rod pulled out of the 289's oil pan . ans a rebuilt junkyard 302 solved that problem. He'd just had more Twilight Turquoise paint mixed and had sanded/primed the trouble spots on the body; when he got rear-ended at a stop light two blocks from our street.

Almost got him sent to jail.......

Seems that he was "a little upset" at being slammed into by a driver that should have seen the light had been red for a couple of minutes; and acted accordingly. He shut the Stang down; checked that his girlfriend was okay, eased out of the car, walked back to the other car, and got chewed out for not getting out of the way by the other driver! He realized that, with the force of the hit the other guy (not wearing a seat belt) was remarkably unmarked; or so it seemed at first. By the time the first witness showed up to get in the middle of things; the other driver had a bruise on his chest from being partially pulled to safety (out the window) by his shirt-front, had a one black eye and one broken nose from accidentally running into a fist (twice); and a knot the size of Phoenix on the back of his head to go with a good-sized dent in the D/S drip rail of his old Duster. Funny thing how some injuries aren't readily apparent immediately after an accident ....

He did get the Stang fixed (it turned Cherry red after new rear sheetmetal was installed), and kept it through his Soph year in UofA; until the maintenance cost to keep it "100%" got beyond the finances of a college student. Last I heard, some guy in Tucson has it now. rbohm?

basically it becomes a negotiation between you and/or your lawyer, and the insurance company. you best get an appraisal of the cars value before you put the car on the road. this way you have the ammunition in your corner to get the best settlement money wise. you also should keep all reciepts for anything you did in restoring the car as well. now this is all well and good if you decide that after an accident you dont want the car, but if you want to keep the car, you can make the insurance company repair the car to your satisfaction. if you choose to do that, before you sit down with the insurance company, have the car inspected by a few places that specialize in restoring your cor, and get estimates from them. remember in most states YOU have the right to choose the shop and the quality of parts that goes on your car, NOT the insurance company. again you will probably have to retain a lawyer to protect your rights.

If this is your only car, I'd at least try to find a way to get full coverage through your insurance company. If you have anything else to use for a driver, I can't recommend Hagerty highly enough. We have two cars insured through them and they are the nicest people I've ever dealt with. Not only that, but a buddy of mine got his '67 Mustang rear-ended a few years ago, and although it was the other driver's fault, he contacted Hagerty just to let them know and they offered to pay the whole thing and get the money from the other driver's insurance company to make things more convenient for him. No questions, no run-around ,no BS. I don't know what they charge for one car but we pay (I think) $250 per year for the wife's Corvette ( agreed value of $30,000)and another $185 a year for my '68 (agreed value of $25,000). They do limit your miles to 2,500 per year, but I for one would like to know how they determine how many miles you drive, since they don't ask for an odometer reading! Not that it's any big risk at my house, the Corvette gets driven once or twice a year and my '68 has been undergoing the world's longest rebuild since '02.

get the full monte coverage, youll be good brother...

I have Barlow, which is a broker here in So. Cal. My car is insured for $55,000(stated) and its limited to about 3,000 miles a year,Cost me $288 a year.The guy says they really dont do a mileage check so its not a big deal.