While we have all come to know and love Hagerty for the way it looks after collector car owners, there's more to the story than just agreed-value policies for quirky hobby cars. In fact, a recent article from Seeking Alpha, a blog that provides insights on the good, bad, and ugly of publicly traded companies, profiled Hagerty and declared the following:
"For more than a decade, Hagerty has grown at three times the rate of the overall auto insurance industry, fueled by high retention rates (90%+), effective marketing (more on that later), and the partnerships described above. What is not obvious when first studying the company is that existing partnerships tend to be a source of ongoing growth."
We've often said here at The Common Gear that the market of collector cars and owners is far larger than most pundits give it credit for being. The author of the article agrees, noting the following: "Hagerty estimates that there are over 43M registered classic and collectible cars. That number grows each year as new collector cars (McClaren, Ferrari, etc.) are produced and other cars “age into” the category (25 years old or more). Hagerty currently has ~2M cars insured, so there is a long runway for growth."
That's why the services that support the collector car market go well beyond just mechanics and body shops. Hagerty is obviously well aware of the fact that vintage and classic cars need insuring, but the company is also investing in other avenues to shore up its support of those customers. What's lacking is a seamless way to track the data and reporting that owners are providing independent of Hagerty's involvement, and often via channels that are disparate and heavily silo'd.
The Common Gear gives insurers and owners a centralized place to meet and exchange the data that powers the policies Hagerty writes. With the projected growth of the collector car market indicating plenty of maturity ahead, organizations like Hagerty and TCG can grow together for years to come.