I don't often talk about the collector insurance car behemoth Hagerty outside of referencing its continued influence in the hobby car space. However, the company's largess was on full display as I raced to secure a modest loan from my credit union to buy a car over a recent weekend.
Typically, I use JC Taylor for my hobby vehicles. They are very affordable and responsive over email. Hagerty has always been more expensive and also requires the annual premium be paid in full, which is kind of a drag. All that aside, the company thoroughly trounced JC Taylor in this most recent interaction.
Despite calling JC Taylor on a Wednesday and informing them I needed a policy written and the binder in hand showing the credit union as the loss payee before Saturday, when I was to pick up the car, they hadn't moved the policy to underwriting as of Thursday at noon. I was promised it was happening momentarily, but when I called back an hour later, the next phone representative I spoke with noted she could see the last representative still hadn't actually sent it to underwriting.
The third representative I spoke with on Friday said there was no way she could guarantee I would have the binder in time for my trip to the credit union. By this point, I was feeling pretty frustrated, so I called Hagerty and within the 15 minutes I was on the phone with their specialist, I had an insurance binder sitting in my email. I fired it over to the credit union, and picked up the check an hour later.
To Hagerty's credit, no explanation was needed regarding the urgency of the situation. The gentleman I spoke with acted as if he was the one buying the car. The four different representatives at JC Taylor not only seemed completely nonplussed by the urgency (a situation of their own making) but also raised doubts as to why I would want a collector policy on a "modern" vehicle like the E55. Hagerty raised no such concerns, which is also why they insure my Eurovan, which JC Taylor would not cover out of an unfounded suspicion I would use the van for risky adventure-seeking exploits.
All in all, it's unacceptable that a company like JC Taylor could not move with the speed car enthusiasts need when it comes to snagging an elusive vehicle. As a long-time customer, I was bummed that they fell well short of expectations in this go-round, but grateful Hagerty was there to close the deal.