What does classic car insurance cover?

We're often encouraging you to arrange some classic car insurance for your beloved vehicle here at Lancaster. But what does classic car insurance cover – and how does it differ from common or garden car insurance?

Just as with traditional car insurance, classic car policies will normally offer three levels of cover. These are:

Third-party: The most basic tier of cover, third-party insurance protects you against injury to someone else, or damage to their property, caused either by you or one of your other passengers. Crucially, though, third-party insurance won't cover the cost of repairs to your own classic: you'll have to bear these costs yourself.

Third-party, fire and theft: To the third-party insurance above, this medium tier adds cover for repair costs if your car is damaged by fire. It also covers you for the value of your classic if it is stolen. And this could well come in very useful, as a Home Office report found that cars from the 1980s are the most frequent victims of theft.

This is, no doubt, largely down to their relatively primitive locking systems when compared to today's sophisticated security systems – but also due to their values increasing over time as they graduate from yesterday's cars to modern classics.

Our friends at Honest John crunched some numbers and found that, taking into account number of thefts as a proportion of numbers of each vehicle still on the road, some of the most frequently stolen modern classics include familiar cars such as the Vauxhall Cavalier, Fords Sierra and Escort, Peugeot 205 and original Mini.

Comprehensive: The top level of insurance available, comprehensive classic car insurance will offer the broadest spectrum of cover – third-party, fire and theft of course, plus repair costs for other forms of damage to your car.

In addition, some of the features that classic car insurance policies will offer include:

Car Club member discounts up to 25%

We bang the drum frequently for membership of an owners' club. Whatever car you drive, whether classic or contemporary, there is likely to be an owner's club for that model.

We've shone the spotlight on many brilliant UK owners' clubs on our site – but honestly, if you Google 'owners' club' plus the name of your marque and model, you are very likely to find the club you need.

Membership of an owners' club brings many benefits – access to a vast pool of expertise about your classic car being an obvious example. Another big benefit is that we may be able to offer discounts on your classic motor insurance premium, if you become a member of one of these clubs.

Static Show Cover

As part of our range of insurance options, we can cover your car while it’s temporarily out of the garage and on static display.

Historic Rally Cover

Vintage car enthusiasts may well want to take part in an historic rally or two at some point during their ownership – and we can’t blame them! We can provide cover for that – just be sure to specify this when you are arranging your classic car insurance with us.

Choice of repairer

When it comes to any repairs you need to make to your classic, you'll be able to choose from our approved list of repairers – trusted mechanics with whom we have ongoing relationships, and who know their classics intimately.

Salvage Retention

In some instances – after an accident, for example – your insurer may decide that your classic vehicle is not worth the cost of repairs it will require and may write the vehicle off.

However, if you have specified salvage retention as part of your insurance policy, you have the option to buy back the car.

Exactly what you can do with your vehicle will depend on the category in which that vehicle is placed. If the vehicle is classed as Category A and B, that means that it has been deemed unsafe to be on the road – but you might be able to repurchase it for parts only.

On the other hand, a Category C or D classification allows you to buy the vehicle to repair it and, eventually, restore it to roadworthiness.As soon as the vehicle is written off, it's your responsibility to let your insurer know that you want to keep the salvage.

The insurer then works out the cost of the salvage and subtracts this cost – either from your agreed value if you have one, or from the car's market value.

Result: you will get back your salvage, plus the reduced payout in cash.

Free EU cover for up to 90 days

If you're taking your classic onto the Continent, we can offer you up to 90 days' cover in EU countries, meaning that you will have the same level of cover in those countries as you would when driving your classic back home in the UK.

Two Year Agreed Valuation

It's a very good idea to reach an agreement, with your insurer, on the value of your classic.
The reason for this is that a standard insurance policy, without this agreed valuation, will only pay out your car’s current market value if the car is stolen or written off.

This may be an acceptable sum in the case of most cars still in production now: but the chances are that, when it comes to your classic, its actual value exceeds the typical value for that model, because of all the time and expense that you have lavished on its restoration.

Many older cars will be assigned poor market values, when in fact lovingly restored individual models can be worth quite a lot more.

So, it's a good idea to reach an agreed valuation with your insurer – and to revisit this valuation regularly, to allow for the ongoing programme of restoration that you may be dedicating to your classic. Here at Lancaster, we will contact you to update your Agreed Valuation every two years.

Laid-Up Cover

If your classic is garaged, parked on your drive, or stored in a secure building, most classic car insurance policies will include, either as standard or as an optional extra, the ability to cover for it during this time – variously termed laid-up cover, SORN insurance or off-the-road cover.

But why would you need to continue to insure your car when it's not even doing anything – just tucked away in a garage?

Well, the truth is that accidents can happen in the unlikeliest of places. Imagine that your garage is burgled; or that a shelf where you store pots of paints finally gives way one day, spilling the contents all over your beloved interior.

A family of mice may decide to take up residence inside your vehicle, causing significant damage; or you might have the car up on stands which one day, alarmingly, prove to be less robust than you thought and cave in, dropping your classic hard onto the garage floor.

All these are cases where you will be grateful that you ticked the box marked 'laid-up cover'.

Claims Helpline

Having a car accident is stressful at the best of times but for classic owners, it will be doubly worrying. Here at Lancaster, our Claims Helpline is staffed around the clock, 24 hours a day, so there will be a specialist available on the end of the line whatever time you call.

Limit Mileage Discounts

One feature of classic car insurance policies that you may notice is that the premiums can be cheaper for lower mileage drivers.

This reflects the fact that classics tend to get less road time than people's 'everyday' cars. Your classic is your pride and joy, after all, and you don't want to overwork it – plus, perhaps it's not really kitted out with the power and flexibility to keep up with today's weekday traffic and is best suited to a more sedate Sunday drive.

Indeed, classics do get less mileage annually than their contemporary counterparts – typically doing around 1,200 miles a year, compared to the UK car average of 7,200 miles.

Not only are you driving it less than your day-to-day car, you are probably looking after it better as well. All of this can contribute to your classic car insurance being cheaper than regular car insurance.

Multi-car Insurance

What about if you are the proud owner of more than one classic vehicle? Remembering all the various policy numbers, annual premiums and renewal dates can become somewhat onerous. This is perfect for those who share their cars with young drivers.

The good news is that we can offer one policy that covers all your beloved motors, making admin a breeze.

Cover for driving other cars on the same single policy

The classic car insurance policies that we can arrange for you will vary in their details, depending on the scheme and level of cover that you go for.

So, if you are wondering whether your policy covers you to drive other cars, your best bet is to check your Certificate of Motor Insurance thoroughly.

If the ability to drive another car is not mentioned within, the likelihood is that you are not covered for that eventuality. You can always get a definitive answer very easily by contacting our customer service team. You will find all our contact details here.

Windscreen Cover

Whether or not your policy includes Windscreen Cover will, once again, depend on the level of policy you have taken out. A Comprehensive policy is more likely to include Windscreen Cover than, say, a Third-Party, Fire and Theft policy.

If you have a policy with us here at Lancaster but find that you do not have Windscreen Cover included, the good news is that you will be eligible for a significant discount from your replacement / repair costs by calling the Lancaster Windscreen and Claim Line on 01480 484802.

This does mean that you will have to pay the windscreen company in full when the replacement or repairer is carried out – but this payment will be substantially lower than the sum you'll pay without a call to our Windscreen and Claim Line.

Hang on… is my car even defined as a 'classic'?

This is a very relevant and interesting question! When it comes to calculating how much Benefit in Kind tax (BIK) drivers must pay, HMRC is quite clear: it defines any car aged 15 years or more as a 'classic'.

For us here at Lancaster, though, defining a 'classic' vehicle is as much about how that car is looked after, as it is about the age of the car.

If you look after your 12-year-old Mazda MX-5 well, keep it garaged and only use it for light weekend motoring, you may well be eligible for classic car status and, consequently, for lower car insurance premiums.

Modified Classic Car Insurance

Many classic car enthusiasts get great pleasure from fitting special modifications to their vehicle – whether to boost performance, improve interior comfort or simply add a little something to those already arresting period looks.

You may need specialist insurance cover for any changes like these that you make to your vehicle: but, again, this is something that we are very happy to discuss with you and arrange for you here at Lancaster.

Classic car insurance from the specialists

We hope the rundown above has given you a good idea of what most classic car insurance policies will offer – and what we can offer here at Lancaster Insurance.

We have a proud heritage of classic car insurance behind us, having arranged this form of insurance for over 35 years now.

Our long experience in the industry has given us access to many of the UK's most cost-effective classic car insurance schemes.

We have partnerships with carefully chosen underwriters, which allow us to offer an extraordinarily wide range of classic car, vintage car, and classic vehicle insurance policies, whether comprehensive or bespoke.

And our huge experience in the sector and in-depth knowledge of the classic car industry means that we can provide a quote for virtually every classic vehicle still in circulation, from Alfa Romeo to Volvo.

Contact us today to find the right classic car insurance policy for you.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.