My hat goes to John Hanslow for talking about LSV insurance at a recent club workshop visit.
After my last insurance company decided that my 159 had now dropped $4,000 in value over the last year and was now worth under $10,000 and could only be insured for erm "market value" (read whatever low ball figure we can sucker you with) and to rub salt into the wound had jacked their price up by $200, I gave LSV a try. Said I was a club member and that I only used the car on weekends (truth-sometimes only twice a month). Came in to under $500 and they would do it for an agreed value at a price a little bit more than over $10k.
As John says, give them a try.
I have an open claim with them at present, involving an Alfa. It should have been wrapped up but I'm spread thin between work, necessary travel and the needs of immediate family with a degenerative illness. Plus, Enzo (Berlina) has been slow in working up a quote.
My experience so far has been below those with Shannons, mainly that the people in the middle do not seem so "enthusiast oriented" as their competitors.
I took all my cars away from Shannons many many years ago.
My wife used to have a little Corolla and we decided to put it over to Shannons with the other cars, she rang and the rep who answered the phone asked her exactly this, "what is special about your car?".
To which she replied, "nothing in particular, it is just a Corolla".
Unbelievably the rep replied, "So what are you doing calling me then?".
I cancelled all my cars immediately and moved them over to Lumleys.
And I will never, ever recommend Shannons to anyone again.
Mick.
I moved from shannons to lumleys and now back to shannons again. Good and not so good experiences with them both
LSV wouldn't insure my 159 as it was "too new". Nothing but good experiences with Shannons.
I changed from Shannons to LSV purely on price (almost half for the same cover) and when the car was written off they were easy and prompt with payment. Would happily recommend them.
My father tried to insure his 1999 Ducati with Shannons which he uses as a daily to work. He was told they only insure enthusiasts and declined. Apparently enthusiasts don't want to ride their precious vehicle most days...
I've used Shannons in the past (back in my FC Holden days), but gave up on them when I tried to insure my 81 GTV. The bloke told me he'd have to talk to "the boss" and get back to me in a couple of days after they'd decided whether I was an acceptable risk - after 15 years with ZERO claims, I had a trot where I was the innocent victim in three accidents in the space of 3-4 months (verified by my other insurer). So I thought bugger 'em - and just ended up getting third party cover for the GTV with my other insurer over the phone half an hour later (they won't do CTP for it as it is over 20 years old.) Not perfect, but at least I was able to get on the road straight away.
A former employer offered the choice of an operating lease car (limited to Commodore, Falcon, Camry or Prius) OR take the cash in lieu -- and take out a novated lease if you like. I figured a WRX was in order. At over 40 years of age with rating 1 for life and garaged in a 'respectable' suburb the insurer's response was "decline to quote".