[DeTomaso] BJ Insurance Experience

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

I referred to this in an earlier email today, so here's the whole story.

Early last year I received a flyer from Barrett-Jackson that they were going
to start insuring (through a partnerships with others) Classic Cars.
Since my Hagerty Insurance would be expiring in a couple of months I thought
I would give them an opportunity to provide a quote.
They were super polite, eager to have my business and seemed overtly excited
about cars and the people who drive them, a very different experience than I
was accustomed, even with Hagerty personnel.

Their quote was approximately $300.00 per year LESS for my small collection
of 4 "Special Interest" cars, the Pantera, the MB 450SL, The 944 and the
1970 Mustang Mach 1.Then I asked if they also wrote insurance on regular
cars, the answer was again YES, I asked them to quote the Magnum RT, the
Excursion and my wife's CRV, they saved me another $300.00 per year over
AllState.  Then I asked if they could also provide Motorcycle Insurance,
they said yes!  I was with Progressive Insurance, The BJ quote was 50.00 a
year cheaper PLUS I now had agreed upon value, since the bike cost $12,995
new and I added a bunch of stuff to it ( about 4K total  ), I selected
$13,199 in agreed upon value coverage given that the bike was already 5
years old,  Generous to be sure, but it only had only 2,700 miles on it).
Then I asked if they wrote Business insurance and darn if the answer wasn't
YES again, in fact, their insurance referral person worked with me for over
a week to ensure that I got everything I wanted for a very specialized type
of business, it includes $2,000,000 liability, water, fire, theft, E & O,
vandalism and $250,000 in contents plus $2,000,000 inland marine ( for a
production company ) for general insurance, equipment rentals, projects in
production and location coverage. All combined was over $2,000 per year
cheaper than what I had been paying.  Still not finished, our house
insurance was coming up for renewal, AllState again, and I gave BJ an
opportunity to quote it as well.  They came back with a quote with more
coverage, including riders for guns, jewelry and cameras and were still over
$2,000 per year cheaper.  The only thing they wouldn't insure was my wife's
fancy sewing machine/computer ( Bernina ) because they said they didn't have
any history with a $15,000 sewing machine on which to base their quote.

To say that I am believer in BJ's new insurance program would be an
vast understatement, within 6 months they had all of our insurance coverage
except for life and health,.  All combined as a result of switching to BJ, I
am saving over $4,500 a year.

Doubters out there, keep reading.  All well and good since the money was
going one way so far.  Then came October 3rd.

Some of you may remember that I reported a motorcycle mishap in TN, the VTX
was damaged and my ankle broken.
I called BJ the next day from TN, they asked if I was OK first.  Sweet!
Then we talked about the bike, I explained what happened and they said to
get a quote for repairs, so I took the bike to a local Honda dealer
in TN while I was there to get a repair quote.

I had no idea my ankle was broken, I just knew that it hurt.  I make the
drive back to Georgia with the VTX on a trailer
(same way it got there) and parked it in my garage.  BJ called again after I
sent the quote and photos to them and informed
me that they needed to send an adjuster to see the bike in person since the
repair quote was over $5,800.
No problem, he was coming in 2 days, he came, he inspected, he took photos
and was very, very nice.

Meanwhile, my ankle had now turned black and blue I finally went to the Dr.
6 days later, had it X-rayed and to my surprise
my tibia was in 2 pieces! I was awarded both the "Ironman" award for
walking, riding and driving 14 hours using my broken ankle as the gas foot
and the "Moron" award for the same feats ( no pun intended).

Two days later, BJ called me back and let me know two things, one that my
Dr. office called and I had 10,000 in medical coverage for my ankle expenses
and 2) that they were going to total my VTX since the book value was
now only 6,000.
If this had been Progressive several months earlier, I would have had a
$1,500 deductible and received approximately $4,500 and had to give up the
remains of my bike.  Not much I could have done with that to replace my
bike.

But this was BJ Insurance, I was told that I would be getting the agreed
upon settlement amount of  $13,199

My mouth fell open.

I have never totaled anything in my life, my deductible was ZERO.

I asked how much it would cost for me to buy back the remains of my bike,
they called back in two hours and told me $1,000.

I said, yes to that and then the paperwork started to flow.  All I had to do
was mail them my license plate and title and I would be paid in a few days.

It took 9 weeks to settle the claim, 8 weeks of that was my fault and I'll
explain why.

1) I couldn't find the title ( stupid )

2) The lovely state of Georgia said that I could order a new title and it
could be there in 3-4 weeks......oh no, wait.

Nope sorry, we can't do that either because we show that the bike has a lien
against it from American Honda Finance.

I said that the bike was paid for in full 6 months after I bought it
and they said that before I could get a new title, I needed a letter from
American Honda showing payment in full - no faxes and no emails on AHFC
letterhead and stamped by a notary.

So I called them and 2 1/2 weeks later, the letter shows up and was sent to
the good folks at the State of Georgia
and 5 weeks after that I got a new title.  That was mailed to BJ with the
license plate.

one week after that I got a check for $12,199.

Meanwhile, I fixed the old bike myself for about $2,700 in parts (eBay and
my brother who can get Honda parts at dealer cost) and $700.00
for repainting the tank and fenders.

The bike was set up with a sissy bar, saddlebags, etc. so that my wife could
ride with me, so the balance of the settlement payment went to
buy a new (year old model) VTX1800Neo (probably the last one in the country
since the VTX1800Neo was discontinued in 2008 that I found one on eBay from
a dealer who liquidates Honda's warehouse / closed out models) which is set
up as a single seater.

So as a result of the accident, very unplanned, I now have 2 bikes ( family
style and solo style ) instead of 1, a healed ankle and a heck of a story to
prove that BJ insurance rocks!

And yes after the old bike was DMV inspected and given a new title
and plates, BJ accepted and insured it again.
 I changed the stated value on it to $10,000, because now it's 7 years old
(even though it looks better than ever).

My wife accused me of insurance fraud because she couldn't believe that it
all worked out the way that it did, esp. because now there are 2 bikes in
the garage instead of 1, and I'm smiling like the Cheshire Cat ( except when
it rains, then the ankle still hurts a bit).

To answer the question asked earlier, if my car had been consigned to R & S
and been crushed under the collapsed tent this week,
I would have been paid $65,000 (my stated value coverage), less whatever the
buy back price would be if I wanted to get it back.


If I had bought a car at auction, it will be automatically insured for 14
days at the purchase price level until such time that
I request a different value and agreed to the quoted premium.  So, if the
tent had fallen on my new purchase, I would not have suffered any financial
loss at all.

Michael Shortt
Savannah, Georgia

two more things,

First, I highly recommend BJ Insurance, I would encourage all of you to let
them quote your toys and more. My new prem notice arrived last week and
it did NOT go up at all as a result of the reported loss, only by the amount
of the 2nd motorcycle that was added to the policy.

Secondly, please know where your titles are located and make sure that if
you ever finance a car or bike that you not only notify the state DMV and
send a copy of the release, you should just go ahead and get a new title
issued that doesn't show any liens at all to avoid confusion in the
future.  The title that you are sent by the lien holder after a pay off with
the cool little PAID or RELEASED stamped on it is NOT recorded with the
state DMV.

After this whole learning experience, I took all of my car and bike titles
back to the DMV office and paid $8.00 each to have new titles issued showing
no history of previous owners, liens, banks, etc.  Just in case...

This is my BJ contact, she's amazing, sweet, thoughtful, very professional
and even called to check on my ankle recovery several times.  Has your Car
Insurance agent EVER done that in your whole life?

Amy Spengler
ASpengler at delpcompany.com
Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Ins.-Servicing Agent
The Delp Company
1440 Arrowhead Drive
Maumee, OH  43537
419-794-1080
877-545-2522















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Michael L. Shortt
Savannah, Georgia
www.michaelshortt.com
michael at michaelshortt.com
912-232-9390


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