Hello fellow Australian exotic car owners. Looking for advice for insurance for a 2005 F430. NRMA VVC quoted me $6322 premium with $2000 excess. Shannon's refused to offer a quote as they want 12 month driver history with a Ferrari. Claimed as I had not driven a car as expensive as a Ferrari or with similar performance they would not offer insurance until I had 12 month history of ownership. Current stable includes Cayenne GTS 2016 (circa $200k new), BMW 135i, HSV GTS W1, VW Transporter, Holden Cruze. So plenty of different vehicles with differing performaces, including 2 vehicles that are least somewhat similar to the F430 (135i and the HSV GTS W1). I got cranky trying to argue the point and hung up. Driver record - age 38, have never been involved in an accident (neither "at-fault" nor "not-at-fault") in over 20+ years of driving. I had considered myself a safe bet.... Other options?
I’m surprised with that stable that Shannon’s refused to cover you. I bought my first Ferrari 3 years ago - a 360 at age 55 also with no accidents or traffic offences in many years. When asked about my history of driving performance cars, I referenced my time as a twenty something person with a 260Z and a worked 180b SSS. They accepted that as enough experience. They were even happy to add my wife to the policy, and she’s has trouble driving an automatic VW, let alone a gated Ferrari. Not sure who else to suggest except trying Shannon’s again and hope you get someone more reasonable. As for costs, my 360 is insured for $160K with an annual premium of $1,085 and $1,600 excess.
I had exactly the same conversation with Shannon’s when I bought the 355. Ended up going with Dawes, who were perfectly reasonable. Switched to Shannon’s after a year or so.
Interesting Shannons wouldn't insure you with a clean driving record and aged 38. I've been with Shannons for 10+ years, claims have always been handled well. In the distant past I've used these guys ( when they were called Freeman McMurrick) www. oneunderwriting.com.au Also "Famous Insurance" is a name that I've started to hear more of in the past couple of years, may be worth checing them out.
Over the years I’ve swapped insurances a few times and am back with Dawes. I’ve never had any luck with Shannons despite all the hype and their claim that they are car enthusiasts. Every time I’ve called them for a quote they are always polite and come across as enthusiasts with lots of chit chat. I go through all the regular questions and essentially get a 10 out of 10 for every question. Clean driving record, never lost my license, no claims, over 40 years driving experience and have owned a number of performances cars, but when they come back with the premium they are not in the ball park. I was with NRMA classic for a number of years but their premium started to creep up and then they wouldn’t increase the insurance value of one of my cars so I started to look elsewhere. One of the major things that I learned when speaking with some brokers when looking to change was how good Dawes is when/if you need to claim. I was advised to be careful with the term “choice of repairers” as used by insurance companies. As it was explained to me, though you might be able to choose your own repairer, some insurance companies will dramatically reduce the value of the repairs to what they value the damage, and not what the panel shop assessed it at. So if your $250K Ferrari is involved in an accident, you take it to the official Ferrari repair shop (your choice of repairer) and they assess the damage at $100K. The insurance company may then assess the value of the repair at $60K, so you have three choices 1)convince the Ferrari repairer to do the repair at the lower price (unlikely) 2) pay the shortfall, or 3) take your car to the Lakemba panel beater who will do it for $60K I’m sure lots on here will speak highly of their experiences with the various insurance companies, but it certainly got me thinking of who I wanted my “special cars” insured with. I found their premium reasonable but the trade off is a $5000 excess for Ferrari.
I'm with you, I've never found Shannons to stack up to the hype, I've asked them for quotes on a group of 4-6 cars on a few occasions when I update cars & they're never as competitive on the upper end cars as Dawes & my broker places the other cars with Vero or CGU. I've had claims with Dawes & CGU & they are according to my chosen panel beater good to deal with. I've also never had an issue with Dawes accepting agreed value policies.
I've been happy with Shannons for many years, including a claim which was handled perfectly with my chosen repairer. I have no idea if I'm overpaying premium wise.
I have had the same experience, when a Roo jumped into the side of Horse. No problem with The Bump Shop doing the repair, and they did an amazing job to leave the car original looking and only paint 1/2 of one panel. Silly signature here to annoy KIAI
I’ve been with Famous car insurance for years with all my cars and bikes. I’ve been extremely happy with them. They are just moving across to Dawes as under writers...
I agree, it was a great job. From some angles, you can barely see the repair. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good thread. For me I had no choice but Shannons as no one else I tried at the time would insure me at 27 and on a lowly 348 at that - but they didn't have an issue with insuring it as the first Ferrari (might be because I have had an NSX with them several years prior). Though reading what everyone else is paying, I think the premium I'm paying (for limited use) is on the high side, $1850 PA value only at 100k and $2200 if I raised to 120k. Interestingly, I just checked my excess and it appears its only $1,000...
I ended up using the broker that Ferrari suggested. Metrix Insurance. Premium was $2940ish. Excess $2000. Choice of repairer etc... Agreed value $215k. That seemed reasonable to me.