By Steven Symes 
We think everyone has felt the effects of historic highs in car insurance rates in the past few years. However, one insurance company makes the bold claim that its competitors have placed the burden of rate increases disproportionately on classic car owners. We’re not entirely sure what to make of that, but we’ll pass some information along and let you draw your own conclusions.
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The company making this claim is Open Road Insurance, a new provider that’s appealing to the collector car market. Obviously it has a vested interest in saying it can help classic vehicle owners save money, but that doesn’t necessarily make its claims invalid.
According to Open Road, auto insurance rates have increased 51 percent over the last three years. Some have felt that more than others, but most people we’ve spoken with aren’t too happy with what they’re paying these days.
There are many claims about why rates have skyrocketed, but Open Road focuses on an increase in catastrophic insurance claims and inflation pushing up car repair costs.
Here’s where things get interesting: Open Road makes the argument that classic car owners are “statistically less likely to get into an accident or file a claim” than other drivers, yet “standard auto insurers don’t offer proportionally lower rates” for them.
Because classic vehicles are driven less often and for pleasure, so not in crazy commuter traffic, the company says owners have been “quietly subsidizing” all the claims made by people who speed and drive recklessly in modern cars.
The press release issued by Open Road then goes on to say traditional insurance providers often don’t give proper coverage for classic cars. If you’ve owned a classic and had to make a claim using a regular insurance policy, you probably know this firsthand.
But what do you think of the claim that classic car owners are being used by big insurance companies to finance the recklessness of other drivers? Are there other groups which have also seen a rate increase yet are far less likely to cause accidents? What can be done about that? Have you personally done anything as a result?
Image via Ford