Military Vehicles, February 1997,: Insurance premiums -Reply

Insurance premiums -Reply

WIDD-James (RiceJ@silltcmd-smtp.army.mil)
Mon, 24 Feb 1997 11:31:26 -0600

My insurance is with USAA, which has as its basis, insurance for the
officer corps of all the US Armed Forces. They do not have any policy
for historic vehicles without extreme restrictions. To be able to drive my
'43 GPW or '52 M38, I have to pay the same premium as I do for my '93
Pick-up or van. I have asked about it multiple times without any
successs in getting coverage otherwise. I even have it listed as being
driven less than 1000 miles annually.

When I first insured my '54 M38A1, I made the mistake of saying Jeep
somewhere in the conversation. The liability rate went up accordingly
because they considered it a sport utility vehicle rather than an historic
vehicle.

The sad part is that the vast majority of the board of directors and
officers within the organization are retired military officers. They are
uncaring about saving part of their own military past and worry only
about getting our money.

I would venture to guess that the vast majority of MV owners and
drivers are over 25 and married, which in the insurance world equates
to being a "SAFE" risk. Why then are we many time treated as such high
risk clients simply because we own and operate old military vehicles. I
think I paid less as a 22 year old with a 2 seat sports car for liability
coverage than I do for my jeeps!

Jim Rice