After investing a great deal of time, money and energy into your collector vehicle, it’s worth a lot to you. It’s also worth taking a few minutes to make sure you’re doing everything you can to protect it, especially while it’s in transit. Here are a few tips that can help you prepare for your vehicle’s in-transit travel:

• Keep the vehicle’s title and registration with you, not in the car. (Also keep copies of the overseas insurance policy.)
• Make sure to drain your fuel tank if possible. If not, keep it under a quarter tank. Most shippers will not accept fuel over this amount.
• Disconnect your battery. While you’re at it, disconnect an alarm if you have one.
• Consider using a shipping container for your vehicle’s travel. This will help protect against damage from unknown objects on the transporter.
• Leave your keys with the shipper and keep a spare set with you.
• Many shipping companies discourage or prohibit you from leaving personal articles in your vehicle. However, personal articles not covered by your car insurance might be covered under your homeowner’s policy. (Ask your homeowner’s insurance agent.)
• Check with your car insurance company to verify your car is insured against physical damage and theft during transit. If not, you might want to look into overseas cargo insurance, which provides this type of coverage.
• Prior to leaving your vehicle with a shipping company, be sure you receive a “Pre-shipment Vehicle Condition Report.” This report provides pickup and delivery information, current mileage and most importantly it shows the condition of your car at the time of pickup.
• At the time of delivery, inspect your vehicle and compare the condition and mileage against the Pre-Shipment Report provided by the freight forwarder or shipper at origination (depending which you use). If there are inconsistencies, note them as exceptions and be sure a qualified representative of the company signs the report.
• When your vehicle arrives at its destination, you’ll want to compare the condition of it to the Pre-shipment Report. Never accept your vehicle at night if you can’t verify its condition. Without viewing your vehicle and having the exceptions noted by the company, you have little recourse if damage has occurred during transit.

Basic overseas shipping cargo policy covers your classic car against perils of the sea such as stranding, sinking, fire and collision, as well as on-sea perils including heavy weather and theft. Door- to-door protection is an extension of the ocean cargo policy and comes into effect in conjunction with overseas transit. Coverage is tailored to your specific needs and can include temporary warehouse storage, war risk cover, strikes and riot exposures and other cargo-related coverage.

Hagerty Insurance offers customers an Overseas Shipping Cargo Policy that protects your collector car shipped by water, land or air. If you have any questions on this coverage, contact Rick Worm at 800-922-4050 ext. 8729 or rworm@hagerty.com.