Insuring your car for what it's actually worth...

[Shevelle]

I'm wondering what some of you might be doing about insuring your cars for what they are really worth. My current insurance company will only insure my cars for the amount I paid for them unless they are able in some way to substantiate the value to be higher. I assume the way they substantiate value is by looking at past auction sales. Most of the time that works out fine, but what about cars that don't really have any comparisons out there, the ones that are normally sold privately, ie survivor cars? I recently purchased a survivor from someone who had owned it since 1969. He did not realize the value placed on original paint, interior, drivetrain, color, or paperwork, and as a result I acquired the car for a lot less than I would have been willing to pay. Before I even got the car home I had a standing offer of double what I paid. And there have been two similar/higher offers since then. I've told the insurance company that, but of course they are not going to consider hearsay, especially coming from the person who is wanting the insurance. The car is not for sale, I don't intend to sell it, but I would like to be able to insure it for what I know it is actually worth, not just what I paid. I'm not going to be driving it around and it's in a secure location, so collision and/or theft is not so much a worry to me. But I live in Oklahoma and the weather and tornadoes are a concern.

I'm just curious what some of you, maybe some of the original owners that only paid 4-5000 for your car that is now worth hundreds of thousands are doing about insuring them for actual value?