[Silly Little Cars] State Farm alternative

Thu Jan 4 09:09:09 PST 2018

We are already a club, well sort of. 

We are kind of a "virtual club" already, but not official. We have no scheduled meetings or dues, but we get together and exchange information on the internet. 

I belong to another "virtual club", www.ncwoodworker.net and they are recognized as a legit non-profit club in the eyes of the IRS. They have an "official meeting" for 15 minutes every year as part of the annual picnic in May to elect the officers for the coming year. Otherwise there are no official meetings. An annual raffle earns enough money to cover the internet and website costs, plus any legal and USPS costs of operation. I don't think it would take much to convert our internet email group and Silly Little Cars website into a similar styled "official virtual club", but I'm only an email subscriber here, and at this time I only own a Cushman 4 wheeler, but I'm in the market  for a Go-4 Interceptor II or III in good condition and located somewhere on the East Coast so I have a deep interest in this insurance problem. 

Here in NC, if you put a "Slow Moving Vehicle" (farm vehicle) reflective sign on the back of any 4 wheeled golf cart or similar vehicle that has flashing yellow lights visible to the front and rear, it seems to be considered as a "farm vehicle" and it doesn't need a license plate or insurance as long as it is being driven by a NC licensed driver and only operated on secondary roads. The police follow me, then wave as they pass me. I've never been stopped in 5 years of driving my 4 wheel Cushman Truckster on the roads around here. It's mostly used to maintain my property and buildings, but I do use it to go to Lowes, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and my son's home 10 miles from here. I have liability insurance for it (not required, but for my peace of mind) through Farm Bureau, but my home, properties, cars, and trucks are also insured through them. 

Charley
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Alex Popovics via Silly_little_cars 
  To: goaliefergy1 at aol.com 
  Cc: Alex Popovics ; silly_little_cars at lists.sillylittlecars.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2018 5:54 PM
  Subject: Re: [Silly Little Cars] State Farm alternative

  Thank you all for the input I received in regards to State Farm.

  Today I spoke with Dan at TWFG an insurance broker I found by googling Trike insurance.
  He said I was the third call in the last few months and that recently he spent 3 hours with all his available carriers that he uses for even the most unusual Trikes and all without exception responded that since there isn't a category for our type of vehicles in their insurance portfolio they won't even consider it.
  He also suggested State Farm. His reasoning is if someone becomes a State Farm customer for their personal vehicles, Home etc, they have more leverage to insure what is considered an unusual vehicle.

  It stands to reason that with the relatively new electric Go 4 eventually a lot more used vehicles will eventually be sold by municipalities and many will continue ending up on private hands in the US. 

  Our collective group could possibly create some interest with an enlightened insurance carrier to create this niche.
  It's the old adage in business, "if there's a need fill it" !

  We all should be tired of having to feel like that I have to do back alley deals to insure a vehicle exponentially safer than the common motorcycle, with the real danger of becoming uninsurable!

  Thanks again!

  Alex Popovics 

  On Jan 3, 2018, at 2:18 PM, goaliefergy1 at aol.com wrote:

    I've already been through this battle with Dyan since they declined renewal for me last year up here in Washington. From the sounds of it, Pacific Specialty is looking to pull the plug all together on trike coverage nation wide. Thankfully I have a local State Farm agent who was willing to cover mine. After consulting the vast majority of insurance companies, he was the only person willing to cover it.

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Alex Popovics via Silly_little_cars <silly_little_cars at lists.sillylittlecars.com>
    To: wrybread <wrybread at gmail.com>
    Cc: Alex Popovics <alex at realestatetimes.com>; silly_little_cars <silly_little_cars at lists.sillylittlecars.com>
    Sent: Wed, Jan 3, 2018 10:56 am
    Subject: [Silly Little Cars] Fwd: Pacific Specialty-McGraw insurance not renewing Three Wheeler policy in California

    > Hello all,
    > 
    > After receiving a letter from my Go 4 Interceptor insurance company, Pacific Speciality-McGraw Insurance that they will not renew my insurance because I drive a Three Wheeler/Trike vehicle and today following up with my insurance broker Dyan Allen with California Services/Compass Services an avid supporter to our group, I decided to ask for us as a group to organize so that our beloved vehicles (I'm in San Francisco), don't become effectively banned from the roads.
    > 
    > My insurance is good until March 2018.
    > 
    > I already have been declined to renew previously by Progressive and Dyan tells me that Pacific Specialty/McGraw Insurance already had declined to insure Cushmans & Go 4 Interceptors in other states beyond California.
    > 
    > I have to assume that this is targeted only to our group type of vehicles for I imagine that the standard Harley Davison, BMW, Hondas etc Trikes are insured without any problems.
    > 
    > This is clearly a very serious negative trend.
    > 
    > Any ideas suggestions?
    > 
    > Thank you 
    > 
    > Alex
    > 
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