"That was my biggest worry when insuring my M35 and WC51. Here in Calif my
worst fear is some type of an accident with a BMV full of lawyers, and my
cheap insurance abandoning me because the truck was not "regularly garaged"!
In California, where I practice, an insurer can rescind the insurance contract
if you knowingly provide inaccurate information relating to the risk to be
insured. If the inaccuracy would not have resulted in a different
underwriting decision, then the insurer usually cannot deny coverage on that
basis. An example would be if you qualify for the "mature driver" rate but
mis-state your age; as long as you would have qualified anyway, the inaccuracy
would not have affected the underwriting decision. However, if you claim to
be accident free, and you've really had enough accidents that you belong in
the "assigned risk" pool, or if you say the vehicle is a "Cadillac sedan" and
it's really a Cadillac-Gage Scout Car, then the insurer could rescind the
contract -- allowing it to return your premiums and deny coverage. The risk,
as several have mentioned, is that if the insurer would have made a different
underwriting decision had it been in the possession of completely accurate
information, you may find yourself without coverage -- and of course, this
will never happen until after you need it. My WC52 is legitimately classified
as a 1942 3/4 ton truck, and the premium is based on that classification. The
farther you depart from a completely accurate description, the greater the
chance the insurer will change its mind when the claim comes in. Whether you
are willing to accept that risk depends, I guess, on what you have to lose.
As Joe mentioned, it doesn't take long to wipe out a lifetime's worth of work
and savings if you don't have sufficient insurance.
Patrick Cherry
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