No they don't own the tents....they rent them from a local event company. That company has to produce a certificate of insurance just like every other vendor at any event...to prove that they have current insurance coverage in case of an issue such as this...


If you are talking about the dark blue one...that car is owned by a friend of mine...and it's badly damaged :(

No, that's at BJ since it's a no-reserve auction and all the cars WILL sell.. it might not sell at RS so I doubt they sign over titles.

shops should have "garage keepers" insurance. If something happens while in the shops facilities, the insurance will cover the damage up to the indivual vehicle cap amount. If the shop has no insurance, the personal insurance on the car "MAY" cover it depending on coverage clauses, but will turn right around and attempt to collect from the shop who had control over the vehicle at time of damage. The owners of all the cars damaged should not be liable for the tent that came down on top of them. That should either be covered by Russo or the company that owned and or errected the tents.

Spoke with a CHUBB agent at the airport in Phoenix -- he was there to do a "report" on a "550 thousand dollar Ferrari"... a total loss in his opinion... and I specifically asked "will you now claim it was an act of god?" and he said NO -- they'll cover the claim.

Okay - so then what happens is they "subrogate" the claim in the background. So what this means - and it happens even in a fender bender - is that the insurance covers your loss... and then they look to "whomever" they can to get their money back. But you don't care about that nor do you have to worry about it - that's their problem. Maybe they get some of their loss covered and maybe not.

Having collectors cars -- that is where you want an AGREED VALUE policy. Normal insurance will use a depreciated value regardless of how much money you have invested - where the agreed value policy is a set amount for a total loss - and you have to have it (the property) appraised etc. The only saving grace for these "old cars" and an agreed value policy is that they know you're not our driving it in the snow and rain - and everyday to the grocery store... so the chance of loss is far less etc.

Sickening and waaay worse than I figured...I can feel my premiums going up as I type this.:(

I called my best buddy -- he's my insurance agent... and we spoke about the wind - and tents and damage. He states.

As long as the auction company/tent erector took "reasonable" action to protect the tents and contents... there's not much anyone can do to say they were "negligent" in a wind event like this. You would be more negligent if you made everyone take their cars outside! Nobody could have predicted the event... and I'm certain that they put extra effort into making the tents secure knowing the winds were coming. That is all they would be required to do.

That's doubtful John. I just spoke with my agent and his take was:

It's much more likely that the premiums for the rental company that owned the tents will rise... and that the premiums for the auction houses that use "temporary facilities" to house such expensive stuff... will rise.

Now -- if we all suddenly began crashing our cars on a regular basis -- that would make our individual premiums/risk rise. The risk wasn't that the cars were bad -- it was the tents that were the issue. We may see that they won't be able to get coverage in the future as the risk premium would be horrendous. Phoenix is a windy area! I was glad that it was raining because if you've ever been in a Arizona wind storm - you can only imagine the dust - you can't see 10 feet - and the dust is like sandpaper!

I spent 4 years stationed there while in the Air Force, I've seen cars have their paint stripped off in some of the really bad windstorms. You're absolutely right about the rain, probably saved some VERY expensive paint jobs on any cars outside...

That sucks!! I would be ripping.
I hope it all works out for those people.:thumbsup:

Sure isn't the way it worked here. Perhaps it works different in the custom car world, but when we ran a shop (a mechanical shop) our insurance was there for when we did something to mess up a car (I.E. set a lift down on a door, dinged a car with a jack handle), not for when Mother Nature, or another customer decided to get stupid and mess up a customer's car. When that happened, it worked exactly the same as when the car was parked at any other facility, that is, the individual insurance companies worked it out.

In any case, I am sure the appropriate parties will step up to the plate and work it out. I feel very badly for the owners of these vehicles, not to mention the various people at the involved companies who must be pulling their hair out at the moment!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill