If you think your Cougar has quite a bit of value, or that the current values listed for your model are not enough, you really need to get your car appraised. This is done by a professional, and once you get your appraisal, you can then insure your car for its appraised value. Currently for most insurance companies in the U.S., your car is insured for its prevailing book value. The term "book" usually refers to the NADA Guide or Kelly's Blue Book, although there are others. This book value may or may not be fair to your car's condition.

The first step you need to take is to make sure that your current insurance company will insure your Cougar for a stated value. Most will, some won't...it's up to you to find out. If they don't, you can shop around or explore some options that are listed a little later. I've found that having an agent that is willing to work with you will lead to a great relationship with the insurance carrier. Basically if he/she isn't a car guy/gal, they really won't see the logic in insuring a 20-year-old car for a higher value than book value. Remember that the agent is a representative of the bigger company, and he/she carries only so much weight for you. Let's be clear about this: the insurance company is technically putting themselves at risk for you, through the agent. From their standpoint there needs to be an obvious reason why your car is not like the others out there. Is your car really modded? Is it all original? Is it low mileage and in great shape? Then it's definitely not your typical used Cougar, and you deserve to have an insurance policy that reflects upon your vehicle.

Next, you should already have a big pile of receipts from all the stuff done to your car. What? You don't? Shame on you. How else can you prove what you have into it? Start digging and make yourself a nice portfolio of your receipts. Also, you should already have lots and lots of photos, from the day you bought it until now. What? You don't? Double shame on you. You can't exactly go back in time to get them now. So do your best to dig for all the photos you can, and take some new ones while your at it. (If you already have the above stuff handy and organized, kindly ignore my scolding).

OK, so now you're ready to contact an auto appraiser. Sometimes your insurance company/agent will recommend one, and sometimes you have to dig out the phone book and call one yourself. Make sure that the appraiser has had plenty of experience. Describe your car to him/her but don't give away too many details. Remember, you want them to make a fair and unbiased judgment without any preconception. That's the only way you'll get an accurate and fair assessment. Also, find out the fees up front, and ask how long it will take. When you feel comfortable with the person, make an appointment to meet them with your car.

At this point, you may be tempted by the Dark Side: "Hey, my buddy knows a lot about cars. I bet he can appraise it for cheap."

WRONG. You will royally screw yourself if you do that. In order for any insurance company to have a valid assessment of your car's value, they need something official from a certified appraiser with experience. They will take your buddy's notes and toss it right into the trash can. And then you're out the money/beer you paid your buddy, plus the money you'll spend for the real appraiser. Just do things the right way, the first time.

My advice: it would behoove you to seek an appraiser in a large city. I live out in the sticks, and my town has notoriously low insurance rates because we have virtually no crime. The nearest large city--Youngstown, OH--is only a few miles away. However, knowing car rates in my area, and knowing how low the cost of living is, I had a bad feeling that any appraisal from my home area would be lower than what I felt it should be. I travelled 70 miles northeast to Cleveland, OH instead. Why? Cleveland is a much larger city and cars are simply worth more there. Cost of living is higher also. And this guy knew absolutely nothing about my car, whereas local appraisers may have seen it before and possibly had a preconceived notion of its value. I felt that the appraisal was very fair, hitting the number I'd had in my head perfectly. That probably would not have happened had I went with a more local appraiser. It was SO worth the trip. Think in terms of cost of living. Is it higher where you live than the next biggest city? Or is it lower? Evaluate that first, then you can plan where you'll seek out the appraiser.

Now when you are meeting the appraiser for your appointment, you will more than likely need all of your collected receipts and your photos. If you have some kind of documentation about the car (original invoice/window sticker, bill of sale, Ford history report, conversion company letter, etc.) you will need to make copies of this information and bring it with you--do NOT bring the originals. Also, if you have any kinds of modifications to your car, bring a pre-typed, detailed list of ALL of the changes with you. This will save a lot of time.

Obviously your car should be clean inside and out for your meeting. And I mean clean everything you can. Getting your car appraised is like going to a judged car show, except you have to pay them and you get no trophy (well, other than the car itself, I mean). Get to the meeting spot early and wipe the car down again.

Now just sit back and watch him/her go at it. The appraiser will know what to do. They're going to go over your car with a fine-toothed comb, looking for good things and bad things along the way. They'll take tons of notes and photos too. You might get a little nervous, hoping they won't find something you're trying to hide. Hey, that's natural. Don't be too harsh on yourself. Just let them do what they do and relax.

An appraisal should take approximately 30-60 minutes. It all depends on how much work you've done, or how clean it is, or how original it is, etc. In my case, because of the extensive modifications, it was closer to 2 hours. Again, every situation will be different. After it's all done, your appraiser will then let you know when you can expect to receive the official written appraisal. Insurance companies need to have a copy of this appraisal. It MUST be on an official letterhead from the company, with full contact information. Again, remember that the insurance company is risking a lot for you, so your information to them needs to be 100% accurate.

Once you receive your appraisal you can make arrangements with your agent to have your car insured for the stated value. Your agent will need the aforementioned paperwork and some recent photos. Sometimes the agent will insist on taking the photos--that's a good thing because the agent will know the condition of your car on that day. Expect a few days for the transfer to take place, and then you are all set. You can now drive with a lot more peace of mind.

In most cases you will see your monthly/yearly rates go up a little, once your appraised value is on your policy. In some states, though, your insurance may actually go down, depending on your state or county. If you have high crime rates and vehicle thefts in your state or county, don't expect an appraised rate to work miracles for you.

Now, if your insurance carrier will not insure your car for value and you really don't feel like shopping around (or you haven't had any luck), I've found several companies that deal specifically with specialty car insurance. Their collective body of cars covered include antiques, muscle cars, hot rods, street rods and anything in-between. Cougar coverage is generally not a problem.

• Grundy - This is a worldwide specialty insurance carrier that will pretty much insure any car based upon a stated value. You can apply online at their website. Once you accept their rate, they will send you more detailed information to fill out. The main reason that Grundy is so inviting is that there is essentially no age limit for your car. Any 1983-88 Cougar owner, and any MN12 owner, can get insurance from Grundy.
• Hagerty - This company works primarily with U.S. vehicles that are at least 20 years old. Currently that excludes 1986-88 owners, and all MN12 owners too. However, when a new model year is officially unveiled---usually in September--then the next oldest vehicle becomes eligible (for example, 1986 owners should be eligible in September 2005). Hagerty's website seems to have a more thorough initial contact form. Once submitted you will be instructed on how to accept the terms and start the policy.

The theory behind these two companies is that your car is NOT a daily driver and that 95% of the time (or more), your car is not on the road and is in a safe area. Therefore they can afford to take more of a risk with you. When you are driving the car, again in theory you are going to/from a show, a short pleasure trip, what have you. There are some general limitations involved with these policies; be sure to review them to make sure they're okay with you. For example, you'll probably be excluded if you race the car at the drag strip. Most plans include towing, which is a great feature and can be a lifesaver if you're on the road. Be sure to compare the coverage between these companies and your current policy--you definitely don't want to take a step backwards if you don't have to.

It is well worth your while to get a quote from them first, then compare to other sites and/or your insurance company's current rates for your car (or projected rates at insured value). In my own situation, my agent was able to amend my current policy to the stated value. While this added approximately $200/year more at full coverage, the advantage is that I can reduce my coverage to only fire/theft during the winter months, when I would not be driving the car anyway. Therefore the net added cost to my existing policy, per year, works out to around $100 more. Had I gone with Grundy, the full coverage rate would have applied year-round and my rates would have gone up over $200 per year. Keep in mind, though, that I did full research on Grundy's site in case my current policy could not be amended. It could have gone either way...luckily for me, it was a simple change. You may or may not have a similar experience. I'm telling you this because you should be prepared for Plan B in case Plan A won't work out. There's nothing like a huge insurance bill to catch you off guard--don't make that mistake! Do your homework, balance everything out, and you'll be fine. Just be sure to get all this done before something catastrophic happens to your car.

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