If you drive a collectible car, you know you want car insurance, but the insurance needs for your collectible car is different than for you every day car. For your collectible car, you will want specialty insurance. Just as your collectible car is different from your daily car, specialty insurance differs from stand insurance in some important ways.

Specialty insurance is available for a wide variety of collectible cars, from antique autos to restored muscle cars to custom cars. While regular insurance is required for every car on the road, custom cars aren't required to have to have specialty insurance, even though the car may not be fully covered under a standard policy.

Specialty insurance covers cars that may have gaps in standard coverage, but not every car that is antique or modified will qualify for specialty insurance. Standard insurance is available for all cars, but cars must meet certain criteria to be covered by specialty insurance. Cars that are over 25 years old used to be considered collectible, but that is not the case now. Just because your car is 30 years old doesn't mean that it will qualify for specialty insurance.

To qualify for specialty insurance a car must have certain notable characteristics. Some of the characteristics are unique body shapes, muscle cars, foreign sports cars, convertibles and big block V8 engines.

Other vehicles that may qualify for specialty insurance coverage are older trucks, older fire trucks and other commercial vehicles and low rider cars that have been fitted with hydraulic suspension systems. Collectible motorcycles like the Indian Chief and the older Harley Davidsons can also be insured with a specialty policy.

Once you have determined that your car qualifies for specialty insurance, there are some restrictions and differences from traditional insurance that you should know about. Traditional insurance is designed to protect cars that are driven daily and are often put in situations where damage can occur. Specialty insurance often places restrictions on the use of the collectible cars to limit the chance that the car will be damaged.

Many specialty car insurance policies prohibit daily use of the car. Specialty insurance policies also usually state that the cars must be garage kept at all times. These measures lower the risk that an expensive collectible car will be involved in an accident. These measures help keep premiums for specialty insurance almost 80 per cent lower than traditional insurance premiums.

Another difference between traditional insurance and specialty insurance is the types of policies offered. In traditional insurance, vehicles that have been in an accident will either be repaired or will be totaled and a check will be issued to the owner for the actual cash value. Specialty insurance policies can be purchased for "Agreed Value." An agreed value policy guarantees car owners that they will receive a prior agreed upon amount in the event of an accident. An agreed value policy does not depreciate a car's value in contrast to actual cash value policies and stated value polcies.