February 2025
I was asked recently to review our NAACC Club Insurance program and to provide an update and explain the history and background of the NAACC / VCCC Club Insurance Program.
The Vintage Car Club of Canada Insurance Program started in 1979-1980. I as the VCCC National President put a club insurance program into place through Royal Insurance, located in Kamloops BC. The policy’s initial premium was approximately $750 per year. The honeymoon ended when Capri Insurance in Kelowna BC took over the policy. The premium skyrocketed over the years and by approximately 2005 the policy premium was over $13,000 per year and climbing. The Vintage Car Club of Canada approached the (NAACC) National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada and asked that we look into developing an insurance policy that covered all of their needs at a significantly reduced premium. I was the NAACC National President and fortunately had a very close friend in the Insurance business. I approached Pat Anderson owner of Pat Anderson Insurance Agencies. Pat and I met several times a month over a three-year period to develop what Pat considered to be the best automobile club insurance program in North America. I spent hundreds of hours learning and working with Pat to develop a very specific policy for the VCCC. Veronica Vaughn and eventually Christine Coulter of Pat Anderson Agencies became the go to people in the Commercial Account Division. The new policy was designed to incorporate all of the things that collector car clubs do. The policy was designed to insure all VCCC executives, all Chapter family members and all Chapter-sanctioned events including traveling to sanctioned functions in the USA. The policy includes coverage for liquor liability, all club functions, and everything that a collector car or motorcycle club does. The only thing it does not cover are racing events and competition timed events.
The policy was designed so that if the club membership increased or decreased it would not impact the club’s bottom line. The VCCC had a dues increase and each family membership of the VCCC was asked to pay a $6.00 fee per year for a comprehensive all-encompassing 5 million dollar policy. There is also two million in coverage specifically for National Officers, Directors and all VCCC Chapter Executives. As a result of the new policy the old VCCC premium dropped by over 35%. The executive of the VCCC wrote Pat Anderson, myself and the NAACC to express their sincere gratitude for the development of the policy. Needless to say, they were thrilled by the increased coverage and that the VCCC membership was now insured for a very reasonable cost.
What happened next was like a surreal movie. Clubs from across Canada started asking to take the policy and subscriptions took off.
Today 17 years later (2025) the policy is offered Canada- wide. The NAACC offers the policy thru Reliance Insurance at cost. It offers the policy as a service to clubs and takes no share of the small profit that the Reliance Insurance company receives for management of the policy.
Reliance Insurance (formerly Pat Anderson Insurance Agencies) does not charge for issuing insurance certificates. It only charges a fixed rate per club member. Since the VCCC members pay and not the club, there are no costs to the VCCC club. The VCCC has saved roughly $90,000 since this policy was developed.
I have been told by many insurance experts that the NAACC policy is considered the best overall Club insurance policy in North America. Thank you to the efforts of the VCCC Executive and the Chapter members who encouraged the NAACC to pursue the development of the policy. Thank you to Pat Anderson for making this policy happen. A special thank you to Chrisine Coulter for her diligent work in getting all of VCCC insurance certificates sent to the Chapters at no cost.
View the VCCC/NAACC coverage https://www.naacc.ca/knowledge/insurance/
Just so you know, the NAACC just picked up 11,000 new members from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America because they wanted to take our NAACC insurance program for their Canadian members. They were so happy with our insurance policy that after vetting it carefully, they are now paying for both the insurance premiums and the NAACC membership fees for their Canadian members so that they have insurance in Canada and the US. This is a big win for the hobby in North America.
My best regards, John Carlson,
President, (NAACC) National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada