The National Corvette Museum's insurance agent is happy with howcoverage was placed and says there are no coverage concernsregarding the sinkhole that claimed eight classic vehicles Wednesday morning.

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Scroll to the bottom of thestory to see security-camera footage of the sinkhole

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Phyllis Milliner, client services manager and claims manager,and Michelle Montgomery, director of quality control, both withBowling Green, Ky.-based Van Meter Insurance Group, which placedthe account, say the museum is covered under a broad ChubbInsurance Group commercial-property policy, with a collectionendorsement to cover the vehicles themselves.

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“We had tailored coverage to fit the needs of the museum,”Montgomery says, noting that a standard policy without theendorsement would have left the damaged vehicles withoutcoverage.

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The value of the vehicles, she says, is based on appraisals themuseum obtains regularly and insured to an agreed amount in thepolicy.

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Milliner says there are “no issues as far as the value of thecorvettes that went down or the building,” and adds the agency is“very happy with how we placed coverage.”

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Montgomery and Milliner both say the sinkhole would be a coveredperil, and Montgomery says the loss will involve one smalldeductible.

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Additionally, Montgomery says the policy would also cover thetwo vehicles on loan from General Motors in addition to the sixowned by the museum, pointing out that many cars at the museum areowned by other people who have loaned them.

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Montgomery credits the speed with which Van Meter's personnelwere able to begin work on the claim, noting that a Chubb adjusterwas on the scene within four hours of the reported loss, which shesays was “an accomplishment” as the Chubb claims office is inArizona. “We were very pleased to be able to get the insured anadjuster out there so quickly,” Montgomery says.

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Montgomery notes that Philadelphia Insurance Companies writesthe casualty part of the account.

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Philadelphia Insurance Companies declined to comment. Chubb didnot respond to a request for comment.

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According to the National Corvette Museum's website, “Over 30unique Corvettes” were housed in the Skydome that was affected bythe sinkhole discovered early Wednesday morning. Bob Bubnis,communications coordinator at the National Corvette Museum, tellsPC360 General Motors has “graciously stepped in” and offered totake on the task of overseeing the restoration of the vehiclesdamaged by the sinkhole. “That's quite a big thing,” Bubnis notes,pointing out that only two of the eight vehicles were on loan fromGM, while the other six are owned by the museum.

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In a statement, GM says Chevrolet will oversee the restoration,with General Motors Design in Warren, Mich. leading theproject.

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“The vehicles at the National Corvette Museum are some of themost significant in automotive history,” says Mark Reuss, executivevice president of General Motors Global Product Development in thestatement. “There can only be one 1-millionth Corvette ever built.We want to ensure as many of the damaged cars are restored aspossible so fans from around the world can enjoy them when theMuseum reopens.”

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Steeped in legend, the 1983 Corvette liveson

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Milliner says that while valuable cars were damaged by thesinkhole, some of the most valuable ones were spared. She says a1983 Corvette was housed in the Skydome, but it escapeddamage.

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And fortune truly seems to be with this particular vehicle. The1983 Corvette at the museum is the only one in existence.

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The 1983 model year Corvette was never released to the public,as it featured so many advances, Bubnis says, that it would havetaken too much time to validate and go through thegovernment-approval process.

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Over 40 1983 Corvettes were actually made, but all weredestroyed, mostly in testing, except the one.

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Bubnis says when discussing the surviving '83 Corvette, “Part ofthis delves into the realm of legend.” Some say the car wasdismantled and hidden by plant employees to protect it, heexplains, while others say the plant manager knew its value andkept it safe.

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Bubnis says when the museum opened in 1994, it got the surviving1983 corvette on loan from General Motors.

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A 2011story about the vehicle on examiner.com notes that, afterdelays, the 1983 model year was passed over and the 1984 Corvettewent on sale in February 1983.

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After Wednesday's sinkhole, Bubnis says the vehicle was safelyremoved from the area as soon as people were able to safely get tothe Skydome. “That would have been catastrophic,” he says ofpotential that the only remaining 1983 Corvette could have beenlost.

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According to the museum, the vehicles damaged include:

  • 1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
  • 2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from GeneralMotors
  • 1962 Black Corvette
  • 1984 PPG Pace Car
  • 1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
  • 1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
  • 2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
  • 2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette
Below, security-camera footage shows the sinkhole forming.Videos are from the National Corvette Museum's YouTube channel(please refresh this page if the videos do not initiallyappear).

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