Billy Brooks – Claims Experience and Lucky to be Alive!
Working at the National Corvette Museum you get to be part of several events throughout the year like the Michelin Bash, Vettes ‘n Vets, Anniversary Celebration, and of course the National Corvette Caravan (every five years). Occasionally, a club or organization hosts an event at the Museum that draws a big crowd and puts on a great show! Last year the CACW (Cultural Awareness Corvette Weekend) came to Bowling Green and did just that. CACW is an event hosted annually, the third week of August at the Museum. Billy Brooks, the president of this event, says, “Our goal is to galvanize African Americans (or anyone who doesn’t normally come to Bowling Green) to visit the Museum, the Corvette Plant, or the Motorsports Park to really showcase everything Corvette.” We knew this would be a great event when they had over 1,000 pre-registered attendees from around the country, so it was a no-brainer when Billy asked us to sponsor. What would start as a business relationship would turn into something Billy could have never imagined.
One hurdle we face as an agency is since we operate inside the Museum, people think we only insure Corvettes. Since our start, we have always insured any make/model vehicle if it holds collector value, is not your daily use vehicle, and is used for pleasure use only. When Billy first asked to be a sponsor he even said, “I had always known about NCM Insurance over the years from being a member and having friends and clubs mentioning them, but I never knew how it worked. I had other cars besides Corvettes and never thought of them for insurance.” On the 2nd day of the show, Billy came into our office and had us quote his collection which included: an El Camino, SSR, a C7 Z06, and a C5 – to name a few. “To me, price is always important, but cheaper doesn’t always mean better. I was shocked when NCMI quoted a 12-month premium (for all of my vehicles) for the cost to insure ONE with (my big box company).” Adam worked with Billy and explained the differences between NCMI and his standard auto company by defining Agreed Value versus Stated Value, and how our one liability charge was saving him hundreds from his current policy. By the end of the conversation, Billy was both a satisfied…and shocked NCMI customer!
[modula id=”122472″]We all know that insurance is only as good as the claims service and should not be solely based on price. What is most important to our customers is what happens when you need to use it. Billy will tell you firsthand what it is like having a dependable insurance company in your corner when an accident occurs. “I took out a policy in August of 2022, and in October, I had one of the worst experiences of my life. Billy continues, “I was driving home on the highway and lost control of my Z06. Before I knew it, I ended up in the ditch.” You can tell by the pictures, Billy was not only lucky to walk away, but also lucky to make it out alive. “It is honestly a true testament to GM and their crash safety features with the airbags and all.” The Corvette was in such bad shape that the tow company used a forklift to scrape it off the road. Billy wasted no time and called the claims team at American Modern. “Instantly when I called, the first person I talked to asked if I was ok and in a safe place. I felt the concern and personal tone from the beginning. They had recorded all my information and advised that a claims adjuster would call within 48 hours. In less than 24 hours, Stephanie at American Modern reached out, and we started the process. Not only did Stephanie call first, but she was also my adjuster throughout the entire process. Every time they needed something, they would text/call me, and when I needed claim information, they were quick to get it back to me.” Within 3 weeks of filing the claim, Billy had a check in his hand to begin the search for his new car. “Having the Agreed Value attached to my Z06, I knew exactly how much to expect back from the insurance company (the same value I assigned to it back in August). I was fortunate enough to replace my Z06 with a 2019 Grand Sport Convertible and a 1968 Corvette.”
Billy says, “If I wasn’t retired, I would be working full time at NCMI to spread the word of my experience and how perfectly everything was handled – from start to finish!”



National Corvette Museum Insurance
With another customer service representative and agent being hired on the team, we are excited to announce
The new office boasts an additional 2100 sq ft including room for seven extra employee workspaces, a conference room, storage space, a copy room, and a break room. We will continue to have a full-time agent located inside the Museum itself Monday through Friday. That office will now be located on Corvette Boulevard, inside the Library and Archives. We love meeting our customers face to face and sharing in the excitement of their delivery experience, so we wanted to be certain not to lose that in-house accessibility. Being onsite to assist walk-ins and answer insurance-related questions is extremely important to our business.


Paul has been a gear head most of his life. He started out in the hobby early on by racing motorcycles in Oklahoma and Texas. That segued into vehicles with four wheels soon after. Paul says, “What really got me started collecting vehicles was when I first bought my 1970 Mustang GT350. I’ve owned that close to 35 years”. Being involved in numerous car clubs like
No one plans on having a total loss in insurance, much less 3 total losses but sadly Paul Read experienced that in just one day. On a frigid February morning in Texas, in a detached garage, home to several collector vehicles Paul found himself trying to save his prized possessions that had just gone up in flames.
That February day was not just any other day but was special since it was Paul’s birthday. Paul recalled doing some work out in the garage, accompanied by a couple space heaters, that morning when he came inside to make a phone call. Him and his wife had planned on going to Sebring but had to call and cancel the reservation last minute. “when I walked in the house, I remember the power going off inside but didn’t think to much about it since rolling brown outs were common this time of year.” He then retreated to the garage to finish cleaning up when he noticed smoke starting to form around the door. “I immediately opened the door and black smoked came rolling out”. Read then proceeded to crawl under the smoke to try and open the garage door. “I was able to get the garage door open and tried to grab the keys to the cars but when I did, I could hear the C7 Corvette try and turn over and immediately took off running back. I tried calling the Fire Department, but the damage was already done, and the garage was in flames”.
Paul reached out to us the very next day to start the claims process. “I was immediately assigned a claims adjuster who reached out to me to explain the process” he also says “within a few days an appraiser was sent out to access the damage, try to figure out what caused the fire and take pictures” “American Moderns claims team was great to deal with constant communication throughout the process and within 3 weeks I had a check in my hand and was able to go out and buy a C7 Z06 and 2018 GT350 to try and start the collection process again!” “when you start to shop insurance, you mainly focus on the cost of insurance and not the claims reputation. You never plan on having a claim just paying the insurance on time. This is a great example of why NCM Insurance has great rates but an even better claims team”


You know how sometimes deals just fall in your lap? Well, this was one of those deals. A longtime friend and customer Adam Pitale, founder of
While we were getting fuel at our very last stop, I was too focused on getting a photo of our gas guzzler and the group of Tesla’s at the charging station, that I left the gas cap on the pump. 10 minutes later I smelt a strong gas odor, and I immediately knew what I did. We were close to an auto parts store; we swung in to see if they had one instead of going back. We stopped at two stores and spent a combined hour at both. We should have gone back for it…




We are excited to announce our Agency’s new Customer Service representative, Lorrie Carta! Lorrie comes to us with over 25 years in the Customer Service Role and ready to help our customers with any questions they might have.
She is also a gear head at heart. Her and her husband Greg (known as Chip) own a 1967 Camaro RS. “He drag races this in the NHRA circuit and Beech Bend has become our home track. This car once belonged to his dad who passed back in 1994.”
