Collection and home owner's insurance

M

mitchntx

New member
I'm massing quite stash of guns over the last couple years.

Nothing really expensive and nothing really collectible. It's more quantity than anything else.

None-the-less, all of a sudden I'm thinking I might need a seperate rider for adequate coverage.

Is there a rule of thumb, magic threshold or just intuition that is the catalyst for contacting my agent?
 
Is there a rule of thumb, magic threshold or just intuition that is the catalyst for contacting my agent?
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None of the above. It's just prudent to insure your valuables. The best insurance is to not let word get out about your collection.

Better coverage than any homeowners policy:
http://www.collectinsure.com/index.html
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Never heard of them. What happens if you ever have to collect? How do you know they'll pay?

I'll stick with a big name company that's been around awhile and has plenty of assets.
 
Most policies will have pretty low coverage on specific items like jewelery and firearms. It is likely you will need a rider. Contact your agent for specifics regarding your policy, and have him put his comments in writing. Look at your policy before contacting your agent to see what your policy states.
 
Some insurance companies want you to register your guns with them; some don't. ’Nough said?
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SO? You wold expect them to take YOUR word as to what you have in your "collection" - bet everyone would have a few 100,000 dollar Purdeys then

Go insure a valuable diamond ring or painting - they will want a picture and third-party appraisal

collect insure, mentioned above, is a highly rated group
 
There will be a maximum in your home owners policy for such things as jewelry, art, guns, etc. Essentially these are concentrated value which tend to be targets for thieves. Check your policy. I suspect there is a total $ of something like $5000 for all of these kinds of valuables as far as insurance after a loss such as a fire.

My agent wanted serial numbers and descriptions. I didn't like that. But some are very collectable and I can understand it from an insurance point of view.

Years ago, I was going out of the country for work and insured my camera equipment for replacement cost. I had a burglary a couple of years later in my home and the insurance company paid replacement cost even though some of the items were no longer sold retail. That saved my butt. But the cost to insure my firearms would be substantial.
 
I am a claims adjuster (20 years) for a major insurer. I'll let you know my perspective.

Read the policy you have. Find out what if covers. Some policies have a cap for firearms regardless of peril. Others have a cap for firearms for some perils, but not for others. A peril is a means of loss, such as fire, theft, etc. For instance, my own homeowner's policy has a $5,000 cap on my firearms for theft, but no cap (except my overall contents cap) for fire. In other words, if all my guns were stolen, I'd get $5,000 regardless of their actual value. If they burn up in a fire, I'd get full value up to my contents limit - which is substantial and well in excess of my collection value.

If your current policy provides inadequate coverage, ask your insurer if they offer a rider. Some have firearms riders. Others, such as my insurer, have sporting-equipment riders that covers not only my guns, but all my fishing gear as well. Get a rider from the company you are with before you buy specific coverage from another provider. Otherwise, if you have a claim, you may get involved in battle between insurers over who is primary.

Also, check to see if your policy providers replacement-cost coverage or coverage for actual-cash-value (ACV). Replacement cost is what is sounds like: you are paid what it costs to replace your gun. ACV: you get paid the value of your gun. Understand that even if your policy has replacement cost coverage, it will likely pay you ACV until you actually replace your gun, then it will pay you the difference between ACV and replacement cost. This is called "hold back" and most insurers do it. This helps prevent people from loosing, say, guns, and replacing them with a new plasma TV.

So, check the policy you have. Read it carefully. Read the insuring agreement, the contents parts, the exclusions, and the exceptions to exclusions. Only then will you truly know if you need additional coverage.
 
^ Great info. Its always good to check your homeowners policy for their firearms coverage, if any.

another good practice is to keep all your receipts and purchase records; some insurance companies may ask for proof of how much items cost vs just giving them an estimated value.
 
I think there is another similar thread going on about this subject right now also.
Last time I got quotes for firearms riders the annual premium was 10% of the guns values.
That is really nice. The insurance companies let you invest in the valuables then allows you to rent your own property from them. :mad:
 
I had a rider for a while on some things we owned, including some firearms. The additional cost of the premium was not significant and it is worth it if you have a stable accumulation of things. If you have one that seems to turn over fairly often, I don't know about that. If you have a particularly valuable collection of anything, that sort of makes it even more important to insure it. After all, you can pretty much insure anything if you're willing to pay the premium.

However, you cannot overinsure your valuables, by which I mean that if you suffer a loss, you cannot recover more than the value of the collection, which I assume has been previously established. Mostly, however, you will have some loss since, in principle, you should not profit from a loss, if you follow me.

Most people misunderstand what insurance is. It does not prevent risk and it is not a gamble.
 
Also, find out from your insurance guy what happens if a gun is damaged away from the home. My understanding, which may or may not be correct, is that homeowner's insurance may cover a loss from the home, but would not cover any sort of loss or damage to a firearm if same occurs away from the home. So if a firearm is stolen from your car during a pit stop on the way to the range, or falls out of a boat, it might not be covered. For losses or damage away from the home, you may need to ask about something called an "inland marine" policy (if I understood my insurance guy correctly).
 
Last time I got quotes for firearms riders the annual premium was 10% of the guns values.
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That has been my experience as well. I could buy a safe a year or every two years based on the cost of the insurance for my firearms. BUT, a safe generally protects against theft, but not a significant protection against fire unless you go to some length in the positioning of the safe(s). The only way I know of to actually protect firearms from fire is to essentially build an underground bunker that is shielded by concrete from the heat from above (major house fire) or position it away from the home structure completely. Then you have significant moisture issues potentially which cost a fair amount to effectively deal with.

USA insurance has some of the best firearm coverage. It really comes down to how much value you are insuring. For the typical person with 5 or 6 firearms, it is not a significant expense. But for the collector with several hundred firearms, it is a significant expense. Some would say that if you can afford several hundred collector firearms, you can afford the insurance.
 
I think you may be correct, McGee, about homeowner's coverage away from home. But it works both ways, sort of. If your car is destroyed by fire while it's in the garage (from a house fire, that is), it is usually covered by homeowner's insurance. But insurance policies have lots of fine print and you shouldn't get the idea that you can double insure something. While insurance is generally a good idea, it also does not eliminate risk.
 
Is there a rule of thumb, magic threshold or just intuition that is the catalyst for contacting my agent?
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The magic threshold is ONE.

If you have ONE firearm, you better look into real insurance.

I'd bet one month's salary on your policy covering a maximum of $1,000 worth of firearms and accessories. And that's total, no matter how many firearms may have been damaged. A thousand bucks is all you get.


It sucks, but that's the way most major companies are writing the policies now.
Ignorance is a good way to think you're "getting worked over" by your insurance agent. But, all along, the information was in the policy you didn't feel like reading.
 
Oh, I get that, BlueTrain, and I'm not saying that you can double-insure anything. I'm simply pointing out the inland marine policy, because so many members of this forum have CCWs to think about.
 
Most homeowners polices and renters policies will cover personal property anywhere in the US (and with some companies, anywhere in the world). Of course, any dollars limitations would still apply. So if your car was broken into and your gun stolen, it should be covered, even if it happened at Wal Mart in another state. I've never seen a policy that only protects personal property in the home.

Inland Marine policies are usually obtained if you want broader coverage than the base policy (or rider) provide. If you base policy (and rider) are sufficient, an Inland Marine policy is unnecessary.

With respect to risk, insurance doesn't eliminate risk. If you were able to eliminate risk, you wouldn't need insurance. Insurance allows a person to transfer the risk of loss to an insurance company in exchange for paying a premium.
 
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