Home insurance...policy gun rider.

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easyday

Inactive
Collection is growing. Anyone have experience, good or bad, with insurance companies and guns. I have heard of policies being terminated when requesting a gun rider onto policy.

Thanhs, easyday
 
I hate USAA. When my apartment was broken in to in 1998 I lost three pistols. Good old USAA, my auto insurance company since 1974 and my renter coverage on and off for five years, some how wiggled out of paying. I fought them for a year until I could no longer afford to fight them. They must have paid their lawyers ten times my claim.

Do not use USAA for anything ever!

[This message has been edited by Libertarian (edited January 31, 2000).]
 
Your insurance carrier will insist on a detailed list of your firearms. As a result, your private ownership of firearms will no longer be private. Since most computer databases can be accessed by anyone with good techno-weenie skills, you'll leave yourself open for this information to get into the wrong hands.

Normally most homeowners policies cover somewhere between $1500-$2000 for firearms, plus your NRA membership covers something close to that as well. A rider to insure additional firearms will be much like adding jewelry to your HO policy, with all of your weapons detailed in the insurer's database as already mentioned. It could cost you anywhere from $50-$500 additionally per year depending upon the extent of your collection.

All of this said, do you really want a detailed listing of your firearms on some insurance company's database? If you don't already have one, you should have invested in a good safe. Most good safes are far too complicated and time consuming for your typical home invader to break into. Your safe should also be located somewhere that will not be affected by fire or flood.

No money received from an insurance claim could replace your collection, no matter what is in it. Think about that carefully. That alone should justify the purchase of a safe. Get a dog, put in an alarm system, or establish a perimeter of claymore mines, but DO NOT expose your private collection to anyone...especially in this age of cyberspace.
 
I really need to buy a good safe. I don't know what's the matter with me. I gleefully spend hundreds of dollars on a new firearm, but balk at the price of a good safe.

Will

------------------
Mendacity is the system we live in.
 
Does anyone know about whether your home insurance policy will cover defending you if you get sued legally protecting your home.

Example: You shoot a BG protecting yourself in your home. The police agree that it was legal self-defense. Then the BG or his/her family sues you for something like excessive force. Will your insurance company pay for the defense?

If not, are their insurance companies willing to write that kind of policy?

This worries me more than loosing my weapons.
 
Allstate writes my homeowner's policy. When I discovered that the value of my firearms were more than the policy covered, I asked my agent about a rider. I told him up front it would be to cover firearms, was he going to require make, model and serial numbers out of me? I also told him that would make me really uncomfortable for someone else to have an inventory of the weapons I owned. He said "no problem. Just tell me how much you want to make the rider for. No one item valued at more than $2500 (for those you need another, separate rider)" He recommended I have the firearms appraised every year or so in case anything did happen to them I would have a current market, REPLACEMENT value on them, and he recommended I keep the appraisal in my safe, and a copy of it in an alternate location, such as a safety deposit box. BTW, he recommends that ALL important papers be kept in the safe and a copy in another, secure location on the theory that both copies won't get destroyed. (BTW, Allstate does NOT give a discount for a safe. They will give a discount for an alarm, but not a safe...go figure). Bottom line was that even though I carry a $15k rider for "sports equipment", Allstate did not need or even want to know the make, model and ser#s of my guns to insure them. If I should ever, God forbid, file a claim, THEN Allstate wants make, model and ser#.

-sarah
 
Regarding the question about the homeowners policy defending you if you were to shoot a BG.... As long as you were protecting life or property and you have insurance with a reputable company, you are covered against a civil suit. If there are criminal charges, you may want to visit the bank. Odds are that they will not assist in paying for defense in a criminal action even if you are in the right.
 
I was told the same from my ALLSTATE agent. They do not seem to be the least bit anti-gun, but then I don't know anyone who has tried to collect either.

The NRA will cover $1,000 towards guns, per membership. So since my husband, I and my son are all members, we have an additional $3,000 of coverage. BTW, you get that $1,000 coverage with a JR NRA membership also.
 
There's some company affiliated with NRA where you can insure the guns without listing them specifically, but as a lawyer, I would advise against this, because when it comes time to make a claim, you'll be hard pressed to prove your loss, giving the ins. co. enormous bargaining power to whittle down your claim.
 
Futo, what about the homeowner keeping good records? List, appraisal, photos, etc. Why would that not be good enough?

Thnaks for bringing up the topic, easyday, I hadn't thought of homeowners insurance relative to firearms. -- Denise
 
I recently signed up for the NRA sponsored policy. The cost for an additional $3000 in coverage was $25/year. Guns with a value less than $3000 each, don't have to be scheduled/itemized. Joseph: They also offer gun owner liability coverage. Futo Inu is probably right about fighting for a pay out but it is better than nothing ..I hope. I did read a post on another sight, where a guy wrote that he settled a claim with them with absolutly no problems. I too find it hard to shell out a grand for a safe. By the time I save the cash, I have another gun in my sights! I do have a Homak cabinet and a security system however.
 
Paul Revere,
Well, Bought a big, monster,700lb. safe.
{your fault). Holds all firearms plus cameras, binoculars, papers, etc. Should of done this long ago. Suggest anyone who owns firearms to do likewise. The day is near ,or here now where , gun owners will be held liable if some BG steals your firearms and causes harm. The BG , in this climate, can sue and win.

Thanks to all who responded.
easyday.
 
I am an insurance agent in WA state. Your homeowners or renters policy will cover your firearms up to the limit of your personal property coverage for the perils covered by the policy Except for theft. The peril of theft is limited to $1000, $2500, whatever that particular policy states.
You can purchase a floater for about $1 per $100 of value. Yes they will want a listing of the property they are covering...but...I have been able to negotiate keeping the serial numbers off of the company database.
You can also raise the limit of theft coverage without any listing at all for additional premium.

I am just as adamantly pro gun rights and anti NWO, anti gun control, and all the rest as anyone on this list, but you have to be pretty paranoid to think your specific firearm listing is somehow in danger of falling into the wrong hands, with an insurance company. You risk a lot more just posting on this forum than providing specific details on your firearms to the insurance company.

The bottom line is go talk to your agent. If you are not comfortable talking about your firearms, then find another one. If you are not comfrotable talking to anyone about insurance coverage and your firearms...then chill out.
 
sbryce, yes, I would certainly make a video showing all the guns, pictures, lists, etc. - and then only reveal these if/when a claim is necessary, but insurance companies are insurance companies, and any argument than can possibly make to screw you, they will when you make a claim (generalization of course). In the case of fire, no prob: just show 'em the burned out remains of the firearms. But in the case of theft, I can see an ins. co. saying "how do we know you didn't sell or hide these" - of course, on second thought, they can make that argument anyway, and they will in any event require proof of forcible entry, so I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth, because now I don't see any real distinction in how effective of a claim one can make, regardless of whether the serial numbers/descriptions are pre-supplied to the ins. co. So, [in best Gilda Radner voice] "Nevermind".
 
Just went into debt on a huge safe myself. These days I just seem to be getting more and more paranoid of losing my guns. We had a very minor fire middle of last year and there was some damage to a shotgun barrel and all my reloading equipment. My insurance company gave me no grief at all about these items. I am planning on calling them and checking into a discount for the safe and also about some additional coverage on my guns. Anyone know how American Family is on these subjects?
 
Trigger Jerk, thanks for adding your expertise to this discussion.

I know you didn't use the word 'paranoid' in a pejorative way. However, I will point out that you're not paranoid if they are really after you. ;)

To that end, the more I've learned about this issue, the more cautious I have become. The attacks on the RKBA are so extensive, so deep and so broad, that I find very little to be in the 'inconceivable' realm. Keep up with proposed local, state and federal laws and I think you will be amazed as well.

So, in California, for example, I would not find it impossible that their Attorney General would issue subpoena's to insurance companies to locate so-called 'assault weapons'. Perhaps that is not likely today, but once the data is in somebody's file ...

Consider the rapidity with which the current hysteria is traveling, and extend that out for another year to 5 years. Hell, we could see firearms manufacturer's records seized to locate warranty cards for heaven's sake.

For me, I compare the upside and downside, and if the downside is unlikely but potentially devastating, then I take reasonable action to avoid it. To each his own.
 
Nationwide Insurance does not require details of a collection. I increased my coverage and told them why, they did recommend that I make a video tape and have third party varification of the collection, that was done by my gunsmith who has a list of my guns and serial numbers.

I have a $1 million liability policy also. The base was about $300-$400,000 and I pay $75 per year extra for the upgrade. If you are concerned about it covering you if you are involved in a shooting check the policy for a 'willful tort exclusion'. If there is one, that policy will not cover you. With the chance of losing $1 million the insurance company will provide very good legal representation, they might even help with criminal representation since it would help them in a civil trial.
 
Jeff,
I appreciate your perspective on paranoid and you make a valid point, and I point the finger at myself when I use that term.

If it gets to the point that insurance companies records are subpoenaed, looking for certain types of firearms, my guess is that first blood (literally) will have probably been drawn. There are lots of easier ways to get "lists"...but I won't discount it as NOTHING their government (Aint mine anymore) does would surprise me.

I just know that the insurance company is only looking for enough information to be able to properly value the property in the event of a loss. Serial numbers are not neccessary to do that and that's why I can get around that. Give them what they really want, not what they say they want. You just need an agent savy enough to know that.

On to the subject of safes...In my opinion, you should get some kind of a discount for having and using a safe. But in the world I live in you get insurance discounts for smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, dead bolts, air bags, anti lock brakes, active disabling systems (cars) passive disabling systems (cars again), drivers training, good grades, passing the "55 Alive" course, having more than one car, having less than one ticket, not smoking, and having no claims for 3 or more years...but I have yet to see a discount for having a safe.

BTW I personally have a safe, but do NOT have a firearms floater on my own policy.
 
Contact your local Texas (or other state) Farm Bureau. I have mine insured for under $3
per 100 and it covers them wherever they are.
they also are tops when it come to claims. Greezt to deal with.
 
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