do you up your insurance coverage for your stereo equipment?

danger boy

I have been wondering about this. A friend of mine just bought a high end VPI turntable. and it got me to thinking... should he make sure he lets his home owners insurance company know the value of it and make sure he's covered?

OR

Does he need to take out some kind of high end insurance policy for it and anything else of high value?

How often should you let your insurance agent know you have new gear?

BIZILL

state farm usually asks me approximately how much my electronics/video/audio equipment is worth and charges me a premium accordingly. but, i have been needing to update them since i first got my house over 4 years ago and now have the ht and more recently the 2 channel.

BAD ASP

I am no insurance guru but My policy through Farmers carries an automatic contents coverage of $xxxx dollars regardless of type. The garage and my cars are included, less the deductible for that coverage. Damage caused by fire or someother disaster is 100% full replacement.
Perhaps there is sufficient coverage built into the policy without the need for specific riders????

dkg999

I just buy the extended property value endorsement, and I don't have to itemize audio/HT equipment or my guns.

danger boy

I have heard horror stories though about people only getting a partial check for the contents in their house after a fire..

Hawkeye

I asked my insurance agent this very question 2 months ago. A rider was not required, just raising the content value high enough to go over what the total cost would be was enough for us. I raised content value another 40K and it only cost $12 per year.

zingo

I have the same style as BAD ASP. We have a set amount of coverage and all or stuff, audio gear included, falls under the limit we set. Our coverage is 100% replacement at it's original value; depreciation is not factored in. I would assume I'm covered...

gdb

I have Erie ins. with an extra cost premium for full replacement value. I take pictures of EVERTHING in the house and load onto a disk that is kept in a fireproof safe. With pics for proof there's less chance of a claim being contested. If you've got heirlooms or really high value pieces, an independant appraisal would be good, especially if there's no receipt showing what was paid.;)

SolidSqual

I have 50K on my whole apartment. It was about $150 for a year's coverage. The assessor said doing this pretty much guarantees that I will gett full recovery if my whole place goes up in flames.

cambir

Most policies work as described above. You have a specified amount (a % of your dwelling replacement cost - usually around 75%). If there is a loss, you will need to present proof of loss...receipts, pictures, videos, with inventory or something. Then the insurance company will usually calculate depreciation, give you that amount, then give you the rest (up to replacement cost) when you actually replace the item. Whether you need to "schedule" items will depend on the value of the items (and will require appraisals) and your specific policy language.

Ask your agent if there are limits on the replacement of your electronics. Usually there is not, but some of you would max out your contents coverage pretty quick with your gear. If your agent doesn't know, they need to find out. If they don't, get a new agent.

Go through your home and start adding up the cost to replace items (clothes, dishes, furniture, everything). Don't calculate what you paid, but what it would cost to replace them. Then, make sure your "contents" coverage is more than the number you came up with (including your electronics).

Consider storing a copy of your inventory with pictures at your agent's office.

shadowofnight

cambir wrote: »

Consider storing a copy of your inventory with pictures at your agent's office.

And hope your agent or his 9 dollar an hour administrative assistant isnt crooked or with shady family members who are

I take pics....store them in a small fire safe and put that INSIDE my huge gun/fire safe. Then up my coverage to cover what I feel is appropriate....Its been a couple of years since I did that though...figured these old SDA Polks and Carver gear I have gotten since the last ins overhaul aint worth the hassle to add.

HB27

I just lost my house to a flood this spring. I had flood insurance and my insurance company wasn't as generous as I thought they should be. I had all of my posessions itemized, pictures, ser#s, etc. They were "fair" on most household posessions but on my audio gear I figured I was compensated about .25 cents on the dollar. Their idea of calculating what my gear was worth is a lot different than what it takes to replace it. I still consider myself fortunate. Most of my neighbors in my area did NOT have flood insurance.
FYI, there hadn't been a flood there since 1913. Most saw no need. My agent was hustling when business was slow. I'd just redone my coverages less than a year prior to this.
The cost of flood insurance is minimal and in my case it allowed me to survive and move on with a few bucks in the bank to start over.
Harry

BAD ASP

My wife and I had a major fire in our house a number of years ago. At the time we had 4 kids ages 18 mos. to 11 years old. The fire gutted our second floor and we had to move out during repairs. Our insurance company at the time was one of the Big 2...... We had full replacement value which meant that we would be paid when we replaced the items. No consideration towards consolidation of kids belongings to upgrade. For example we had 3 Teddy Ruxpin (sp) talking teddy bears.... don't laugh they were the hot toy at the time. We wanted to consolidate those with the purchase of swing set....NO JOY!! replace the Teddies or lose the value. I could go on with the horror story of dealing with the claims adjuster. That's another story... your friendly agent becomes next to worthless on a claim. Your new best friend is now the claims adjuster who's sole existence is to screw you the very best way they can. I ended up hiring a private adjuster to represent us and our claim.. it got really ugly. I was advised by the private Adjuster that the difference between the Big 2 insurance companies and a sewer is that one can be the sewer and the other the sewer cover depending on the day.He also gave me the lowdown on the top tier insurance companies where full replacement value is just that. You, under all circumstance, must "present" your claim. This means that you MUST itemize all that is lost and provide a receipt or current value to replace. Pictures are a must to expedite but make no mistake the insurance companies do come out immediately after the loss with high resolution cameras and take reference pictures which are extemely accurate and clear. They use these to evaluate the honesty of your claim. It is at the insurance companies discretion to accept your claim if you don't have reciepts and deny if they feel you are exagerating. The top tier companies do not require you to replace the exact items. You "present" your Properly documented claim and a check is written as compensation. I literally could write a book on dealing with the B.S. from a partial loss due to fire and how dealing with the insurance companies is a complete nightmare. My wife and I are convinced that if it ever Happened to us again under the same circumstances we would get the kids out and let it burn. A total loss may or may not be easier to deal with financially, I don't know, but what I do know is that having to " present" toothbrushes " Oral B 40" quantity 8 $ 1.50 = $12.00 and be told that we would only be compensated for 6 since there were only six of us and that the national average was $1.19 or $7.14. This story goes on for 30 pages of claim and denial.
Anyways, don't just trust that the insurance you think you have has you covered. Take heed to note that if you leave an opening to get screwed the insurance companies generally will be glad to oblige you.
We now pay about 40% more for our yearly insurance premium through Chubb than we would through the aforementioned Big 2 but I have the comfort of understanding the difference. Incidentally my brother doesn't hold it against me... he was my previous agent who could do nothing to help me with my claim.

Sorry for the long Blow but I guess this might be relevant.

joeparaski

Bad Asp is correct..insurance companies will do everything they can to NOT pay when the time comes, I know, I've had that experience.

I don't have any special insurance for my gear, somehow, I doubt they'll pay anything close to what I've got invested in it if I were insured.

Joe

treitz3

I ended up getting an alarm system because even though I have full replacement coverage with plenty of money to more than cover everything in the house, when I really sat down and talked with my agent for about two hours and drilled him on questions it turned out that the stereo gear was most definitely NOT covered for full replacement value. There's also very misleading coverages as well. Different coverages for whether it gets stolen, whether the house was a total loss or a partial loss, water damage, fire damage............the list goes on. This is not what I would refer to as "full replacement costs" but it's what they offer. F'd up for sure.

I also found out the process that I would have to go through to get compensated for the estimated 10 to 20 cents on the dollar [which wouldn't even replace just my speakers] would be pretty much what Bad Asp went through.

Save your receipts!!!! Make as many photos as possible [of EVERYTHING! IC's, SC's, spikes, amp stands, etc...] providing serial #'s, model #'s, options/upgrades and then make a video recording of it all as well. While you are at it, videotape the rest of the house as well. Make sure that you get video of everything inside drawers, shelves, boxes, chests, blah, blah, blah. It's amazing how much stuff you have that you would forget about when making a claim. A video will help remind you. Once you are done with the photos, put them all on a disc and make three copies.

One copy goes to your safe box or firesafe security chest, one goes to a member of the family or a trusted friend that does not reside in the same dwelling as you and the third copy goes to your insurance agent to be added to your file. Keep the video in a safe spot that is not located inside your house. This is the advice I received.

Those with vintage gear, forget about ever getting full replacement value. You'd be lucky to get 50 bucks for anything that is worth 1K on the used market.