My house was burglarized 20 years ago and my entire stereo system was stolen which put my homeowners insurance to the test. I have to say I was 100% satisified with the way Nationwide handled the claim. All of our personal property items including the stereo and other electronics, silver and jewelry, was covered without question and we were reimbursed for each item that we replaced. Any items we chose not to replace were paid on some kind of discounted present value basis. The policy deductible applied of course, but only to the overall total. I was frankly anticipating some problems with the hifi gear since some of the models had changed since I bought them and retail prices had escalated a lot since the original purchases. However, there were no problems at all. It probably helped that we bent over backwards to be fair to the insurance company and we did have receipts for many of the items. Nevertheless, I felt somewhat vindicated when nearly all of my hifi equipment was located several months later and 3 states away. Even though Nationwide never questioned what I claimed was stolen, I wanted to say "See, I told you I really did own all this stuff."
Since the burglary, you can be sure that I fully document each purchase. I also keep the receipts in another location in case of a fire.
P.S. No affiliation with Nationwide except as a policyholder. |
Hey, do you guys think there would be an interest if there was a program out there that you can buy nice, broad, easy to understand and read coverage (from a real insurance company) for your gear? Probably cost near what it costs to insure your wifes jewelry. |
You may actualy be able to schedule your stereo gear on a Musical instrument floater (or a personal article floater). It would provide broader coverage (maybe electrical surge/arcing) than a homeowners policy, probably lower deductible, offer, possibly, agreed or stated value (rather than actual cash value or replacement cost-neither buy you new gear)but, much higher premium. Your Homeowners policy in its standard form (assuming it provides theft coverage) doesn't have any limitation in its contents coverage (personal property of insured)provision for stereo gear, but, it is subject to your HO policy perils (fire/water/theft), deductible, and valuation provisions. In any event, the single most important thing you need to do is document your gear; original invoice's, ordering forms; I take time stamped photos and have even secured affidavits from my dealer over the years as to its condition/value as well as listeners (a 10 year old $50,000 amp would yield a few grand should it be stolen on a HO policy if you don't know how to navigate the waters). An HO policy with replacement cost provides "replacement with like kind and quality...". And that is (w/o your documentation) subjective by an insurance adjuster who has no idea a cable not made by monster can cost more than $100. |
My life insurance is cheaper. There is of course no way that I can profit from this kind of insurance but it is also a question of principles. It feels as if my gear is more valuable then my life. Besides my gear already cost me a fortune.
Regards, |
USAA. An outstanding insurer, and OK - bank too.
Alarm systems and video surveillance all to good, but I'd think mentioning you have firearms for home security would bring suggestions to jack-up your liability coverage. Disclaimer: I'm an ex-service member and been with USAA for over ttwenty-five years - back before they were selling investments, catalog goods, etc. (c; |
We also use USAA homeowners insurance. We have our antiques and expensive items listed in a separate schedule with photos and receipts for each item. In the event of loss we will get the replacement value for those items. The rest of our household goods falls under the homeowners insuranace coverage we requested, which includes all forms of electronics, and my stereo, yeah. When we did the extra rider for the rare items, I kept asking about my electronics, and the representative always responded that my stereo was under the normal insurance up to the limit we are insuring.
I am satisifed with this policy. In addition, the mention of alarms, home security systems, video surveillance, friends Smith and Wesson, helps to reduce the fees.
Audioquest4life |
Hi Jlind - as I said, my agent is a long time friend of the family who made sure he knew what he was talking about when I asked him these questions back when I bought my equipment. It is covered under the normal types of homeowner's policies. As Stringreen suggests, it is always a good idea to take pictures. But my main point was actually that even if it weren't, the cost of insuring the equipment on some kind of separate policy or rider is simply not worth it, unless you spent at least six figures on your system. |
I know HO-3 policies like you guys know cables...get it in writing before the claim. |
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Looks like we have that settled.......................
not
. |
Larryken
The vast percentage of Homeowner's policies have separate small limits on things like jewelry, art, cash, coins, antiques, furs and electronic equipment. This is why the term "scheduled person property" is even an issue.
Insurance Companies don't want to hear that you had a 100k diamond stolen from your house that they didn't know about. This is why they have separate limits for these types of things.
Friends, get this info from your agent in writing. |
jadem6
Do your friend and your friendship with him a favor and get this in writing. I don't know of a subtle way to ask this from him, but lot's of Errors and Omissions claims start out with, "well, I had this friend". |
no need, coverage C of the policy is for unscheduled personal property and is a percentage of coverage A, which is your dwelling. it's a pretty big number. however, take photos, scan your receipts into computer and paper receipts in a fire box. if you have replacement cost coverage on personal property it's insured for fire and theft and your insurer will pay to replace your items. they typically pay on each item on a depreciated basis and when you prove you replaced then they provide the "holdback" money that is the difference with full replacement cost. |
Depends on the Carrier. There are standardized polices but there are also standard endorsements which can alter that policy. I have had USAA for 20 years and it is excellent. Before I owned, I rented and when I rented I had two break-ins and USAA replaced $20K and $18K in audio gear respectively, without hesitation (full replacement value).
Now I own and I asked USAA what I need to have a separate rider for, I was told jewelry, so i got a rider for my watches and my wife's rings. I then upped the "contents" coverage to 75% of the home's reconstruction costs. Which, if I have a total loss would replace all my "contents" gear included.
As long as your policy does not have a specific limit on "electronics", it will be covered as a "content". If your policy does have a limit on electronics, pay for a rider if you need additional coverage.
Or go bare and hope for the best.... |
Such insurance is very expensive as it needs to be underwritten in a special policy form. Even then, they try to cap any one items at a max of $5K. To get the proper insurance you need to provide a detailed schedule, and yes, the underwriter will come to look at the 'stuff'. I have a special policy rider that covers my equipment and media. Cost for the rider is now $2300 a year. The policy max's out at $325,000. |
"You need to "schedule" each item with your insurance company"
I was a Homeowner's insurance underwriter for 15 years, and this is very sound advise. Yes it's expensive, because the claim fraud is so high with scheduled items (art, jewelry, coins, antiques, etc) but if you want your gear covered for more than about $1000 it must be scheduled. When you schedule an item a photo and some type of proof of value will be submitted and approved. If your agent doesn't know about scheduling items find another agent. |
Many of you may be wrong with your policies going with the idea that individual items add up to the enter whole. That just is not the case with most plans. My premium cost roughly 10-15% more even though I increased coverage by about 50% when insuring certain items at a determined value. I hope Theo is fully covered per his plan but I was not with mine even though I was insuring all my belongings to the value I had invested in them, say $100k. In an event where there was a total loss, maybe a fire, it would have been very difficult if not impossible to recoup all that loss. The reason being that my stereo equipment made up roughly one quarter of the total insured value, but according to my "$100k" plan, the cap on stereo equipment was far below that. Jewelry it's own percentage, clothes another, housewares etc.
Learsfool-I hope that in a loss your friend will make it whole, but unless he/she owns the insurance company it is not up to them. These companies don't make a profit by paying out in full to every Tom Dick and Harry that experiences a loss. The devil is the details and from my experience value is not value to insurance companies, it's value in certain and confined areas.
Keeping receipts and pictures is ideal but unless that info is stored off site(or itemized with your insurance company) it is susceptible to damage. Who's to say you spent what you spent when it's all ash and there was no record of it other than your memory? When buying used we don't have the paper trail associated when buying new, for me it's usually a MO out of my checking account, that is hardly a receipt for goods.
Just be sure that your covered, don't assume. |
It is covered under the homeowners insurance....take a picture of it to prove what you have. |
Speak to an adjuster not an agent. I had flooding in my house but didn't have any damage (it was 1 inch water from a burst pipe). I had flood coverage and everything was raised 3 inches high but I did find out that my system needed to be listed as valuables/ jewelry to be covered. |
My understanding is similar to Theo's - that your homeowner's policy does cover everything up to the amount specified in it. You can pay for a special rider if you really want to, but this is quite expensive. Unless your system costs six figures, it wouldn't be worth it for most folks here. That's what I was told by my agent, who is a long time family friend and wouldn't lie to me about it. My system would only cost in the low five figures to replace. Now my horn, on the other hand, is insured on a totally separate policy, since that is my livelihood, but that policy goes through my orchestra's player's association. But insuring your audio system for most people here would not be worth the expense of doing it. |
Theo - that makes sense. Thanks. |
I have it in my homeowners policy and made sure the agent had the extra value added for coverage. As far as it spelling out audio/video gear, it doesn't. But the value is there, if I want to spend the money on a boat that is my decision. But I have provided a "inventory" of property as well I keep all receipts and have pictures. The big mistake people make is they beleive "replacement cost" covers everything. It covers up to that value line that you establish when you start your policy, you need to update as you gain more property. |
We don't seem to have a grasp on this one. I need to talk to my Homeowner's Insurance Agent. |
And from what I heard, flood coverage is a separate coverage. Fire, theft etc. won't cover it. |
My agent, who is a friend told me my equipment was covered under the homeowners policy and the equipment did not need to be scheduled. I explained the cost issues, and he said my policy had enough room to cover all my household items plus my system. I decided to write all the equipment with serial numbers and replacement costs down and emailed it to myself so I can retrieve it if there was a fire. |
You need to "schedule" each item with your insurance company. I did this for each component that was worth more than my deductible. I assigned each item a replacement value, a value that in most cases was above retail(or what I paid) as I have some rarer items or items I bought used that would be expensive to replace. I assigned the higher value because I didn't want to insure the amp and the NOS tubes separately for example. In a fire or theft the two would be lost as one. I now pay a small percentage more for each item above the normal coverage I have for other lower cost items (personal property, clothes, furniture etc.). My company was fine insuring a $3000 (retail/replacement) item for more because I am paying the difference with my premiums.
Everyone should be sure of what they have covered, in many cases an insurance company has a cap on say jewelry, stereo, guns etc. In our hobby we are generally above that cap with only one item. A good friend of mine found this out the hard way when he was robbed and his many watches were stolen. The value was way beyond the insurance companies/his policy jewelry cap even though his total coverage should/would of covered it. It was his fault for not understanding his policy but by then it was too late.
If its not in writing don't trust your insurance agent when he says "yeah its covered." Good luck with that in a loss event. |
My agent told me the same thing. I think we both should get it in writing. |
I've tried to, but my agent told me they don't have such special coverage, meaning it is always covered. I asked him if $100k equipment (not that I have one) would be covered and he said yes. It makes me feel uneasy - any insurance experts here? |
