My hi-fi is covered as personal property under my policy. Yes, I had a claim ... once. They paid. You need to speak with an independent insurance agent that represents many companies. Allstate agents only write Allstate policies.
I have Hartford homeowner’s and I have asked them several times if I needed extra coverage for an expensive stereo and large music collection and they have always told me no, that it’s covered under personal property. I have never filed a claim though and I’m still not sure that they will come through if needed.
For those who have an extensive and higher end collection of LP(s), I would seek an independent insurance agent that specializes in such matters. Most (read all) insurance companies will attempt to "cheap out" if a substantial claim is made.
@jafant , if you have rare, "collectable" LPs, then it would make sense to find an independent agent to insure these items. But, as far as equipment goes, it's only treated as hardware.
Read your policy. Most homeowners policies don't cover things such as LPs, CDs, or computer software. They typically don't cover art, jewelry beyond a small limit or anything business related.
It's absolutely worth the effort to be sure that what you need protected is, indeed, covered under the policy. That way, if you have a claim, there should be no ambiguity. That's been my experience.
I have spoken to my insurance agent who told me my particular policy does not cover systems of this nature, but some policies do not have these limitations on categories of personal property. For now, my system is more or less not covered, the caps are so low. However, my agent told me that when it comes to renewal time, we can find an insurance policy that does not have any particular category limit, and personal property will cover it, with proper documentation.
Call and and talk to different insurance brokers rather than insurance companies themselves and you should find what you are looking for.
Renters Insurance covers personal property, but your company may not write policies to that limit. Mine is about 50K, also through Allstate. You will have to find an agent that can write a renter's policy that high.
High end stereo would fall outside the normal parameters of Person Property on a standard HO-3 Homeowners Policy. You need to put it into a special "Scheduled Personal Property" (sometimes called a Property Floater) endorsement. This same endorsement is designed to cover jewelry, expensive art, furs, coin collections, etc....This is an "All Peril" endorsement, meaning it’s covered and paid for even if you simply can’t find your $35000 Rolex anymore. The fraud rate is assumed to be very high, so the rates built into this endorsement are designed to compensate for the folks who commit felony fraud and cheat the system.
Many years ago I had a "visitor" help himself to my audio system. I had photos of my system and receipts for the items I purchased new from a store, with serial numbers and they paid claims for those items, but did not pay for the speakers I purchased used.
At a minimum, I'd say having photos and serial numbers would be a good thing to have.
With an audio system of that value, I'd check the policy limits on your homeowner's personal property coverage, and whether it has exceptions. I once discovered, buried in the small print, that my wife's jewelry would not be covered, so we purchased a "rider" to cover that.
I have sold insurance for a number of years and there is great advice on this thread. First, ask your agent to answer specific questions (let him read the policy and explain it to you in plain English, or better yet have him show you where it is in the policy).
Second, if you have older equipment (Nakamichi for example), insurance will only give you relative current value (not what you paid). So your treasured old Nak amp might not be worth much, even though finding that item would be difficult and you will probably pay more than the insurance company is going to offer.
A better avenue would be to list "special personal property" coverage where you quote the value of your treasured item and pay pennies every month for the coverage. That way if you make a claim, you get your entire amount (with no deductible that would apply if it was just standard property loss). Some items will also qualify for lost, such as portable DAC or portable headphone amp - my Chord Hugo is listed on my policy for just in case.
I live in California and use SafeCo for the last 17 years. I have my systems that are in the hundreds of thousands "special personal property" covered and sleep good at night. Also have new big ticket purchases covered (computers, cameras, plasma tv, etc).
Make sure that fire or earthquake are covered for that added benefit. Other states may be different.
As soon as you have expensive items that are hard to value because they are rare or scarce, you need to get an addendum to your normal home owners insurance or renters insurance. Insurance companies will be able to give you pennies on the dollar unless you specify 'replacement value (as anything collectable will not be properly valued via the normal method of valuation of used assets). One fact of HiFi equipment, regardless if you buy used or new, there is a huge bid/ask spread (difference in the price you can resell the equipment from the purchase price). Unless you specify replacement value (you will probably get used prices, but if you don't) you will at best receive the value you would if you took it to your local record store or eBay. Depending on the total estimated replacement value (or the amount you want to insure).
I deal with Co-Operators in Canada and my 100K+ is covered. I would also make sure that your policy stipulates 'replacement cost' as most general policies will calculate a depreciated value. Ouch!
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