Insurance on large collections.

[Norseman]

A point of interest came up in a discussion.

If you have a house fire will your Warhammer collection be covered by your house insurance.

I took a few snippets from a Insurance companies FAQ section.

Please see below...

Is my baseball card collection covered by my insurance policy?Assuming Warhammer collection could be swapped in...

In most cases, yes, up to certain limits. We recommend you check with your insurance company for the specifics and limits on your policy. A TRICOR insurance company provides memorabilia and collectibles coverage from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the company and plan selected. Additional coverage as needed are available so be certain to review this with us if you are a collector.

I have a very valuable piece of jewelry. Is this covered by my basic policy?Assuming Warhammer collection could be swapped in...

A TRICOR company home policy will probably not have enough basic coverage. You can if you own a item of specific value, add an endorsement, called Scheduled Personal Property (SPP), which acts like a mini-insurance policy on the specified and listed item or add Extended Coverage, which increases protection on jewelry, watches and furs (up to an aggregate limit for all of these items together which is specified on your policy). Both provide all-risks coverage (except for a few exclusions). With SPP, there is no deductible, except water craft.

Many people get extra protection on jewelry, cameras, coin and stamp, WARHAMMER (edit)collections, fine arts, furs, golfing equipment, guns, musical instruments, outboard motor boats, and silverware/goldware.

It looks like if you are a normal collector and have a collection that is a anywhere from $100 to a possibility of $5000 depending on your policy you will be covered. However if you have a collection malfunction like me and I am guessing a few others on this board, you may be out of luck if your collection is in excess of $5000.

You will have to actually get an additional coverage allowance, almost like a mini insurance policy on you minis. You would only have to insure them versus fire as flood would not destroy the minis. The rates should not increase your premiums that much, maybe a few dollars a month. I know I am going to add mine to my house insurance policy. I will give an update after I talk to my agent.

If you have a HUGE collection like myself it is something to think about.

[iPAINTminis]

Just to clarify this as I have additions to my home owners insurance policies for "Valuables" and then "Electronics".

At least for my insurance company, the normal policy DOES NOT cover wargaming memorabilia. However, most companies do carry add-ons to policies specific to such items. I carry a Computers and Electronics add-on and a Jewelry/Personal Valuables add-on and I confirmed with my insurance company (USAA) if such things as wargaming collectibles would be covered on the Jewelry/Personal Valuables add-on which they were.

Thing to remember - if your deductible on your policy is say $1000.00 and your $700.00 army gets stolen, trashed in a flood/fire, you are out your $700.00 army as that will apply to your $1000.00 deductible. So it behooves you to carry the lowest possible deductible you are willing to carry. This of course will affect your monthly premium.

Just my 2 cents.

-BJC

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

Thing to remember - if your deductible on your policy is say $1000.00 and your $700.00 army gets stolen, trashed in a flood/fire, you are out your $700.00 army as that will apply to your $1000.00 deductible.

If your house is broken into, it's possible that only your army will be stolen (if that's the case, it's almost certain you know the thief personally). However, if you experience a flood/fire, the odds that the damage is only $1000 is so low as to be irrelevant.

It's important to examine your policy and the possible rate increase; is it worth it to spend an extra $400/year to lower your deductible to $500?

[EVIL INC]

I remember when my parent's house burned, my father lost his book collection. When he spoke with the insurance company, he was told that "collections" need to have their own policies to be covered. I asked "what if" my comic collection (yes, I used to collect some) had been in the house" because I was shocked by that. I was told, I woulda been S.o.L. because it was a "collection". Dont know how many states this applies to or if it still does. Just in case, I would be leary of terming it a "collection" in any conversation with insurance people just in case.
Makes no sense to me.

[aurak_merc]

My home insurance policy just covers "contents". I chatted pretty extensively with my insurance agent and he said that the best course of action for me was just to raise my protection level. So, if a meteor hits my house and I am not home (hopefully), I will get $X, irregardless of what was inside. There is the deductible of course, so anything under a given amount is a loss though.

If I happen to be home, I really hope it is one of those super-power infused meteors so I can get a snazzy ability besides being a chubby, balding guy.

[kturock]

Also remember to insure it for REPLACEMENT VALUE, otherwise it's insured for cost minus depreciation.

[BTWilliams]

Unfortunately, I had this happen to me in March of 2007. Our house burned to the ground and I lost all my gaming paraphernalia except a box of Starwars ships I had in the car. I had been gaming for over 25 years so it was quite a large collection. I figured a replacement value for the gaming items of around $30,000.00 which included buying all those figures again, painting costs, rules, board games, terrain items, dice, storage boxes, etc. My policy included these items in the contents of the home and therefore I had no limits on the collection. I had a limit on "Collectables" but my gaming items were not considered as such. Some collections such as CD's, DVD's and books are not considered "Collectables". At least by my insurance company (State Farm). Anyway, I spent a lot of time on the internet but I finally came up with current replacement cost for each and every item. It was a pain but my agents were very helpful and exceptionally understanding.

I know it depends on your particular policy but I would offer the following advice:

1. Keep a list of all your items and take either photos or video footage of the entire collection. Trying to remember everything I had was the hardest part of the process.

2. When figuring replacement costs give current market values but be prepared to give proof of such for "rare" items. Once I explained it to my claims agents they were very accepting and understanding of the relative value of items in the gaming community as opposed to the non-gaming set.

3. Don't forget non-tangible costs. I figured an average cost.....based on the current prices of several painting services.....for having the replaced figures painted and my insurance company never questioned it.

4. Don't forget incidentals. Dice, rules, storage, terrain.....these are all essentials to wargaming but sometimes get left out of the cost equation.

5. Don't use secondary market prices (ebay, Bartertown, etc.) for items that are still commercially available. Use full retail costs. Save the secondary markets to set the replacement cost for OOP items.

6. Above all, know what your policy allows, what it covers and any limits it has. Update it regularly to keep abreast of market values and rising costs. We had re-financed our house a couple of years earlier and had adjusted our coverage at the same time otherwise we would have been out of luck on this.

BTWilliams

[joko12]

I had a bunch of my warhammer guys messed up in a freak flood in my apartment.

During the repair of the apartment tons of things were either damaged or destroyed.

I do have a very large collection of warhammer as well at least $10,000. But only the things that I had pictures of on my computer they were able to give me money for.

So I agree take pictures of all your stuff and that is one of the best things you can do to cover your losses.

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

An itemized list or a photographic record is definitely best--deposited in your safe deposit box.