I notified my insurance company that I needed insurance on my collection. They said the collections had to be appraised and the form signed by a qualified apprasior. Most of my guns are C and R with an additional 10 or so newer models. I have 40 or so in total (half hand guns half long guns) and the price for apprasial could be quite expensive. The purchase price for each gun is not sufficient. Neither are prices from gun shops. My guns are kept in a large safe. Any ideas how to get an accurate but not so expensive apprasial. My guess is that some of you have faced this problem. Thanks, Dan
I have State Farm for all my insurance needs,and when I went down to my local office and told them that I have a substantial gun collection and needed it to be covered with insurance,they just asked me what I felt it was worth and added them to my homeowners policy.
Jason, I hate to tell you this but you might want to look into it a tad further.
I have State Farm for all my needs as well and have for the past 20 years. What I inquired I was told the house insurance policy will cover up to $2500. Anything over that would require a rider policy. I think for the rider I was told I'd need the values, pictures, serial numbers and all that good stuff.
So DO NOT just take the word of the agent.
In fact, call another State Farm agent and ask them, but just give your first name and say your just getting information and considering switching from another company but you just want to know how State Farm handles firearms. And say if you feel it's worth changing you'll call back. Reason is if you tell them you're already insured with State Farm they'll just tell you to call your agent.
I've got to do it myself. But I'm thinking of going with a company that specializes in insuring firearms. The NRA has info for firearm insurance. But it's not cheap...
Wanting actual loss is one thing, wanting loss + cost replacement is another and where it gets pricey because if they're hard to find or not replaceable that's when it gets pricey.
Dan, or anyone else for that matter, IMHO, you're better off taking the money you'd spend on all that insurance and get a really good fire proof safe. And then, if you want to make it extra fire proof, and can build walls around it using 5/8" fire code dry wall. And then even still if you have and can put the safe in the basement, building a room for it is your way to go. Put it in a corner if you can and you only need 2 walls and if you can make the walls big enough to put a steel door on it, you're making it all the more fire and theft proof.
Sure, it'll cost you some cash. Just all at once for the stuff instead of spread out over who knows how many years for the insurance. And the thing is, you can pay for all that insurance and there's still no gaurantee they'll cover all. Remember, they're the big bad insurance companies. They got all the lawyers. They say no, they're not covering half of it, most folks like us don;t have the cash to take them to court.
Why I'd rather insure it my way. lol
But just getting a real good fire proof safe should and will work. Get a safe fire rated for an 45 minutes to an hour and you're good. Should you decide to go the extra step and wall it in, you'll add time with fire code dry wall. Especially if you go with 5/8". And again, you've helped prevent theft that much more as well.
It may sound extreme, but I'd rather spend the money on me and my own for a safe and whatever else then give it to an insurance company and still not have a 100% gaurantee they'll pay out 100%!!!
__________________ "My next door neighbors two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs then Obama has." - Gary Johnson
Last edited by GlockMeister; 03-03-2010 at 04:20 AM.
Jason, I hate to tell you this but you might want to look into it a tad further.
I have State Farm for all my needs as well and have for the past 20 years. What I inquired I was told the house insurance policy will cover up to $2500. Anything over that would require a rider policy. I think for the rider I was told I'd need the values, pictures, serial numbers and all that good stuff.
So DO NOT just take the word of the agent.
In fact, call another State Farm agent and ask them, but just give your first name and say your just getting information and considering switching from another company but you just want to know how State Farm handles firearms. And say if you feel it's worth changing you'll call back. Reason is if you tell them you're already insured with State Farm they'll just tell you to call your agent.
I've got to do it myself. But I'm thinking of going with a company that specializes in insuring firearms. The NRA has info for firearm insurance. But it's not cheap...
Wanting actual loss is one thing, wanting loss + cost replacement is another and where it gets pricey because if they're hard to find or not replaceable that's when it gets pricey.
Dan, or anyone else for that matter, IMHO, you're better off taking the money you'd spend on all that insurance and get a really good fire proof safe. And then, if you want to make it extra fire proof, and can build walls around it using 5/8" fire code dry wall. And then even still if you have and can put the safe in the basement, building a room for it is your way to go. Put it in a corner if you can and you only need 2 walls and make if you make the walls big enough to put a steel door on it, you're making all the more fie and theft proof.
Sure, it'll cost you some cash. Just all at once for the stuff instead of spread out over who knows how many years for the insurance. And the thing is, you can pay for all that insurance and there's still no gaurantee they'll cover all. Remember, they're the big bad insurance companies. They got all the lawyers. They say no, they're not covering half of it, most folks like us don;t have the cash to take them to court.
Why I'd rather insure it my way. lol
But just getting a real good fire proof safe should and will work. Get a safe fire rated for an 45 minutes to an hour and you're good. Should you decide to go the extra step and wall it in, you'll add time with fire code dry wall. Especially if you go with 5/8". And again, you've helped prevent theft that much more as well.
It may sound extreme, but I'd rather spend the money on me and my own for a safe and whatever else then give it to an insurance company and still not have a 100% gaurantee they'll pay out 100%!!!
Thanks Glock,I will do just that first thing this morning.
Dan K. Evans...thanks for bring up the question above...and also thanks to GlockMeister for offering a very logical solution.
Keeping this thread in mind I will make it a priority this year to get a gunsafe which meets the standards for security and fire protection, mentioned above.
This type of discussion is just one of the reasons I think gunandgame.com is providing a great service to all gunowners.
i would get the safe and forget about the ins company. if one day theydo ban the guns that you own and something happens to them then the ins company might say they are not obligated to pay for them if they are banned and you can no longer be replaced with new ones.
I have State Farm for all my needs as well and have for the past 20 years. What I inquired I was told the house insurance policy will cover up to $2500. Anything over that would require a rider policy. I think for the rider I was told I'd need the values, pictures, serial numbers and all that good stuff.
My understanding is that the rider is only needed where you have ONE ITEM valued more than a certain threshold ($2,500 in your case). I don't believe the riders pertain to a collection of items, each of which is individually worth less than the threshold, but taken collectively is worth more than that.
If that was the case, then you'd have to have a rider for everything you own....assuming everything you own is worth more collectively than $2,500.
I was VERY specific with my insurance company about my guns and other valuables. They told me that I only needed the rider for a very expensive diamond ring and watch I own, and that was only because it was jewelery. Everything else is fine (supposedly).
Then again, I could be totally wrong. You could ask ten different agents the same question and get ten different answers. You'll only know the REAL truth when the SHTF and you have to make a claim and it gets denied. Typical insurance company crap!
I agree with everything else you said, though. I own a very nice gun safe and I figure that's my best insurance protection.
Good ideas on the fire rated drywall. That's cheap extra protection right there!
Without thinking about it too hard, what would you suggest for a "space" around the safe and the firewall??
I'm thinking that an insulating space would be better than just building a box that 'just' contains the safe with little or no barrier around the safe and wall.
Thoughts... 0" (right up against the safe), 1/2", 1 foot, 3 feet of insulating space?? Does it matter??
Inquiring minds...
__________________ You make a noise, Mr. Forty-Four makes a noise & his six little friends run a lot faster than you do
I looked into a homeowner policy rider and NRA insurance years ago. Invested in a 2 Ton safe and home alarm system instead. I'm money ahead of paying insurance today. Occasionally good safes for conversion come up in auctions. Be careful about some government surplus safes. I understand one of the antitheft devices some utilized was a tube of gas in front of the tumblers that would blind anyone trying to drill the safe during a theft. This could be a major problem if broken accidently.
__________________ NRA LIFE MEMBER - Support Our Troops - Land of the Free, because of the Brave.
Hi I will say this once because as the others have said everyone has their own idea of this. Farmers Ins Agnt, 27 yrs. Gun floaters require a appraisal, picture, description. EACH ITEM is valued for the appraisal amount NOT A DIME MORE EVER UNLESS YOU GET A NEW APRASIAL ON THAT ITEM. The ins co IS OBLIGATED BY LAW TO PAY OUT ONLY WHAT THE APRAISAL FOR THAT ITEM STATES. One thing about a gun floater is THE ITEM IS INSURED FOR ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO IT INCLUDING MISTERIOUS DISAPPEARENCE. LOST GUN WHILE HUNTING ETC. Try claiming that with any company WITHOUT a gun floater. SO IN THAT CASE A GUN FLOATER IS WORTH GOLD. Is the floater worth it, ONLY IF YOU HAVE HIGH VALUE GUNS like MOST people don't have unless they are RICH. I HAVE A SAFE
To be secure your life you must have insure your Gun .
perhaps you must have heard that "preservence is never fruitless" so that is same as
"Gun is never fruitless",although it make a happy wedding life.
============= Cheaper Car Insurance
When I purchased my house I switched insurance companies. When I tried to have my guns insured by the idiots I have now they wanted to know why I had so many guns. I told them it was none of thier business. Needless to say my guns are not insured by the morons I currently have. So find an insurance company who is gun friendly such as State Farm. That is who I was with before I bought my house. I should go back to State Farm and when Met Life asks me why I swithched I can say they are not friendly to gun owners.
I have State Farm for all my insurance needs,and when I went down to my local office and told them that I have a substantial gun collection and needed it to be covered with insurance,they just asked me what I felt it was worth and added them to my homeowners policy.
ditto, the only thing they cared about was total value and if I had any pieces over 5k. Pretty much was the same deal with my computer equipment, card collection and tractor. They just upped the personal property limits till they were in line with what I wanted.
__________________ We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -Aesop
