Gun Insurance

heath

Lately I've been paranoid of being broke into and my gun collection stolen.I was looking through the Gun List and saw an advertisement for Collectibles Insurance Agency.There rates seemed to good to be true.Has anybody got this company or know of another one?Thanks.

nmyers

I don't know anything about this company, but here's something to think about:

Many years I ago I, too, worried enough about the loss of my guns to buy insurance for them on a rider to my homeowners insurance. A couple of years later there was a tragedy involving someone close to me, & I realized that my priorities were all wrong. The greatest threats to me were 1) misuse of a gun by a member of my household, & 2) misuse of a gun stolen by a burglar; if one of these happened, I would be forced to carry a burden for the rest of my life. So, I cancelled my insurance & used the money to buy 1) a good quality gun safe and 2) a perimeter alarm system. I have slept well every since, & the cost of the safe & alarm system have been offset by the savings in insurance premiums.

Just remember that your guns are just toys - expensive toys, but still toys. It's just money. But, the death of someone innocent will haunt you forever.

Neal

bgjohn

Forget the insurance and get a gunsafe.
JM

rrfhunter

Interesting way to look at it.

I have had my homes burglarized twice in the last decade. Different locations and cities. The guns stolen were not in my cheap Homack metal gun cabinet. They seemed to want to be in and out in thirty seconds. The second time was at my rural home in the mountains. They apparently backed a truck up to the front door and broke the latch on the wood/glass display cabinet and left the metal one untouched even though it wasn't bolted to the wall. It would have been no trouble to toss it in the truck too but no effort was made.

So my advice is ANY gun cabinet is better than none. Insurance riders are awfully expensive.

....I never met a gun I didn't like!

heath

Thanks for the infomation.Very GOOD advice nmyers!

stalion10

as every body has stated, gun safe , gun safe , gun safe, also if the laws are still the same as when i was broke in to , and if you have home owners or renters insurance, it should cover all personal property including firearms as my home owner insurance did. but before i would trust this i would check with your agent to make sure first
Ed

it's not the type of gun you have in the heat of a battle that counts, only if you have enough ammo for it, lets face it, a gun without ammo is only as good as a base ball bat!!

drewto

Hello: Your gun collection represents hundreds of hours of searching, haggling, comparing and buying. Just estimate the time it took you to pick the right rings & bases, mount and site in one rifle. This sweat equity factor increases by a tenfold once you start customizing loads. NONE of this will be returned to you in the form of an insurance payment for theft. Ask your prospective company to send you a sample policy. Do they offer true replacement value coverage? Most insurers will argue after a loss (and after you look at the fine print) that you are entitled to comparison values that start with what you paid for the firearm. That nice Winchester Model 12 with trap grade wood that you picked up for $200.00 20 years ago is now going to scrutinized by some Adjuster who will tell that you should be able to buy them all day long for $300.00. To protect yourself you need actual replacement value. You need pictures, serial numbers, and an appraisal of what each firearm is worth. You need to get those prices fixed today, and you need to have the carrier agree to those values. Once the carrier figures out that you have $100,000.00 worth of firearms, I guarantee you the rates will change. Don't stick your head in the sand, and pretend you'll get a fair shake on value after the loss. The low premium correlates directly to the low value the carrier intends to place on the item lost. I once had a family heirloom piece of jewelry that the insurance company wanted $300.00 per year to insure against loss. They then told me if we continually stored the item in our safety deposit box, that they could insure it for 1/2 the premium. Wow! what a deal. As you might have guessed the item remains in the box to this day, and we dropped the coverage. Insurance companies operate on the basis of value + risk + loss. All of them know exactly how many guns are going to be lost each year by their insureds. The've been in the business for decades, and their bean counters are dead on accurate. In the equation above the only variable is value. If they intend to profit from your premium and stay competitive with other carriers something has to give . . . that's why they send out "Adjusters" instead of "Appraisers" after the loss. Without a predetermined agreed value your not insuring your gambling.
Here's a good one. OK you've got this great list, pictures, and high end appraisal (that you had to pay for) who gets to see it? Well, there is the agent, the appraiser, the secretary for the agent, the carrier (and all of their people), the account manager who sends you the bill, the cleaning crew on their midnight lunch break, and don't forget the $7.00 per hour employee at the photo mart who developed your pics. Remember I said "who gets to see it" . . . just think of who gets to hear about it?
What a great way to advertise your collection for theft!
Creditors love the list, so do the bankruptcy courts, soon to be ex-wives will have several copies, and a high end appraisal always looks good stuck in a probate file for inheritance tax purposes.
The folks in the earlier posts who encouraged you to buy a good gun safe, and security system did you a real service in my opinion.

boltthrower

Just a note....Homeowners ins. will provide replacement costs, you pay extra for it in your premium but not much....and are you a member of the NRA? NRA membership has theft protection available at the simple cost of membership. Lastly though... all these guys are right....get a safe, even if its just a Homak bolt-in-the-wall safe.

Contender Man

Insurance companies are getting slicker. Many now exclude artwork, coin and gun collections and some even go as far as shop power tools; unless you take out specific riders and then you have to declare values, etc., etc.

Replacement cost insurance is available but it is more expensive to obtain.

Regardless of your coverage be prepared for a lengthy and often times frustrating go round with your insurance carrier. I've suffered both theft and fire losses over the years and each one was an absolute battle to get settlement on. The longer they can stall you the more more interest, etc., that the funds earn them.

Allstate calims to be the "good hands" people, but it makes no difference which company all the really prefer to send is "one finger".

Gunsafe(s), large dog, sprinkler system[;)]



If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!

cletus85

I have scheduled my firearms on my homeowners for several years...I've never needed it, but I don't want to be sorry if I do. [;)] I know insurance doesn't take the place of a safe...but it is alot cheaper than a quality safe. If I had any high dollar or truly collectible guns I'd get a safe as well. You'd be surprised how small a collection adds up to $5000.