Insurance?

fossilhunter

fossilhunter

Joined
Apr 7, 2001
Messages
346
I am curious as to how many of you have insurance on your
knives. After checking out my collection ( and realizing the
cost of these knives ) a friend of mine asked if I had insurance
on them. I suppose it makes sense, not just on custom pieces but
high-dollar production knives. A decent collection could amount
to thousands of dollars.

Do you have insurance? Where would you turn to insure your pieces,
and at what cost? Appraisals?
 
We picked up a separate 'rider' policy on our renter's insurance through Farmer's, our auto insurance carrier...just to cover knives and such.

...all things considered it was pretty darn cheap, what with the multiple car discount, renter's insurance discount, etc...

I think it works out to less than .30 cents a day extra, which is "Cheap!" :eek:

Other insurance that works well is a "Big a$$ed" fireproof safe! :D
(and I think that was yet another discount...lol)

They didn't ask for an inventory or appraisal, but we put together a list anyway, including prices and descriptions, along with pictures, put it on a ZIP disk and had them it put in our file...

Hope that helps.
 
Mel is correct of course, but another type of "cheap" insurance is a good safe that is fire resistant.
 
Some people may say, "Oh, I've got plenty of property coverage on my homeowner's policy." But, keep in mind that most such policies have a separate limit on "collectibles." That limit is often quite low, $5000 is typical.

You might say, "Well, $5000 may not cover you, Mr. Balisong Collector, but it's plenty for my modest collection." But, don't forget that that $5000 is for ALL "collectibles" in your house. If you have a total loss, if the house burns down for example, that $5000 is all you're gonna get for ALL of your collectibles.

You might say, "Well, I don't really collect anything else." But the word collectible in your insurance policy means anything with value based on age, uniqueness, scarcity, etc. It's a broad category. Even though you think of it as, "the stuff we use when company comes for dinner," your good silverware could be considered collectible. Jewelry can easily become a collectible. Just because YOU don't consider YOURSELF a collector of a certain item, just because you don't think of what you own as "a collection," doesn't mean that it's not a collectible for insurance purposes.

Another limit to be aware of that's on a lot of homeowner's policies (not all, but a lot) is a separate limit on firearms. Guns are such a common theft item (and they're also commonly involved in insurance fraud) that insurance companies often include special limits on them to limit their losses. A common limit is $500. Yes, just $500. But, a single pistol can easily cost well over $500. So, if you have multiple firearms, as many folks in this forum do (some of which might fall under collectibles), you might want to check your policy for that limit too.

Jewelry is another item that just about always has a separate limit. It's usually pretty high. But, if the wife's got some nice pieces, you might want to double-check your limit in this department too.

Insurance companies will adjust all of these numbers for you, for extra cost. If you own several guns that are together worth maybe $2000, just talk to your agent and for a few dollars a year, they'll probably up that limit for you.

If you own a proper safe, don't forget to tell your insurance agent about that since you may qualify for a tidy discount. Of course, the safe will have to meet the insurance company's requirements. That usually includes a requirement that the safe be bolted to the house's foundation. But, be sure to ask regardless of what safe you've got; you could get some discount.

There is special insurance for collectibles. Chubb Group is a big name in this business. But, until you start decorating with original Monets, you're probably gonna be best off financially to just extend limits on your conventional home owner's or renter's policy.
 
When our home was robbed 3 years ago, fortunately the crack kid that did it missed most of my knives and most of my wife's jewelry. We just had regular home insurance with Prudential, no special riders or anything. He got only the 16 knives that were on top of my dresser, the only custom being a stag handled JW Smith folder. Since I had receipts for everything, Prudential not only covered them in full, they paid me current market value for the JW Smith which was about $50 more than I paid. Luckily, he only got one good piece of the wife's jewelry cause I learned the jewelry had a limit of $5000. As KodiakPA suggests, I have since purchased a safe, and we now also have 2 dogs over about 80 lbs. each.

FYI, the kid was caught exactly 1 week later at a party where he was bragging about robbing a few houses. One of my older son's friends overheard him, called my son who in turn called the detective on the case, who picked him up wearing my son's necklace. Turns out it was a kid my son knew years before who got into crack. Seems he would go to houses where he knew people and would knock to make sure no one was home and find a way in. I was really proud of my son for calling the cop and not going down there with a baseball bat cause I know that's what he really wanted to do, because we had discussed possible scenarios. Hard to believe he actually heard what I said. Everytime this kid was in court, I was sitting in the second row(they wouldnt let me sit in the first row) staring right at him. He got a 4 year sentence for multiple burglaries.

Sorry this is song long, just gotta tell you about 2 really screwed up laws in NJ. The first is that if I had come home when he was in the house and killed him, NJ law says I would have to prove I had no way of escape. Escape! From MY house! If not, I'd be in jail. The second law is that they notify victims when the criminal is getting out of jail. He got out on 12/26(4 years really means 2 2/3) and I received a letter from the DA about a month before letting me know the exact date he was getting out. Now, they do this to protect you but think about it. If I was intent on revenge(and there was a time when I would have been), they are notifying me the exact time and place he's getting out. Sooner or later somebody's just gonna be sitting there waiting for someone to get out and whack him.
Oh well, that's the story.
 
May help the Police...never know...BUT when it comes time to "settle up" with your insurance company, you better have made
CERTAIN Before that you have a "Rider" and then catalog everything, especially jewelry with photos, video-tape and written appraisals. This will make all the difference.
If you do/did not, a $10,000 ring will net you one-hundred bucks.....wolf
 
Ryders can be very expensive. A one time purchase of a large quality safe can be the best really. I know Ryders on guns can be so expensive that you could by all new guns every 12 years. They charge you about 8-10 percent per year of the value as a premium. Check with your insurance man, there are so many plans out there.
 
I'll cut through the bullsh*t here, try to be a little more specific, and a little less evasive...

Our 'rider' is specifically for knives and guns, has a $20,000 replacement value limit, and costs us $320 per year...less than a dollar a day, at full replacement value! (<2% per annum)

Now, we don't have nearly that many guns or knives, but collections grow in size and value over the years, and being properly insured is one of the three 'keys' to financial security..."better safe than sorry" sez I... ;)

The only real hole in the whole shebang is that with the firearms, scopes, slings, cases, bipod's, and ammo aren't covered under the rider...that has to come out of the 'standard household' portion of the policy, along with the TV's and toaster... :rolleyes:

With regards to the safe, a savvy K-mart shopper could locate a used 1000+ lb fire resistant/proof safe for <$700, bringing the initial outlay to less than $1000, and $1 a day after the 1st year...

That is sooooo cheap!

So, if I was a person looking for insurance, I'd see if I could tack it onto an existing policy, or find another agent/company.

That's my read.
 
BTW, there's a huge risk in under-insuring that most people are unaware of. It's called "co-insurance."

Let's say that you own $20,000 worth of property and the insurance premium for it would be $320/year. Let's say that you don't want to pay $320/year. So, you take outa $10,000 policy for $160/year instead. Your thinking is that you're unlikely to have a total loss.

Let's say that you come home and find that someone broke in and stole half of your stuff. You think, "Well, ok. I'm covered for a $10,000 loss so I'm ok. Right?"

Wrong. Your insurance company is going to write you a check for $5000.

"What!?! $5000. It was a $10,000 loss and I'm covered for $10,000!"

Nope. You covered $20,000 worth of property with $10,000 worth of insurance. You are only insuring 50%. You are, therefore, co-insuring (that means carrying the risk yourself) 50%. Had it been a total loss, a $20,000 loss, the insurance company would have paid $10,000, 50% of the loss, and you would have paid, or lost, $10,000. 50% of the loss. So, for a $10,000 loss, the insurance company pays 50% and you pay 50%, the insurance company pays $5,000 and you pay $5,000.
 
After my wife lost her $2000 sapphire and diamond pendant 4 days:( after I gave it to her, I discovered most homeowners policies do not cover loss, only therft, fire etc. Check your homeowners policy, you may be suprised to see a schedule covering only $500 for items like "guns" etc. Many insurance companies don't consider knives collectible so caveat emptor ! If you are a veteran, you may qualify for USAA:D , which covers jewelry @ $9/1000 value per year. Needless to say I've just purchased a rather large rider. USAA cover worldwide loss, so it is a pretty good deal!
 
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