Posted: 4/23/2010 12:57:37 PM EDT
|
Tried to ask this in the general forum, but didn't get much help. It's kinda personal finance. This kinda fits the subject of this forum.
I need to insure my weapons, but my homeowner's won't let me schedule as much as I need. I also have a non-standard item such as a NFA transferrable SMG, so the "book" value may not cover the true value or cost to replace. Armscare also won't cover the NFA taxes if I need to replace. Not that big of a deal, but if I get my stuff jacked, I at least want to fell a tiny bit better knowing that I won't be out too much money. The NRA Armscare + looks good, but I would prefer to to have an agreed value policy. Theirs is replacement cost. It will do, but isn't my first choice. Anyone have any experience in this area they can share? Recommendations? For those with NRA Armscare, how has your experience been? If you had some POS steal guns, how was their claims process? Did they hold up their end of the bargain in a reasonable fashion? Thanks in advance. |
|
Do you own a safe? If not, start there. Alarm? Video system?
Be careful when shopping. Many policies cover every eventuality, including unexplained loss, damage, theft at the range or from your car. These tend to be very expensive. I would shop for a policy that was mainly theft/fire/ect. from the home. They may also require an appraisal, which can be quite expensive. A stated value policy would be best, if you can find one. Another popular argument is that firearms are considered contents of you home, not a separate item. I don't know if this works out too well. |
|
I checked into insurance for my guns last year and this is what I learned. A safe does not lower the cost of the insurance. I bought one anyway. My policy covers $15,000 per personal belonging item. Example: my fishing stuff fits into one group and my guns into another. I put the guns that I know I will never sell on my standard policy, the first $15,000. Now each year I add any new guns to my additional policy. Keep a record of all make, model and serial numbers along with pictures. Pictures will help YOU find your guns if they are stolen. |
|
The nra has programs for firearms insurance. If you are a member it shouldn't be a problem to get info on the policy.
Since I sell insurance I would be curious to know what carrier you have. Most of the time insurance companies love scheduled items. For scheduled jewelry it is typically 1%. Firarms don't seem to be quite so standardized from my experience. However, a client with $100,000 in jewelry is going to pay about $1,000 to cover those items at an agreed value. These people typically have safes and are responsible homeowners with alarms etc. so the insurance company is happy to accept their money knowing that the odds are that there will never be a claim. If you company doesn't want to schedule something you might want to shop your insurance. Find an independent agent and give them all of the info they ask for. If you want to know exactly what you will get in the event of a loss ask for agreed value and tell them what you want for the guns. That way, you will be able to replace your specialty guns and don't have to worry about what they come up with for replacement cost. You will just get the check and go shopping. Hope that helps. |
|
i was looking into this the other week and the NRA endorsed program was rather expensive compated to others I looked at. I have not had a chance to read through each policy to make sure I am comparing apples to apples. that is my next step.
so far eastern insurance looks to be a very good value (jack richardson 781-596-8915) |
the osprey guy did his homework like i did COLLECTABLES insurance agency ftw, everything you could hope for half cost of any other program , nra program is the suck ,and advertising to your homowners insurance underwriter that yous gotts lottts of gunnz is not a good idea, the insurance dr
|
|
Quoted:
the osprey guy did his homework like i did COLLECTABLES insurance agency ftw, everything you could hope for half cost of any other program , nra program is the suck ,and advertising to your homowners insurance underwriter that yous gotts lottts of gunnz is not a good idea, the insurance dr i looked into them and there price was not as good as the guy i mentioned. I still need to sit down and read through each one in details to make sure they are comparable. |
|
+1 I have never filed a claim nor have I ever found someone who has but hopefully there will not be any issues. |
|
Quoted:
the osprey guy did his homework like i did COLLECTABLES insurance agency ftw, everything you could hope for half cost of any other program , nra program is the suck ,and advertising to your homowners insurance underwriter that yous gotts lottts of gunnz is not a good idea, the insurance dr We don't care. A guy with a lot of guns is far more responsible as a firearm owner than the guy with one shotgun that he shot one time the week he bought it. The quantity of guns is irrelevant. Your insurance score, credit history etc tells the story of how responsible you are. |
|
I'm a little late, but I'll chime in here in case anyone is looking for information. I recently bought gun insurance, and discovered the following:
1. After comparing maybe 7 or 8 different agencies, collectinsure.com (the placed linked above, with whom I have no affiliation) seemed to be the best value (i.e., price vs. coverage.). They do not require appraisals for any single items that are below $5,000 in value. They do optionally request an inventory and pictures of your collection, which you should have anyway in the event you need to file a claim. I know this disturbs some people. But really, I'd guess that you're less likely to encounter any hassles if you have to file a claim, if you already proved to them (via the pics and inventory) that you did indeed own those items. 2. The price is roughly $7 per $1,000 of coverage. This is cheaper than the NRA's coverage. In fact, shop around! Some agencies charge 2x as much for the exact same insurance, so defintiely shop around! Don't assume that just because one agency is more expensive, that you're getting better coverage. That might not be true at all. 3. Don't use your homeowner's policy for this type of insurance. Aside from the fact that a rider to your homeowner's policy is almost always going to be more expensive than a collectibles policy, they will also almost always require an appraisal. That is a hassle, and can be expensive in its own right. Also, a few homeowner's companies are outright hostile to insuring guns. And if they find out you have guns in your house, they may use that as an excuse to jack up the rates on your underlying policy. For all these reasons, go with an insurance agency that specializes in gun insurance. 4. Find out whether the company insures for what you paid for the gun, or what the actual replacement cost would be. Sometimes, those values can be very different. Ideally, you want replacement value. 5. Understand exactly why kind of insurance you're getting. A few of these companies define "collectible" guns as guns that you don't shoot! Therefore, any gun that is shot - even perhaps as little as once a year - might not be covered! The better insurance companies don't have this restriction, but again, some do. So make sure you know exactly what you're buying! 6. If you have really horrible credit or have a history of filing a higher-than-average number of insurance claims, you might want to re-think getting the insurance. 'Cause honestly, if you ever have to file a claim, the first thing they're going to do is check your credit and your insurance claim history. If either of these things raise alarms, they are going to do a LOT more digging around, and are going to be more actively looking for a reason to deny your claim. All told, this insurance is a good deal. If you're like me, your guns are an unintended investment that you acquired over many years. It would be a shame to lose all of them with no recourse, just because you were too cheap to pony up a couple bucks for insurance. |
|
Historic and Collectibles (the two linked above) are the two that always seem to come up the most often for NFA stuff and gun stuff in general. It seems like one will cover your stuff in transit, and possibly damage while in use (?).
I just checked and the NRA insurance is 2.5 times more expensive for my collection than Collectibles is. My question is whether anyone has actually had to file a claim with any of these companies? You can have the best coverage in the world, but if they make you drag them to court to collect, are you really coming out ahead? |
|
Quoted:
Historic and Collectibles (the two linked above) are the two that always seem to come up the most often for NFA stuff and gun stuff in general. It seems like one will cover your stuff in transit, and possibly damage while in use (?). I just checked and the NRA insurance is 2.5 times more expensive for my collection than Collectibles is. My question is whether anyone has actually had to file a claim with any of these companies? You can have the best coverage in the world, but if they make you drag them to court to collect, are you really coming out ahead? +1 on the NRA comment. They tout their insurance as being a "benefit" for NRA members only. But that "benefit" cost at least 2x more than the comparable (if not better) insurance offered by others. Just another reason the NRA pisses me off. |
|
Quoted: I'm a little late, but I'll chime in here in case anyone is looking for information. I recently bought gun insurance, and discovered the following: 1. After comparing maybe 7 or 8 different agencies, collectinsure.com (the placed linked above, with whom I have no affiliation) seemed to be the best value (i.e., price vs. coverage.). They do not require appraisals for any single items that are below $5,000 in value. They do optionally request an inventory and pictures of your collection, which you should have anyway in the event you need to file a claim. I know this disturbs some people. But really, I'd guess that you're less likely to encounter any hassles if you have to file a claim, if you already proved to them (via the pics and inventory) that you did indeed own those items. 2. The price is roughly $7 per $1,000 of coverage. This is cheaper than the NRA's coverage. In fact, shop around! Some agencies charge 2x as much for the exact same insurance, so defintiely shop around! Don't assume that just because one agency is more expensive, that you're getting better coverage. That might not be true at all. 3. Don't use your homeowner's policy for this type of insurance. Aside from the fact that a rider to your homeowner's policy is almost always going to be more expensive than a collectibles policy, they will also almost always require an appraisal. That is a hassle, and can be expensive in its own right. Also, a few homeowner's companies are outright hostile to insuring guns. And if they find out you have guns in your house, they may use that as an excuse to jack up the rates on your underlying policy. For all these reasons, go with an insurance agency that specializes in gun insurance. 4. Find out whether the company insures for what you paid for the gun, or what the actual replacement cost would be. Sometimes, those values can be very different. Ideally, you want replacement value. 5. Understand exactly why kind of insurance you're getting. A few of these companies define "collectible" guns as guns that you don't shoot! Therefore, any gun that is shot - even perhaps as little as once a year - might not be covered! The better insurance companies don't have this restriction, but again, some do. So make sure you know exactly what you're buying! 6. If you have really horrible credit or have a history of filing a higher-than-average number of insurance claims, you might want to re-think getting the insurance. 'Cause honestly, if you ever have to file a claim, the first thing they're going to do is check your credit and your insurance claim history. If either of these things raise alarms, they are going to do a LOT more digging around, and are going to be more actively looking for a reason to deny your claim. All told, this insurance is a good deal. If you're like me, your guns are an unintended investment that you acquired over many years. It would be a shame to lose all of them with no recourse, just because you were too cheap to pony up a couple bucks for insurance. Great info, thanks. I too would like to know how they handle claims just to put my mind at ease. One other question, they mention on their rate sheet that you can get full coverage at a discount by having "valid safeguards" and some mention of a safe and/or monitored alarm. I have both, but was curious if there are any other details out there. obviously I want the better rate/coverage. |