Car Insurance Rate Increase

Brittman wrote:

One thing with insurance is never assume!

As with most things in life !

Brittman wrote:

On home owners … make sure you are actually covered on your sporting goods equipment (especially guns) and build in riders to cover gaps or live with the policy as is knowing the potential for loss.
One thing with insurance is never assume!

Yes, any high value items in your home should be disclosed to your agent, and coverage confirmed thru your Homeowners or a separate personal articles policy. I have one for my wife’s ring, my xbow and a few other higher end items with a $0 deductible. I believe the SF policy is $1500 or 2500 in gun coverage included in the Homeowners, which would also be subject to your HO deductible.

And yes, never assume. Or as I like to say, the answer to any insurance question is “it depends!”

BigWerm wrote:

I have one for my wife’s ring, my xbow and a few other higher end items. I believe the SF policy is $1500 or 2500 in gun coverage included in the Homeowners.

Same. Separate rider just for the ring.

I think most standard home owners policies limit claim amounts on cash, jewelry, and firearms. I know mine does.

My firearm insurance policy is a gunsafe. But it only works when its used, and locked.

I have written this a few times in the last year. I deal with home insurance claims every day and insurance companies are not equal. You better have a good agent you can trust if you are price shopping. People that have complained about the cost, will have their coverages changed without reading the fine print as to what was dropped or altered for the premium reduced cost. Insurance don’t drop the rate just because you complained. What I see often are ACV only policies, no color matching policies, no reasonable uniform appearance policies, deductible changing from a set amount such as $1000 or $1500 to a 1%, 2% or even higher of the value of you house. I think this approach works mainly because most people are morons, and can’t calculate that their $500k house with a 2% deductible is now $10k. I have also seen where insurance may cap the amount they will pay if you have damage to bring your house up to current code after it has been damaged. A big one that most companies do not cover is water damage for framing or rot. As an example you have a stucco house, and the windows have been leaking for years, and now your framing is rotten. I have only seen one policy (Badger Mutual) which covered up to $10k, most insurance policies cover nothing. Talk about your policy with your agent to make sure you know what is and is not covered just in case you need to file a claim.

gim wrote:

I think most standard home owners policies limit claim amounts on cash, jewelry, and firearms. I know mine does.

You are correct. Most companies have limits to certain Personal property. If you need more for those items you will need to add a Floater or rider for additional coverage. Things that are normally limited are: Jewelry, Watches, Furs, Firearms, Silverware, Goldware, Imported Rugs, Collectable Cards, Comic books, Money, Ect.

The actual cost of say a 10K or 15K rider on firearms is not that high.

Look at your basement sewer and water damage coverage too. If you have a finished basement … well …

I saw something today that may explain it. Wouldn’t believe it, but I was standing right there. Helping a buddy with medical problems clean up his property, I need a junk truck towed. Notice neighbor 2 doors down had a wrecker in the driveway. Asked him if he could tow it for me. He said he had a call 70 miles away and would be gone all afternoon. It was a tow for a bad starter, covered by towing on the guys auto policy. When I asked why the car was being towed all the way back here for a starter. He said he was towing it to a mechanic 1.8 miles from where it was sitting in the same town. But the insurance company has an exclusive contract with the towing company. So 140 miles and about $360 later the car was moved less than 2 miles. Driver said a 2-mile tow is $60. Lucky the guy wasn’t sitting on the interstate waiting!!

Just speculation, but this sounds like maybe the agent has a deal setup with a specific towing company that he gets a kickback for every tow he sends to them. I think in MN you can use anyone you want, the insurance may cap the amount they will pay, but you can hire anyone you want to tow, or repair your car.

stevenoak wrote:

But the insurance company has an exclusive contract with the towing company. So 140 miles and about $360 later the car was moved less than 2 miles. Driver said a 2-mile tow is $60. Lucky the guy wasn’t sitting on the interstate waiting!!

AS a note on firearms insurance, many hunting and gun owner organizations offer insurance as part of the membership benefits. The same organizations often will extend coverage to higher limits for a fee.

I found my Safari Club International membership had a basic level of insurance, which is nice, but for a very modest fee I could increase the coverage significantly. From online reviews, it appears the insurer gets good marks for paying out in the event of theft and fire, which is what I’m sure most of us are concerned about.

gim wrote:

My firearm insurance policy is a gunsafe. But it only works when its used, and locked.

This strikes me as putting all your eggs in one basket. Yes, let’s stipulate first that any safe is better than no safe. However…

These safe manufacturers make some pretty “interesting” claims about fire resistance and most of them avoid any specifics about WHAT specifically in the safe would survive at the stated temps and in what condition would it be in after such exposure.

Also, as anybody who has had a house fire will tell you, the water damage can be as bad or worse than the fire damage. And safe makers tend to say little or nothing about water damage.

The bottom line is a gun safe is good, but I wouldn’t trust it as the only protection. Safe + Full Insurance = Much Better.

Most home insurance policies only have a personal property sublimit for theft of firearms. The sublimit does not apply to other covered causes of loss. If your home burns down and you have $100k of firearms your insurance company will pay it if your personal property limit is sufficient. You don’t need a scheduled firearms endorsement for fire, tornado, water etc.

Same goes for jewelry.

Read your policy or call your agent to be sure but that is how most quality home policy coverage forms apply. If you aren’t concerned with theft losses you are probably all good.

Scheduling does give you coverage if you lose it (mysterious disappearance). That’s why a lot of people schedule their jewelry because it is easy to lose. Scheduling also allows you to get a lower deductible or no deductible. If not scheduled the home deductible applies.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Also, as anybody who has had a house fire will tell you, the water damage can be as bad or worse than the fire damage. And safe makers tend to say little or nothing about water damage.

See Finny’s post above.

I was specifically referring to theft of firearms. Not loss from a fire, or a flood. I don’t have flood insurance anyways.

FinnyDinDin wrote:

Most home insurance policies only have a personal property sublimit for theft of firearms. The sublimit does not apply to other covered causes of loss. If your home burns down and you have $100k of firearms your insurance company will pay it if your personal property limit is sufficient. You don’t need a scheduled firearms endorsement for fire, tornado, water etc.

Same goes for jewelry.

Read your policy or call your agent to be sure but that is how most quality home policy coverage forms apply. If you aren’t concerned with theft losses you are probably all good.

Scheduling does give you coverage if you lose it (mysterious disappearance). That’s why a lot of people schedule their jewelry because it is easy to lose. Scheduling also allows you to get a lower deductible or no deductible. If not scheduled the home deductible applies.

If you are getting that Information from you insurance agent about Sublimit items only being for Theft, I’d get a printout of that in the policy or have the Agent give you that info. in writing and have him sign it. Not saying some policy may work that way, but none I’ve ever ran across. Money or Cash is also a sublimit item in most policies and if that is limited to just theft, there would be lots of house fire claims where someone had a rather large amount of cash that got destroyed in the fire. If you doubt anything a agent tells you, ask for it in print form and have it signed.

Fishthumper I am my insurance agent. I am an independent agent and we rep multiple companies. I read coverage forms for the policies we sell and all of the companies we sell for only sublimit firearms for theft losses. The special limits on personal property section outlines sublimits and most of those only apply to theft. Some do apply to all losses for things like gold, money etc.

If I remember correctly, you work for State Farm. Have you actually read the policies you sell? I’d be surprised if State Farm limits firearms for all types of losses. I’d be interested to know if they do because that would be a serious weak spot in their policy and it’s always good to know your competition.

I’m with Farmers Insurance. Not State Farm. The Sublimit on Various items varies from one item to another. Some are limited to just theft, other all perils. My point was I’d get the coverages in print form, not just the word of the agent.
I have run into a Number of companies whos sub limit on Guns were for all peril losses.

Does Farmers have a firearms sublimit to just theft or all perils?

Do you remember which companies have policies that have a firearms sublimit for all perils?

Farmers home policy sublimit on Guns is limited to theft. Same as Jewelry, Watches, Fur’s, collectable Cards and Comic books, Other items such as Money, Silverware, Goldware, Imported Rugs, Deeds, Securities, Ect. are limited to all peril loss’s. On items limited to just theft, I advise customers to have some form of Proof of the Items in case of a other than theft claim. I’m not sure how many companies will take your word for it that you have a Xman #1 comic or a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 if you have a fire claim.

mojogunter wrote:

Just speculation, but this sounds like maybe the agent has a deal setup with a specific towing company that he gets a kickback for every tow he sends to them. I think in MN you can use anyone you want, the insurance may cap the amount they will pay, but you can hire anyone you want to tow, or repair your car.

He said they get every tow from the company in his area. At least 100 mile radius. Driver said they do them every day. Number to call is from the home office.

My firearm insurance policy is a gunsafe. But it only works when its used, and locked.

Had a buddy tell me he cancelled insurance when he bought the safe. It’s in a spare bedroom on the ground floor above the basement. When I asked him what he thought would happen if a fire burnt the floor out under the safe and it fell 8 or 10 feet to the basement floor. What shape the guns would be in, he kinda turned pale. Garage floor eliminates that but makes it more vulnerable to theft. The best gun safes have heavy sheet metal sides that can be cut with basic hand tools. Basement in an outside corner is probably best. Would be lowest temp in a total loss fire.

Most insurance companies have an unscheduled limit, think mines $2500. I did the NRA policy similar to Safari Club.

fishthumper wrote:

Farmers home policy sublimit on Guns is limited to theft.

Well I guess you’ve ran across one now.

So what insurance covers losing guns in a horrible boating accident?