I put my insurance coverage to the test some 25 years ago when my entire system was stolen right down to the last cable. I was surprised to find that Nationwide didn't give me any hassle whatsoever about honoring the full replacement value coverage. Of course I had sale receipts for all the equipment which had all been purchased new from dealers and I had to sign an affidavit of some sort about these particular items having all been in the house at the time of the burglary, but other than that Nationwide just accepted my list of equipment that was stolen. They also accepted without question the current replacement prices for these same models, despite the fact that prices of several models had increased significantly since the original purchase. For example my Martin Logan CLS speakers were the original version which had been replaced by the more expensive Mk 2 version by the time if the burglary.
Nationwide also didn't object to my purchasing different equipment so long as the total cost was within the total replacement cost value. All in all, a very good experience.
These days, however, I am not so confident things would work as smoothly. I have several "bespoke" custom products so it would be difficult to prove what their "replacement cost" is today. Also what about equipment purchased used from another person? I suppose I could show what I paid through PayPal but I won't have a receipt from a dealer. And then there's the whole issue of my LPs. I don't have a list of my 3000+ records and certainly no receipts. How would their "replacement cost" be determined in the case of some catastrophic loss like a fire or tornado? These are questions I hope will never need to be answered.
Nationwide also didn't object to my purchasing different equipment so long as the total cost was within the total replacement cost value. All in all, a very good experience.
These days, however, I am not so confident things would work as smoothly. I have several "bespoke" custom products so it would be difficult to prove what their "replacement cost" is today. Also what about equipment purchased used from another person? I suppose I could show what I paid through PayPal but I won't have a receipt from a dealer. And then there's the whole issue of my LPs. I don't have a list of my 3000+ records and certainly no receipts. How would their "replacement cost" be determined in the case of some catastrophic loss like a fire or tornado? These are questions I hope will never need to be answered.