Insuring Your Vinyl Collection and Equipment

There are exclusion in any policy, BUT they have to name the exclusion. Money, jewels, stamp collection, there are a few. BUT if it's not named in your policy as an exclusion it is included. In other words you should have kept your mouth shut and protected your collection the best you can.. IF there was an issue of burst pipes or, (God forbid) fire, it is covered.. They may not have a way to value it easy but there is a way non the less. 

YOUR job is to keep an accurate inventory.. With pics of EVERYTHING you want insured... Everything you leave out or think is included, LOL may not be.. The PICTURES are for you NOT the insurance... They need to be in a safety deposit box. The insurance company can take their own pictures...

You have a lazy insurance person.. The purpose of insurance is just that..
To insure what you are NOT willing to loose.  They insure 8 tea cups, but you only drink out of one at a time...THEY replace only ONE... Silly way of thinking.. Insurance is a VERY corrupt business, I mean think about what they do and HOW BIG they are.. Not for paying out. They prefer you protect within reason and insure for a reasonable amount.

If you had a shoe collection, you think they could find a way to value it?
Silly as HECK on the part of the agent.. Change AGENTS and companies.. 

They are there to serve YOU not the other way around.. With NO claims on a policy and you doing your due diligence there should be NO problem with a policy covering your stuff.. DON'T be unreasonable and don't be so SMART about how expensive your collection IS... You were bragging up a storm.. With your collection all polished up..

Rethink your approach.. Be honest. Do you really think a LP or CD collection is a REAL target any more or less than they use to be?
I think less.. To the uninformed thief of today "IT'S TOO HEAVY", BUT more so for a second story man.. How many of those are still around..

They may be after your shoe collection TOO... My oh My... Just kidding..
Don't be showing that off to the insurance guy either...:-)

Added locks and security only HELPS your cause..

Beware of DOG on the other hand, does not!  You're actually admitting you have a dog to be AWARE OF.... Guilty before you ever step in court, by your own admission.. 

That is just what an insurance man told me. Omission can be explained, admission CANNOT...

Regards

I’m speaking from experience. My gear was stored in overseas foul weather containers for 16 years. Mcintosh C22 a pair of MC240 with consecutive serial numbers a Micro Seiki TT (ALL tricked out), Manley tube EQ, Otari RtR, a crate of RtR tapes and a tricked out direct head play back unit made by Manley at the time. A LOT of time and effort was saved there when the kids got their own places..

I go out to look one day, the lock is broke in the garage, Hmmmm!

Sure enough the shop was tore to pieces.. and the containers were gone.

Try explaining to an insurance person what a VALVE is. There was a foot locker FULL of NOS valves... FULL. 15k there alone.. 3 SME 3009/3012 tonearms. They think you’re crazy..

THEN

A guy that worked for the insurance took note AND took over the case. I was smoking hot by now and had contacted my lawyer. I had worked out who did the deed.. YUP the neighbor kid I helped RAISE.. I didn’t see that coming.. NONE of the stuff was recovered EXEPT they found a box with 8 - 10 master reels in it... The KID thought they were cool.. 364 days he served.. They found a loaded 38 that had KILLED someone in the car with him..

The claim went from 5k because they wouldn’t look for prices to over 50K..

They took notice then.. I didn’t know it BUT I had replacement cost insurance. All new Mac gear. I replaced it all.. LESS the RtR tapes.. Just no way to get the ones I remembered having... Long gone..

Farmers...Gregg was Great.. Two years he stuck with me in spite of my own (BAD) self.. Took a while to cool down.. 3 years...Kid broke my heart.. last one I’ve tried to help, until last year.. We'll see..

Regards

“Wow”!
as a 41 year insurance agent I’m a bit shocked but not totally. To those of you that think you know about everything, including insurance, you know little about my industry/career and you are wrong (oldhymec).

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What part shocked you? That the agents when my stuff got stolen, didn’t know their A$$ from a hole in the ground or what? I was treated like some kind of a nut UNTILL, I contacted my lawyer.

Don’t tell me how insurance people are. The CLOWN that wrote the original policy 35 years ago, was good at one thing.. Sending me notices how he would like to review my policy, it may need some attention. BUT never once showed up before or after the kid stole the gear. The field agent was assigned because I requested someone that knew what I was talking about..

the 80/20 or in this case 90/10 rule applies. 10% of the people do 90% of the work and in this case had 100% of the knowledge.

I’m serious, the original adjuster had me at 5,000.00 the revised list was OVER 50K.. How friggin’ misinformed can an agent BE? SHE (not my agent) had a check cut with 75% noted as "could not find comps". BUT sure wanted me to sign off their lazy little bit of work.. Under two weeks.. It took me TWO years to find all the stuff, and STILL didn’t get reimbursed for the master tapes.. THOUSANDS.. and the same with the NOS valves, there was 50K in valves in the foot locker alone..

This was a real pisser. The tube EQ was a prototype from Dave Manley, really one of a kind.. 3K maybe..
Valued at 100.00 new and depreciated 90%. It was worth 10.00 dollars. It had appreciated to over 6K, but trying to explain that to a DUMB person made it hard.. To say the least.. THEY KNEW.. Dummy!!!

I think I got 15K 30 sets of quads NOS GL KT88, Mullard EL34s Set after set of RCA 6L6 BPs and at least 300 signal valves. It was part of my nest egg.

There was a separate foot locker of used valves. IF I wouldn’t have had pictures of the end of the foot lockers "TWO". BTW the agent was a valve head too. He had 3 Melody 6L6 rigs..

THE WHOLE time the guy that wrote the policy sits in his office while I figure out WHERE the heck my stuff went... One cop helped me, and I help him. The gun got peoples attention.. Scared the kid too.. they didn’t fit him up for the gun, but it could have cost him YEARS.. He was 19 yeas old from MD and had "Form". They could have stuck him for 20 years... Local traffic stop, The 8 - 10 Reel to Reels were in the back seat with my name on them..

Replacement, kinda.. there are time limits to get totally reimbursed and if you can’t find a replacement.. you get 50-90% reduction AND the ol bums rush..

Insurance agents, as agent go, Gregg was a STAR, the three that proceeded him were WORTHLESS.. To busy doing it wrong, to get it RIGHT. It was simple, they would not listen, AND didn’t want to learn..

AN OLD HEAVY MECHANICS nightmare.

fuzztone, I've tightened a LOT of catalytic converter bolts.. Robbers foiled in the midst of their capers.. Alarms going off and them booging.

Who would have thunk?  Steal your fancy muffler.. the new regens are 15K.. YUP.. for a burner.. AND then you got to clean the stupid thing..
Big ol 15K ashtray, believe it or not.