Firearms insurance???

[b116757]

What are you guys doing for firearms insurance? I was in to see our farm insurance agent and asked about a firearms rider if I switched my home policy over to them and they didn’t seem interested and even suggested the best place to get firearms insured was thru the NRA. I’m reasonably certain I have a $10,000 firearms rider with my current home policy but it’s pretty out of date and needs increased just wondering what others are doing to cover their larger firearms collections.

 

[Foggy47]

What are you guys doing for firearms insurance? I was in to see our farm insurance agent and asked about a firearms rider if I switched my home policy over to them and they didn’t seem interested and even suggested the best place to get firearms insured was thru the NRA. I’m reasonably certain I have a $10,000 firearms rider with my current home policy but it’s pretty out of date and needs increased just wondering what others are doing to cover their larger firearms collections.

LoL... IMO dont waste your money on such insurance. Insure those vital things and forget spending your money on trying to insure every "small" area of your life. Instead, invest that money saved, and at the end of the day your will be money ahead.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

LoL... IMO dont waste your money on such insurance. Insure those vital things and forget spending your money on trying to insure every "small" area of your life. Instead, invest that money saved, and at the end of the day your will be money ahead.

What if the value of guns exceeds any vehicle you own?

This is something I looked into briefly when we moved in 2020 and needed new insurance. Takeaway was home insurers don't want to touch it if you have significant value in firearms and one should insure them independently. I haven't taken that step but can understand why someone would.

 

[MRBB]

Talk to your home owners insurance company and ask if they offer gun insurance, some do some don't
as for NOT insuring things, ???? that all comes down to what all you have and there worth.
I had a few customers that lost a lot of money in guns due to they THOUGHT there home owners ins with basic coverage would take care of things if ever needed and learned the hard way it didn't.
The NRA used to offer gun ins, (or had a insurance company they worked with recommended) not sure if they still do, but if your a member, of the NRA(and all gun owners should be, IMO)
I would suggest contacting the NRA and see hat they recommend in current times
another good thing to do is, take pictures of each gun you own, keep a log book on them as well , with conditions, serial numbers and what ever good info you can, from value to sentimental vales they might have
as if something ever happens to YOU< odds are your family members might not have a clue what things are or worth or??
and some sucker will come about and offer them peanuts, taking advantage of them, knowing they don;t know what things are worth or just what they are period!
not all guns are so easy to ID and or know variations on!

SO< having been in the gun business, I seen this happen many times!
good ins is worth getting if you have money INVESTED in firearms!
so is having a GOOD safe or two

have seen countless folks with high end high value guns, buy cheap a$$ safes, always made me laugh, when you add up the costs of the things put inside ,
and then the safe that holds them??
so yeah, good insurance folks is worth having!
and in this current economy, might be worth looking into insuring ammo, if your a bulk holder, as ammo, has some crazy prices anymore and thus value!

 

[b116757]

Home owners company is saying $800 a year NRA affiliated company $250 a year.

 

[Tree Spud]

LoL... IMO dont waste your money on such insurance. Insure those vital things and forget spending your money on trying to insure every "small" area of your life. Instead, invest that money saved, and at the end of the day your will be money ahead.

BINGO! You'll spend more money in the long run on a claim with increased premiums and the deductible. Most policies only pay past or depreciated value unless you specifically purchase current replacement cost value policy which is expensive.

Buy a high quality safe. You can protect a lot more additional items also.

 

[b116757]

Guys

I have 3 safes full of rifles in excess of $20k’s worth I’m not talking about insurance for a couple guns. $250 a year for what looks like replacement coverage at least at first glance doesn’t seem ridiculously out of the realm affordable for a firearms collection. I don’t guess it would have any real effect on me financially if they where stolen or burned up in a house fire but I’d be irritated. I guess I didn’t expect folks to say don’t bother not worth it at all, perhaps it’s not and I’m not looking at this in the proper light.

 

[MRBB]

BINGO! You'll spend more money in the long run on a claim with increased premiums and the deductible. Most policies only pay past or depreciated value unless you specifically purchase current replacement cost value policy which is expensive.

Buy a high quality safe. You can protect a lot more additional items also.

again it might come down to what all you have in firearms, before you can say Insuring your forearms is NOT worth it!

I know many folks with collections worth a few hundred grand, and sold countless guns that were high dollar items, well worth insuring and protecting!

and any policy anyone gets,
make sure it is broken down into specific's on what you have and what they will cover and replace, and over all worth of what you have
all policies are not the same!
and its also why many GUN specific insurance groups, have better under standing of firearms and there values and worth!
as many things grow pretty fast and some things don't

my first m-16 I got I paid $1500 bucks, last one I sold I sold for 25k, (was a class III dealer) so, not insuring things can lead to a big hit pending what you have!~

if you only have a small amount of firearms or those not worth all that much $$< your home owners coverage might be enough for you,!~
it honestly all comes down to what all you have and what there worth both to you and on the market!
suggesting to NOT have coverage is not a great idea!
and even the best safes can be opened pretty by experienced people!
there not a end all to things being stolen, or lost in a fire or like disaster!

 

[Foggy47]

Insure all you want. I got more important ways to spend money. Most "working firearms" are worth from $500 to $2000 or so.....and collectables are all over the map. I got dozens of 'em and several duplicates. I don't hear of many gun robberies in my hood. A.E. Nueman said it best: "Wut?.....Me Worry?"

 

[yoderjac]

What are you guys doing for firearms insurance? I was in to see our farm insurance agent and asked about a firearms rider if I switched my home policy over to them and they didn’t seem interested and even suggested the best place to get firearms insured was thru the NRA. I’m reasonably certain I have a $10,000 firearms rider with my current home policy but it’s pretty out of date and needs increased just wondering what others are doing to cover their larger firearms collections.

My firearms are my insurance

 

[BrushyPines]

If you're dead set on having them insured, you can schedule each gun on your homeowners policy. Depending on the company and state you are in, it is usually around a dollar to 3 dollars for every 100 dollars the firearm is worth. E.G. you schedule a firearm for 2000 bucks, it's going to cost you around 20-60 bucks a year to insure it. It could be much different price wise in another state. Also, some insurance companies do not have a limit on guns, it would just count against your Personal property (Coverage C) limit. Therefore, you wouldnt have to schedule them, you would just need to make sure you have enough coverage under personal property. If that is the case, you would have to PROVE that you owned that gun. They're not just going to go off your word that you owned it. I will give you my 2 cents. I am an insurance agent and I do not have any of my guns scheduled, but I also dont have any high dollar guns. Just your normal hunting guns. I agree with Foggy and MRBB, invest that money somewhere more profitable if it's just a normal hunting gun, but if you have a gun that has a lot of worth to it, I would think long and hard about insuring it. Like I stated above, some companies will include guns with no limit under PP and some companies have a limit on guns (usually around 1500-3000 range) unless you have them scheduled on the policy. ALL companies will not pay you for firearms without proof and that goes for all of your PP too. Best thing to do, talk to your agent about what would be your best option to cover your firearms.

 

[b116757]

What got me thinking about this whole thing again is going on vacation next week so we will be gone. After retirement we will most likely have a summer place up north and snow bird it until we loose interest in that but during that period one house will be vacant for months. I would most likely not tote my collection back and forth between houses. The likely hood of a break-in is pretty low while actively living at a home but vacant houses are probably a much more likely target for thieves, is my line of thinking anyway.

 

[MRBB]

and don't forget its not just worries about things being broken into and stolen
its also about fire, flood and other like things that can destroy them, even if there in a GOOD safe
I have sen many safes go through home fires and turn everything in them into damaged goods, so safes are not going to always protect things!

 

[Foggy47]

I have a home in AZ and a home in MN. Guns safes in both places to stay legal....but they are not the most expensive ones. If a crook wants to steal them.....I guess they can get em. Not worth investing lots of money in this stuff if you have other security and insurance at reasonable levels. I do not own super value collectable stuff.....but do own a fair number of guns of good quality. I cannot afford to insure all facets of my positions to their full extent.....nor do I intend to. Life is full of risks. They are just guns.

Keep things out of site and locked up by all means.....but unless you live in a crime ridden area I would not sweat the small stuff. If you have a super valuable piece that is different. I suggest you take a few pics of your guns from time to time .....and print them.....and place in your fire proof safe or safety deposit box so you could claim them on your PP insurance if stolen or fire. (I have not done this in quite some time either...and its not high on my priority list). My 2 cents.

 

[bigboreblr]

I sold off the majority of my vintage marlin collection and anything I dont use anymore. Too much of a legal volatility for me to have them as investments.

Why not pay for actual insurance? Security system, fire suppression. You can get small fire supression systems cheap, similar to marine engine compartment or kitchen suppression systems.

Although annoying, those arc flash detection circuit breakers do prevents electrical fires.

 

[Buckly]

My experience with insurance . One sentence of what’s covered and 30 pages of exceptions how and why they won’t cover anything. Just protect them yourself Is my opinion. Leaving a large valuable gun collection in a vacant house for months at a time and counting on insurance for security interest is not a good way of doing things. Again just my opinion.

 

[yoderjac]

People take out insurance for the strangest reasons from my perspective.

Insurance companies are making money, so on average, folks are paying more in premiums than the companies are paying out in claims. So when does it make sense to have insurance? I can think of a few things.

1) Life insurance - Only when a loved one is dependent on your income.
2) Auto - Liability always, comprehensive only when you are dependent on a vehicle to make money (go to work) or you are forced to take out a loan on it. Or, you could not financially recover from the loss, but if they is the case you bought too much car.
3) Home - Usually simply because few could recover from a financial loss that large.

Insuring things that you don't depend on is kind of like gambling. The house (Insurance company) had the odds in their favor. There are winners, but most get the short end of the stick.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[b116757]

We had a rental catch fire Thanksgiving day 2020 we paid $53,000 in 2018 for the building. Insurance company paid us $180,000 in repairs plus lost rents for 14 months we then sold it earlier this year for $141,000 and can balance forward losses. So yes insurance is a scam most of the time I agree but sometimes you need it.

 

[yoderjac]

We had a rental catch fire Thanksgiving day 2020 we paid $53,000 in 2018 for the building. Insurance company paid us $180,000 in repairs plus lost rents for 14 months we then sold it earlier this year for $141,000 and can balance forward losses. So yes insurance is a scam most of the time I agree but sometimes you need it.

I don't see it as a scam. It is simply buying and selling of risk. When risk is high they don't sell insurance for it or the premium is out of sight. When the risk is lower so is the premium, but the buyer of risk needs to be able to pay losses and still make a profit.

From my perspective, it all comes down to the magnitude of the consequences. If I can handle the loss, I'll "self-insure" and keep the premiums. In cases where the financial loss is so great that I can't absorb it, it is time to pony up the premium.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Buckly]

So in the case of firearms, What happens if let’s say you have 30 guns that get stolen. Insurance pays off, are you going to replace those guns? Gun for gun, maybe some aren’t even replaceable. Then 5 years later the police turn up 10 of those guns in a raid. Do they return them to you? Will the insurance company want their money back and what if you’ve already replaced? This just for my information as a lot of times these guns will turn back up at some point one way or another even after long periods of time. If your house burns down, well you know thats just going to get replaced and be the end of it. It just seems guns are a much different insurance quandary.