Firearms insurance

[DaveN]

After conducting an inventory, it is obvious that I need to get some additional insurance for the firearms.

Can anyone recommend an agency that is reliable and worth the cost?

[Mikey]

DaveN:  I have tacked on different riders to my homeowner's policy.  You can do the same for jewelry or other personal valuables.  You may find that by identifying specific items, such as firearms, jewelry, heirlooms, etc., particular insurance companies want to charge you more but reimburse you at lower rates.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Stan_TheGunNut]

I used to have a rider on my homeowners, and it ran me about $10.00 for every $1000.00 worth of insurance per year.  That was with State Farm.  I have since purchased a huge gun safe, which is fireproof to a certain degree, heavy (and bolted to a concrete slab), and I also have a home security system.  I sleep better with the safe than I did with the insurance.  I know they're securely locked up, have a chance of surviving a fire, and I don't have to worry about the insurance company trying to give me half of what I think they're worth should I have a loss.  From a liability standpoint, you're probably better off with a safe too.  If some teenager were to break into your home, steal one of your guns and shoot his foot off, or worse, I'd hate to have to deal with the potential lawsuits.  

Ideally, you should probably have both a rider on your homeowners, and a safe.  I suggest at least checking out some of the safes made by Liberty or Browning, and if you can afford it, get one.  As for insurance, check around.  It's probably like car insurance...some companies just have better rates.  Hope I helped.

[jhm]

Dave:  I agree with the safe also it is alot better than dealing with the Ins. Co. everytime you add or remove as item off of your list, and if you keep important papers like you would keep in a banks safe deposit box it will be tax deductible which is a plus.    JIM

[TScottO]

I agree with the gun-safe suggestion. National Security is supposed to have the best fire rating on the market. They are also the mother company of Liberty. The thought of having my guns appraised and submitting this information to an insurance company isn’t something I feel comfortable with. Although the heat from a prolonged fire can still damage a gun even if they are protected by a safe there are things you can do to limit the amount of damage due to the heat of fire, like placing your safe against an exterior wall of your home. A good quality safe is a sound investment. People may not think about it but if they have multiple of thousands invested in guns a $3000.00 safe doesn’t seem like such a high price.

Be Safe,
Scott

[DaveN]

Thanks for the replies, but I already have a safe.

I bought the first one about 10 years ago, and out grew it about 2 years ago.  Hence the desire to insure what has become a large (but not large enough) investment.

So far the best deal seems to be a rider (or floater) on my USAA homeowners policy.  

I was hoping someone had experience with some of the collection specific insurance companies.

[Bushnell Boy]

I go through state farm and it seems to be a pretty good deal. I the the NRA also offers insurance. The nice thing about state farm is it covers it for any kind of damage along with theft. So if I break ny firearm in while I'm using it its still covered.

[RadioTech]

I recommend the NRA insurance program, I had a breakin and lost several guns.
The Farmers Insurance paid off, less the deductable of course, but raised my rates 15% for the next 3 years.
The NRA insurance paid off like clockwork after sending them the police report and the insurance company statement.

[MS Hitman]

If you are a member of SCI, there is an insurance company available to you which will write a policy based on the replacement value of the firearm.  The good thing about this policy is that it covers the firearms both at home and on the road.  Thank goodness I have not had to file a claim, but a friend of mine did because of loss by fire and he collected in short order with no hassle.

[charlesshort45]

With due deference to the other posters on this thread, their insurance companies, and local agents, the best deal on firearm insurance and claims service will be through a fraternal carrier, such as SCI and the NRA offer. Rates are lower, claims processing is specialized to firearm losses, and your compensation may likely be quicker.

It is important to understand that most states have statutory limits placed on the maximum amount of firearm coverage contained in your homeowner's policy. Scheduled coverage (providing an inventory of items to be insured) as mentioned above, can have errors due to sales or transfers. Because larger property casualty companies can look up how much your eight year old garden tractor is worth, they will pay on it quickly. The 20 year old claims officer won't be able to figure out what your custom rifle is worth, even if they were interested. Which they won't be.

I had the dubious distinction of being the highest dollar value burglary in my county one year, with 95% of the losses firearms and accessories. NRA's carrier paid to the letter of the policy within a week, and were very professional. My homeowner's policy company took over four months, and made a poor attempt to include my accessory losses under the policy limit. (A distinct no-no) Our agent had no copy of the schedule(inventory) of firearms we had provided him 18 months before the robbery occurred, among other irregularities.

 Moral of the story: hold your firearm insurance with a fraternal who specializes in firearm property/casualty insurance and leave the homeowner's policy to cover your garden tractor. The insurance you buy is only as good as the company's ability to pay claims fairly and quickly. A fraternal that processes firearm claims every day is much more likely to do it right the first time.