Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters insurance?

I ask this question in this forum as there are maybe the greatest number of people viewing it who may have a similar concern and can provide insight.

In going through my homeowners insurance policy, the limit for specific items like guns, jewelry, art and furs is capped at $10,000 ( with no single item allowed at greater than $5000)

I do not have a large collection of firearms, but I am sure that replacement value exceeds 10K given the few relatively nice guns I own.

Do those of you that have addressed this same problem add them to your homeowners policy or have some separate insurance?

Just looking for suggestions/recomendations.

Thank you.

I have a "rider" to my renter's insurance which will cover replacement of firearms. Not everything is covered. Enough is covered that I could start over with a select subset that would allow me to hunt and defend myself. That's really what I care most about. I'm not in the "collector" group, not investing in guns for my retirement or anything of that sort.

You mentioned jewelry, art, guns ... if you have valuable musical instruments, you should also consider insuring them. Most policies have some default limit you might need a rider to exceed. For instance, a decent cello may go over $10K.

Tom

I've used Eastern for at least five or six years after switching over from Collectibles. Pleasant people to deal with and their rates may be the best.

I have a good safe. At any given time the amount of jewelry or firearms out of the safe doesn't exceed my insurance limit. We do have riders on some of Mrs Blacktailer's jewelry just to be safe.

I did this. Cant beat the deal for the peace of mind.

I shopped around a few year ago and have used Cor-Vens ever since.

I appreciate the replies. It appears that most add a separate policy rather than pay the uncharge for a rider on their home insurance? Any other recommendations in terms of companies or plans are welcome.

As far as safes go- it has been my concern, living rurally and being far from immediate fire and rescue response, that any fire in my home would likely result in a complete loss whether I had a safe or not.

Thank you

I was all set to sign up with them, but after comparing with Eastern, Eastern was cheaper, and had lower deductibles.

They do require an in home safe, but you get a 5% discount for being a NRA member. You don't give them any serial numbers, just the number of items and total value. You're covered at home and away, and can add your binos, spotting scope, cameras, etc. The does have to be proof of a break in, so you can't leave your truck unlocked while you run in the house to take a dump, with a gun in the front seat, and be covered if someone snags it.

Good info, I will check them out. Thanks

Tag

As far as safes go- it has been my concern, living rurally and being far from immediate fire and rescue response, that any fire in my home would likely result in a complete loss whether I had a safe or not.

No safe, no monitored alarm system and far from police or fire. They are going to jack your premiums so high it’s going to scare you. Those 3 things right there put you in a very high risk category especially insuring firearms.

Looking in to this also. What is the best bang for the buck both as far as protection and to reduce premiums? I was thinking about metal sheathing on the interior of the gun room or at least around the safe. But I think even a single sprinkler might be more effective.

Best bang for the buck is tough. How to reduce premiums is easier, What have you done to mitigate their risk?
A safe as we all know is slim protection in a bad fire, so why the safe? Theft.
Although with enough time they can be defeated. So you have to cut their time down. How, reduce hidden/obscured entrance points. Crooks don’t like being visible. I put solar powered motion lights so if anyone comes in the yard at night a light somewhere will come on illuminating the area(even with the power out).
Monitored alarm for heat/smoke, water leaks and intrusion. If they come in a window motion detectors will get them. Jimmy the door, got ya there too. Have a 150 dB siren inside and outside which will pizz the neighbors off till cleared, but someone would be stupid to stick around after the 15 seconds delay sets em off. So check intrusion off.
Fire hydrant within 100 ft, fire house 2 blocks away. As above heat/smoke and water leak detectors which are monitored even when the alarm isn’t armed.
Sprinkler systems due to cost and upkeep is quite spendy. 1 head wouldn’t justify the cost of installation, annual inspections, testing and monitoring. Constant water pressure is a must as all sprinkler systems have a flow switch alarm and a low pressure alarm. Downside is that you physically have to shut the water off at the main to stop a leaky head or one that has popped especially if your flow switch isn’t monitored . So excess water damage is a big consideration.
Have I stopped a determined thief or a fire? No, but I have reduced my risk and the insurance company’s risk a lot and that risk is what will determine your cost.

Swifty thanks. Still considering the DIY fire protection but I am not a fan of the monitoring systems. The sprinkler sounds like more minuses than pluses even though the actuarial tables list fire over theft as more likely. One thing is I have neighbors that are around most of the time and at odd hours.

My new safe has a 45 minute 1200 degree rating and I am still tempted to add metal and cement board around it to increase fire resistance. It is behind two locked doors but unfortunately in my garage/shop so many tools available that could defeat it in less than 15 minutes. The most likely scenario is a snatch and grab so I should be OK for anything but a concerted effort.

Glad this came up,I really hadn't given it much thought until now.