Hi All
As with other things in my home, I took pictures of them, placed a value on
them, had them insured as personal property for that amount. The insurance
is based on a $$$ figure, does not matter what it is. Insurance company has
a copy (A CD of the pictures and actually a video) in my files, in case mine
are lost. I am pretty sure you do not insure them as replaceable items. I
could be wrong.
You might talk to your agent about that. It's the same for guns,
instruments, etc., that simply can not be replaced, but have a high value.
Every so many years, you have to take a look at all this and see if you need
to bump the insurance up or down.
Hope this helps!
Jim Wooddell
----- Original Message -----
From: "al mitt" <[email protected]>
To: "Meteorite List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2011 7:02 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
?
Hi Mike and all,
I've been down that path before. I think you will find that most insurance
companies won't want to insure your collection. Mainly because they have
no idea of true value and replacement cost would be difficult for them to
figure. I'm sure that you have pieces that are rare and may be impossible
to replace. This scares insurance companies. They would have to have a
realistic value they could pay you for settlement in advance. Also maybe
you have a piece that is a high character piece and nice, they may check
on eBay and find an fragment with no character selling for 5 or 10 times
less which creates a difficulty for them when replacing. They are always
going to go with a lower price for replacement. Also they may depreciate
your collection if they had to replace it unless you get a replacement
clause in such an agreement. Some pieces will actually increase in value
which will scare them.
I was given a quote and only Lloyds of London would insure in the early
days. In about 5 or 6 years I could have bought a collections just a large
(and nice) and as many pieces for what my premiums were going to cost me.
My feelings were this was not cost effective. I was able to get my
homeowners insurance to consider insuring the specimens much later on.
They wanted pictures values, and receipts of all items I was going to
insure. Again the cost of insuring was going to be high because they
aren't sure how to put a proper value on meteorites because they just
don't know how to. They suggested just insuring the most valuable ones to
minimize loss.
This subject has been brought up before and I believe the consensus was
this. Buy a high quality fire proof safe and store your specimens when not
studying or displaying. I'd talk to your local firemen and get an opinion
on where best to put the safe. Having it upstairs during a fire it may
fall into the crawlspace or basement. If it lands on it's side or back,
water can get in and damage specimens. Better to place down in an basement
and in a corner or build or have built a structure that would support it
and keep it in place in a house. If in a basement you should put it on
something to raise it so water won't get in during a fire when firemen are
putting the fire out.
If you get an appraisal, make sure it isn't by some amateur. I'd get
someone like Blaine Reed or AL Lang to do it. Also you should get more
than one to show some sort of consistency. Getting someone to come in and
appraise would cost you the cost of their travel and what ever they would
charge you. Get an estimate first. I'm sure there are other ideas out
there but this has been my experience. Best!
--AL Mitterling
Mitterling Meteorites
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Groetz" <[email protected]>
To: "Meteorite List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2011 8:11 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
Have any of you worked with your home insurance company to have
your meteorite collection covered?
I asked my agent about covering my collection (about 700
micromounts and a couple large ones) and she looked at me like I was
crazy. She said she never had been asked that before (understandably)
and wouldn't know how to do it.
She said the collection needed appraised and she would see how to
deal with it.
If any of you have had this done- may I ask how you went through
this putting your collection on your homeowners policy?
Thanks for helping me,
Mike Groetz
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