Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
Hi Folks, Most major insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate or Progressive will simply tell you: GET a Safety Deposit Box for your valuable collections. They won't insure or don't want to tackle something that is worth over a few thousand dollars. I checked into this 12 years ago when I started collecting meteorites, and also coins, stamps, jewelry, etc. If you really wanted your insurance company to cover anything over $3,000 they have to attach a Rider and you're paying out the Whaaazooo in premiums. The most common sense thing to do is go to your local Bank and get a safety deposit box that is large enough for all your most valuable collections, either Meteorites, coins, stamps, gold, silver, jewelry or whatever and you pay a yearly fee which would be cheaper by far than an insurance premium. Plus you're better covered by your bank from fire, theft, flood or anything that might happen in your home and you can always go and visit your things or bring some home for a while. It just doesn't make sense to pay HUGE premiums and risk something that is so hard to value, especially older historical meteorites that keep going up in value and items that just can't be replaced for their beauty such as jewelry and other collectables. Take care, Brian Cox __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
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 alm...@kconline.com To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com 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 mpg4...@gmail.com To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com 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 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[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 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
Mike, I appraised my collection, and the value was added to the household contents, no problemo! David R Childs - Original Message - From: Mike Groetz mpg4...@gmail.com To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2011 1:11 PM 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 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
Mike, Collections like that should not be too difficult to appraise but would be time consuming. I would make a spread sheet and list what you paid for each. Then ask some of the bigger dealers what they would charge to review your list and give an appraisal. Meteorites are primarily appraised by classification and weight. Much easier to appraise than jewels or art which have huge value differences that are very subjective. Cheers Mike Mike Tettenborn Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada t...@rogers.com On 2011-09-04, at 8:11 AM, Mike Groetz wrote: 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 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
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 mpg4...@gmail.com To: Meteorite List meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com 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 __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite Appraisal for Insurance?
Hi all, I looked into this recently, and opted for a separate policy to insure my meteorites. The problem is that many homeowner/renter insurance policies have low coverage limits on collectibles, or exclusions/limits for precious stones. Precious stones seems to suggest gems and jewelry, not meteorites, but IME insurance companies tend to use that kind of excuse to minimize payouts in the event of a loss. It might be possible to get a special rider on your homeowner's policy to cover your collection, but most of the insurance people I talked to had never dealt with covering meteorites, and the cost for a rider was prohibitive. One company I found that specializes in covering collectibles, and was willing to cover a meteorite collection, is Collectibles Insurance Services, LLC. www.collectinsure.com The premium seemed reasonable, and they do not require appraisals for individual items valued less than $5000. PS The above may sound like an endorsement, but I am not affiliated with this company, and have not had any claims with them yet. So I actually don't know how responsive they are when you need them. Has anybody here had claims experience with Collectibles Insurance? Doug Ross __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
