R U prepared if your stuff is stolen???

[hwystar]

I was browsing CL yesterday and saw a ad from someone trying to recover their stolen instr. Luckily the poster had a few pictures of his stolen guitar which got me thinking that I have no such photos of all my stuff, let alone serial #'s etc. that I would need in such an emergency and foolishly don't even know if my homeowners would cover this, so tomr. I will call my insurance and speak with them, my girl comes home on Tues and she has a good camera and I will start taking photos of all my stuff, tranfer to disc and off to my safety deposit box. Just wanted to pass this on for what its worth.

[MyWifeBoris]

I have a double barrel shotgun in my basement just in case someone tries. Does that count as prepared?

[mikeddd]

I'm not an insurance agent, but I did some checking with my insurance company to see what they cover "just in case." Typically, most insurance companies have a limit that they'll cover for any one type of item. I.E. my policy only covers $1,500 in jewelry. My wife's engagement ring alone is worth about 2.5x that. I'm assuming they wouldn't cover all my instruments and gear either, since they basically fall into the same two categories (musical instruments and electronics). Unfortunately, "riders" or specific policy additions are stupid expensive. USAA wanted $200/month for $10K in jewerly-specific coverage. That's just stupid.

[Caca de Kick]

I keep a photobucket album with detailed pics of everything including serial numbers. That way incase my computer is stolen as well I have access to pics from any computer.
But one of these days soon, I really need to sign up with a real instrument insurance company.

[irishryno]

i highly recommend getting all your stuff chipped to. once it goes missing, it makes it easier to find, especially if they are trying to sell it to stores and pawn shops. i know not all shops have the scanners to read the chips, but some are better than none. also make sure you have the info if you are in an auto accident. include current retail prices for the items incase of full replacement. in your photo's include a news paper so the insurance companies can note the date, and reup your photos once a year. that way they know you are current and cant say thats a 10 yr old photo and they are going to pay what its worth since then.

[SurferJoe46]

All good advice. But I'd not use Photobucket for archiving files.

How many times do you see a deleted pix and it's from Photobucket when there are pixs posted here on TB? Huh?

I use Picasa which is free from Google and you can upload a bucketfull (sic) of pixs of your gear or carrots and they are there forever. Well - at least until Armageddon, and it won't matter much then.

[Buslady7803]

I have headstock pix of my basses with their numbers and countless photos. Best i can do. If it happened I'd be sending copies all over the place to GC, private mom & pop stores let alone the cops.

I'd be pretty upset if my Warwick got nicked cos I waited for that one. It doesn't go anywhere but lessons and home.

Hopefully it never happens to any of us.

[SoonerMatt]

Already lost my gear in a fire once, so suffice it to say all my stuff is insured now.

[mixalot]

I just talked to my State Farm agent about this one just a few days ago. From what I remember, it was only about 71 cents for every $100 in value for my basses, amps, etc. So she said 5K worth of stuff would be about $35/year. Not too shabby. No deductible either. Even covers breakage. Noice.

[MIJ-VI]

Stolen gear can be registered via the relevant links in my sig.

[bassist4dalord]

My three basses cost a sum of $300. They are easily replaceable. My amp is $320. I imagine that when I upgrade to more valuable gear, I will have some method of guaranteeing that it stays in my possession. Great thread to post man!

[pasta4lnch]

I need to get better insurance and I've been really lax about pic archiving . . . I gotta get it done!

[redstrand]

My USAA policy covers 50,000 flat no questions asked. I'm guessing if you itemize it costs extra. You might want to recheck the policy with them.

Originally Posted by mikeddd

I'm not an insurance agent, but I did some checking with my insurance company to see what they cover "just in case." Typically, most insurance companies have a limit that they'll cover for any one type of item. I.E. my policy only covers $1,500 in jewelry. My wife's engagement ring alone is worth about 2.5x that. I'm assuming they wouldn't cover all my instruments and gear either, since they basically fall into the same two categories (musical instruments and electronics). Unfortunately, "riders" or specific policy additions are stupid expensive. USAA wanted $200/month for $10K in jewerly-specific coverage. That's just stupid.

[rogerbmiller]

I had several vintage instruments stoeln from my mom's house and my homeowners insurance covered all of it less the deductable. The key is to get a pretty extensive policy to cover your possessions AT REPLACEMENT cost. In my case, the thief was apprehended and admitted it (the housekeeper) so not only was the onus of proving not on me, but SHE had to cover the deductable as part of her lawyer pleading her into this ARD program.

This said I learned a bit about the process so the keys are to get a generous policy that covers at replacement cost and document EVERY axe of yours incluiding serial numbers, and take a picture of you playing each one.

[fintanbk]

Apologies for pimping our service here but directly relevant to this discussion (and free).

We are a recently launched business - www.dbtwang.com - and we help you to easily record the details on your guitars. Over 70 fields of info and 9 photos right now - and more to come in a couple of weeks including up to 25 high res shots for each instrument. If you join before we launch the new improved version you will be in free for ever :-)

any questions ping me - fintan AT dbtwang.com

fintan

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by fintanbk

Apologies for pimping our service here but directly relevant to this discussion (and free).

We are a recently launched business - www.dbtwang.com - and we help you to easily record the details on your guitars. Over 70 fields of info and 9 photos right now - and more to come in a couple of weeks including up to 25 high res shots for each instrument. If you join before we launch the new improved version you will be in free for ever :-)

any questions ping me - fintan AT dbtwang.com

fintan

Just signed up. Now I have to take some good pictures in which my basses' serial number is clearly visible.

[Big chicken]

Originally Posted by MyWifeBoris

I have a double barrel shotgun in my basement just in case someone tries. Does that count as prepared?

Your my new best freind.

[megadan]

I specifically asked my insurance company where there was a limit on musical instruments, and they said no - it was only for jewelry. So in theory, I think I am covered. Though I've never dealt with an insurance company before, so who knows how it would actually come out. I'm assuming they make it hard for you to get your money even in legitimate cases.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by megadan

I specifically asked my insurance company where there was a limit on musical instruments, and they said no - it was only for jewelry. So in theory, I think I am covered. Though I've never dealt with an insurance company before, so who knows how it would actually come out. I'm assuming they make it hard for you to get your money even in legitimate cases.

I actually had the experience once - concerning RC aircraft I made. I had a small factory in my garage in Anaheim and it got robbed BIG TIME one night.

What I had done for years was kept every receipt and piece of paper from the wrapper of everything I bought - kept them in two of those large 55-gallon shipping containers inside the shop.

I told my agent I had a claim, carrying the barrels in the back of my El Camino to his office. He said he was going out to lunch and for me to drop any receipts I had on his desk and he'd get back to me.

I did. It flooded his desk three feet deep and ran all over the floor.

I got a check for what I claimed and he never even looked at the receipts - just the stack of them and shook his head.

MORAL : Keep all receipts in a safe place.

[megadan]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

MORAL : Keep all receipts in a safe place.

Nice.

Sadly, 90% of my musical purchases are cash based, used gear.
I do keep all my paypal and ebay receipts, and I suppose print outs of TB classifieds could work...?