Some valuable info here.
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-insurance
Congrats on the new home, hope the game room has lots of room to expand...

All my pins are insured. I provided the company with a list and value for each machine.

From experience, it pays to have things sorted out in advance in case of any problems.

That doesn't just apply to insurance either

rd.

Pay the extra $20-$30 a year, you will likely have limitations if you dont

My agent wanted a lot more than $30. How did you add them to your policy?

I did. But a valuation from a dealer would be a good idea.

Keep your receipts too. Maybe scan them to hard drive as well.

rd.

Seeing this thread made me realize that I should be covering my new but growing collection too...

Just got a quote from AmericanCollectors.com (a referral link from Geico). The quoted premium was quite reasonable with no deductibles. Has anyone here ever dealt with them?

I have Farmers, and was told I was covered. They are good people. I gave them the total estimated value of all machines and they said no problem. Of course, in my house, they are my furniture and about the only thing of value.

All insurance companies are super nice and cover you until you have a big claim. At that point the fine print comes into play and youre denied....

My house burned down in December and I lost EVERYTHING including my pinball collection (and an ACDC BiB). I suggest that everyone who reads this call your insurance company and make sure the pins are covered under the personal property portion of your policy. There may be a cap on electronic items. Usually the personal property portion is a percentage of your insurance for the house structure. For instance if your house is insured for $300,000, your personal property will be insured for somewhere between 30 and 50% of that 300k most likely.

Make sure that you have a lot more insurance than you think you need on personal property. You don't want to end up like me. Last December I came home to find out that I only had my SUV and the clothes on my back. I had to go out that night and buy underwear, a toothbrush, dog food (thank God for the dog door) and a pack of t-shirts. When you go to re-buy literally everything in your life, it costs a lot more than you expect. I maxed out my personal property portion of my insurance even though they only gave me $85 towards my BiB.

Another thing to check on is whether there is a value cap on the guns you own. My policy was capped at $2000 and I had no idea. The fire was so hot that I lost the contents of the gun safe and way more than $2000 in guns...

Exactly! They're your best friend while making insurance premiums until you put in a claim,then it becomes 'you bastard'.

That's why I turn off the power to the machines when I'm done playing. I don't want to take any chances. These machines can be fire hazards by their nature.

I'll say it again; insurance COmpaNies are your friend, until something goes wrong. Buy things for cash, protect them as well as you can and be "self insured" except for the legal requirements.

Good topic...I was just asked this question today and I did not have an answer. I am building an arcade in my backyard and never considered insuring my outbuildings until now. Barns and chicken coops not so much....arcades yes!

When I lost my house the insurance company was great. They responded quickly, rented me a place to stay, assessed the damage and paid out the full maximum amount of my policy for both the dwelling and the contents. The big problem was that I was not properly/fully insured. In other words I did not carry enough insurance to pay to have my house and property completely replaced. I was about $30K short on the dwelling and $40k short on personal property. Even still I got about $300k out of them and I do consider the insurance adjuster to be a friend of mine at this point. To me the fault here lies with me and the broker who wrote the policy for not making sure that I was fully covered.

The key is to make sure that you have an A-rated insurance company and carry enough insurance. Call them and have your policy in hand. Ask them if there is a limit on coverage for electronics, fine print on out buildings, gun limit, etc, etc. Don't underestimate what your property is worth. Like I said above, it adds up really quick when you have to replace everything including your pins.

Being on a fire dept and seeing total loss in our small community, I can tell you this is hand down the most common issue. I agree with Mr Bally to a certain extent, it's is wise to self insure some, but need to insure for large loss. In this case you self insured for $70k, the amount of money in the bank, and what you can afford to lose with out losing it all and being broke again like you are 19 yrs old is a factor. It also depends how much of you nest egg is invested in your house and personal property. If so it has to be insured.

Some risk is smart, too much is naive. You wouldn't invest your $500,000 retirement into just one stock, you diversify as insurance

If you can stand to read your policy all the way through, I'd recommend it. I'm not saying the agent would lie to you, but the policy is the bottom line. Better to call with questions about the wording in the policy.

We have USAA and I'm pretty happy with them. An uninsured driver demolished our brick mailbox, and USAA paid the $3000+ to make an exact replica of the original and haul the old one away.

I simply named "pinball" and a dollar amount (rider policy), it is still part of my personal property coverage. But there are limitations on many things. Tools and jewelry are another. That said my insurance company only covered $2500 for tools by default. Most people will get caught by that. I add $7500 for a total of $10k on tools for a negligible amount. Swamp fire is right, reading the policy is how I determined my limits.

Another factor in determining the additional fee for the rider is deductible. I opt for a fairly large deductible (self insure) and insurance is not that bad.

I am different than Mr Bally in that I don't believe in minimal insurance (legally required). I believe in covering maximal loss with a high deductible. If someone slips and falls and sues for $500k I want to be covered to the max, not the minimum. However the cost of a minimal policy with a small deductible is just as much as a large policy with a large deductible. But to me the real risk is big bucks, not a hit for $5000 or 10k (granted it would stink, but you can recover. but I am willing to incur a reasonable risk). It's the big life changing events, house burns down, someone sues, you rear end a brand new escalade......major life impact that you need insurance for. You want to insure for WHAT YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE!

I agree. Insurance is there for the epic failures, not the $500-1000 annoyances in life.