My pins are covered under my overall home owners insurance policy (USAA). Thankfully the area we live in is not flood or hurricane prone so I did not get anything crazy as far as specific insurance.

See, I do not like this. There are absolutely no guidelines for a specific loss.

For example, is each of your machines listed individually (Scheduled) ? Have they been appraised? If so, by whom? If not, you are not going to get a damn thing from your friendly insurance company when a disaster strikes.

I was quoted some nonsense like $780 bi-annually for 110K in "collectibles coverage". No thanks.

https://collectinsure.com/

This has been discussed in another thread. I was directed to the above company. Purchased $140,000 policy for about $720 per year. I have not filed a claim, and hope I never do.

Dan

Kim has been exceptional to work with...affordable, and across other properties on the same policy!

Kim Hindman
336-550-4814
[email protected]

I spoke with Kim she was awesome thanks for the suggestion. Do you know how they determine the market value god forbid there is a claim. Value can range from a routed players game to a HEP or similar restore. She did say they don’t schedule out or appraise the games.

Then the policy is worthless. They will pay you exactly $0 for your destroyed HEP Addams. You can't just make up a number after the loss.

There have been many posts on this particular subject. I was once very sure of my particular position (I only have a contents replacement homeowner's policy), but I'm no longer 100% sure that I'm good. I do have emails from my agent assuring me that I'm good, not sure how much that will help me if there is a problem.

What I do know is these collector's policies are a very good deal for the companies that sell them. The reason being is they are almost always considered secondary coverage to your normal homeowner's policy. So what that means is they will sit back and wait to see what that policy pays out. If it is less than what you can prove you collection is worth, they will eventually pay you the difference. So let's say your Allstate policy screws you over a bit and only offers you 20k for a collection you insist is worth 25k. The $700 a year collector policy will only be on the hook for 5k in coverage. Not a good value for money spent IMHO.

Probably the only safe bet it to individually schedule out the collection on your primary policy. But also, I am not an insurance agent or adjuster, everyone should figure this out for themselves. Just realize if you buy collector insurance they will not be cutting you a check for 70k the day after your house burns down.

That’s interesting I didn’t get that from the conversation so definitley something to consider.

I wish my Homowners policy would let me schedule out each machine I wouldn’t even be having this conversation if they allowed it.

I am in the process at this time and self scheduling.

It may be a few weeks as my hands are full, but in the world of appraising you should take a photo or video.
Best to photo serial number. Receipts, of course.
Ill be including Purchase Price, Replacement value, Retail Value, and if ones needs are for other, there is Distress, and Estate values.
Replacement, is what you believe you could buy it for....I add shipping in, because its not always in local market.

Retail, is consistent Ebay Buy it now low number, or Amazon, etc.

At that point my discussion will be to see a copy of the policy, and a written understanding with regard to valuation scheduled with policy payment, as well as reading the Policy to understand their terms.

I have not done all this, but have started. I would believe there are more things to learn, and would welcome that,
or criticism, if you think this is wrong.

Has anyone done the internet customer review? Not there yet either....

I have receipts for all my pins. Some of them are NIB and I would expect to get list price in a claim. The only standout is my Funhouse which I sunk money into in the form of a new PF and other enhancements/projects/mods. Bottom line though; if the unthinkable were to happen (fire, etc) I would not want the pins to be a total loss and from what USAA has told me it would be covered in my home owners. Maybe I am wrong? If anyone else knows otherwise I would like to know!

$0 though? Seriously?

I have pins covered under my homeowners policy, coverage confirmed by the underwriter. (easy to do I'm the agent) This works since they stay at home and aren't at any other location.

I'm not worried about valuation most games were bought new or recently purchased used. I have flood but since pins are in basement not covered anyway, but increased my sewer back up and drain limit.

I thought inland marine insurance was the way to go for pins? Works while at home or on the road to a show.

If your coverage doesn’t specifically call for specific values of all your games, yes seriously. You’ll be lucky to get anything above zero for your games.

Better safe than sorry. Need to have a separate policy with all games scheduled.

You can usually just get a rider on your home owners take pics state your estimated values within reason and then you insurance will quote on that value and give you an estimate to instate the rider. Then if your games are a loss you paid the premium based on that value and they will pay out that value unless they can prove you were negligent which probably wouldn't happen unless you purposely burned your house down or something...

That doesn't seem horrible but still a bit on the high side.

To elaborate a bit...

If your standard policy just has specified coverage of $200K for "Personal property" and NO OTHER FIGURES or numbers, that's the most you can get no matter what, unless you have additional coverage OR your individual personal property is itemized or "scheduled". Even if you have a receipt, that does not matter at all regarding your policy... it just states what you paid for that item. Nothing more.

Here's a scenario: You have a policy where the agent says "Your 20K pinball machine is covered" and you lose your home and all it's contents to fire. If your policy specifically covered $200K worth of personal property, but you add up everything (including your pins) and the total is $250K, guess what... you only get $200K and the remainder of your property is a loss. Receipts and appraisals do not matter.

The agent says "you're covered" because it makes the consumer feel at ease and the chances of something happening is low. But, he/she is informed enough to know you don't have a single possession that is worth more than the policy so if you ask "Is a $25,000 item in my home covered?" They immediately say "Yes, certainly." because that falls under the $200K "personal property" terms.

What they don't mention is that if the 25K personal property items add to OVER $200K, those items OVER AND ABOVE that mark are NOT covered. Also, you have to somehow prove what the items are actually worth.

The other problem is how much is it to replace your "personal property"? Most agents have general item knowledge on replacement values and you want to make certain that your agent knows that a pinball machine is worth more than $500. If you lost a bunch of machines and are standing there in the ashes, you are going to expect to get replacement value for everything... The reality is that if nothing was in writing, you ARE NOT going to get it!

Once a disaster strikes, you immediately have to think of your "case" with the seriousness of a "murder trial". And the insurance company will usually do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to not pay out. Hiring an attorney is almost ALWAYS necessary. Does your policy pay for those expenses? I doubt it.

The agent doesn't want to reveal all this though, they want to sell you the policy and move on to the next client.

So, you're saying it's the policy holders responsibility to read his policy and know if coverage is adequate, but then blame the agent?

Insurance COmpaNies are your friend, until something goes wrong......

I have Collectible Insurance and did have a claim a few years ago. They covered it at the price I valuved it at, no deductible, no adjusters came out, and I kept the damaged game. It was a pleasant process. The game was an Addams Family.

Was it this company? https://collectinsure.com

I don't have a problem paying my premiums. Had a boiler puffback last year which cost over $35k to clean up. I don't get people that bitch about insurance. Go without it and roll the dice if it's such a ripoff. They'll never recover that money from my annual premiums. (Unless I stay in the house another 45yrs)

Yes

ok, cool. Thats who I use too, nice to know they were easy to work with on a claim.

That's great. My post was specifically geared toward those that do not have some additional coverage such as this.