Remember, they are called "adjusters" for a reason. Be prepared to hire an attorney when dealing with an insurance COmpaNy.

When my house burned down I got $85 for my ACDC LE BIB. Yes $85. They arrived at that price through an internet search for similar products landed them on some sort of Limited Edition ACDC box set of CDs. Anyway I did not protest because I had already maxed out my personal property allotment on my insurance. My insurance broker had switched me a year before to a company that pays 35% of the value of the house structure for personal property instead of the 50% that the previous one had.

So the lesson is to make sure that you have enough personal property insurance and that they pay replacement cost. My insurance did have replacement cost and that is why I maxed out. For instance they gave me $500 each for two old Windows 95 laptops that were buried in one of my cabinets. Also, I was able to preview the estimates and provide sources for more accurate pricing. In the end, it didn't matter because I was maxed out on the payment from the insurance company. On the other hand I did get the adjustor to sign off on an updated list with realistic prices for all of my pinball machines. That way I was able to write off the net loss legally on my taxes.

Sorry you lost your house. Hopefully no loss of life. Insurance COmpaNies suck.

lol.... yes, because attorney's are SOOO much more reputable than insurance people....lol...

know what you mean, but I had to laugh at the irony.

Thanks. Should have mentioned, no person or pets hurt. Dog got out the doggie door and girlfriend out the front. I was not home.

A classic "lesser of two evils", eh?

Two attorneys are sitting at a bar...

...and this super hot Insurance lady walks in and sits down at the other end.
The first attorney looks at the second attorney and says, "Man, I'd sure like to screw her."
The second attorney looks at him and says, "Out of what?"

I represent insurance companies, so I guess that makes me "more of two evils".

i thought you taught golf ?

Any good advice for our pinsider friend who suffered this loss? Any insider lingo he could benefit from?

LOL, at least the attorney is working for the client. The insurance companies are generally working against their client to pay them as little as possible.

I've heard this same issue from other people who have had their pins damaged, where the insurance agents sometimes won't even cover it. Maybe it's because I live in a high risk area (I live on an island), but my arcade machines and pins have been covered at Ebay costs in the two claims I've had to make over the years. Granted, I'm not sure if you told your agent how many years you've had the pin as then depreciation will play a part. But I would definitely argue with the agent that 3600 is in no way the current value of that pin.

I don't / didn't want to derail the seriousness of the stolen BBB. However, I had a BBB #111 and sold it for $15,000 about 2 years ago, and know his value is much higher. I am most concerned with the OP's insurance value of $3600. That's BS! That game is worth every penny of high teens, to as much as $20,000.

For those of us who have pinball's... we should understand what our insurance companies cover. Whether you have 1 game at $1,000 or 50 at $150,000, you should not have to back peddle trying to justify what you think you think they are worth.

Personally, I have spoken to my SF agent numerous times on this subject. My collection is of 30+ late model pinballs. I'm not boasting and there are many who have collections much higher. I love the hobby and I love pinball. I just don't want to be shorted in the event of some bastard stealing my game(s) or if they are destroyed in a fire. I think this topic (stealing / loss) is one we all need to look into carefully.

Thanks for all your input / comments.

Back on track... hopefully they find the bastards who stole his game and it gets returned in good condition.

Several years ago I lost several pins, slots, A Defender, and a shuffle bowler in a storage fire. I printed out completed Ebay auctions and turned those in with the claim. That's what I was paid. maybe I was lucky. This was with renters ins. in Oregon no extra coverage

When Rob walks into a pinball party people start sniffing and looking around for the source of brimstone.

ha

Well, at least RobT doesn't walk right through invisi-screen doors when he goes to pinball parties.

Getting back on topic, I hope some lead surfaces in this stolen BBB case.

The insurance discussion has some good value to most in this hobby. After 17 days and 868 posts by 291 Pinsiders, the OP has only checked in 3 times, so there's not much to discuss there.

This is a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks pin appreciation isn't important to the hobby.

I'm not talking NIB "pinflation" because that is already out of hand. Rather how well old titles hold or increase their value just sitting in your home.

Simply stated-insurance companies exist to NOT PAY OUT on claims. They are not your friends, they're not all warm & fuzzy like their idiotic commercials portray them and they're not interested in making you 'whole'. You can more or less put them in the same bed with large corporate banks. Modern-day gangsters, basically.

I have not read the whole thread. however, based on what I did read and using simple logic these things must be facts.
1, who ever took the game knows what it is. they only took that game and no other.

2, who ever took the game knows the owner.
to the op, start looking at people you know.

The moving company employees and their friends are still possible persons of interest.

The COmpaNy I work for offers some kind of bullshit "legal protection insurance" from Metropolitan. I loved the letters and brochures the sent trying to con you out of a monthly premium. Hunkey-dorey pictures of Snoopy and Woodstock. Until you read the fine print. You cannot use them for issues with your employer, Met or any insurance COmpaNy. What a crock of shit.

Remember, insurance COmpaNies are your friend, until something goess wrong.
I buy minimum legal coverage for my cars to buy license plates. Otherwse, I self-insure.

Our insurance company Farmer's paid me off in spades for the rentals we lost in The Old Fire.
We didn't rebuild, we bought two nicer rentals with the cash and had about 30K left over.
There were so many bark beetle trees I upped my policy and added loss of rents.
The county gave 10 days to pull down the chimney but you had to have a permit and soil tested before you did the work.
Catch 22.
I quit claimed the mess to the county, rebuilding just didn't pencil out.

Your best insurance would be to rig a sawed-off shotgun into the coin door so that if a special release mechanism isn't switched off before opening it......

download-191.jpg

Yeah, you won't get your money back, but at least it won't end well for them. Or if you aren't so evil, at least a taser that shoots out would suffice. Coin doors are ballbag-level, so it could be a bullseye shot, permanently disabling the thief's scrote.

Or you could just install one of those GPS devices into it, but who needs practicality?

I've had a small fire, robbery and hurricane damage. The way State Farm paid me was a depreciated value until I actually replaced the item. Then they reimbursed me the difference. I dont' remember if it was the same for the fire and robbery but I do remember the Hurricane. Maybe that was wrong and I should have got an attorney but I think once I figured out their system I worked it so I didn't get screwed badly.

Sherlock Holmes on the case. What does Dr. Watson deduce? Maybe Professor Moriartti stole the pin in order to use their parts to build his weapons of mass destruction!
LOL!

I am just messing wit cha

The first attorney, confounded that his colleague even had to ask, said "Her clothes."

I question leaving that pin alone in a garage by itself in the first place...everyone makes bad decisions I guess.

I leave my corvettes and my cobra alone in a garage by themselves. I don't expect them to be gone when I get home.

Neither does my buddy.
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man... i sure could fit a lot of pins in that room !

Sooo...you don't see a difference there?

No I don't. It is my garage and people should not be stealing anything from it. What difference do you see? Would you go steal something from his garage?

Being an insurance agent, reading this gets awkward. Not every agent is a dirty scumbag. Some of the responsibility lies on the insured as well, read your policy, know your limits, and protect your property. I ask all of my clients if they have anything collectible that is worth more than would be provided for, antiques, jewelry, guns etc. But I also assume that if it is important to somebody they will check to make sure they are covered.
Everytime someone mentions insurance on games on Pinside, I always recommend a Personal Articles Policy. Costs about $1.25 for every $100 and covers everything. I mean everything. I could put a claim on my burned out lightbulbs if I wanted to.
In case you don't know here are some insurance limits that most are surprised about (in my state since it does differ a little state to state): Cash in home= $500, Guns= $2500, Jewelry= $1500, Computers= $5000

I would like to point out that I never said anything bad about an Insurance Agent or Agency. It is the Companies themselves. They employ "Adjusters" whose job is to pay as little as possible.

Yeah a lot of people make the mistake of viewing the Insurance Company as a person, someone who could be nice and that you don't want to badmouth, etc. Insurance Companies are in it to win it and have no sympathy for anyone as they are not people. Agents can be good or bad, usually good if you deal with long-term good standing people. But Companies strictly do not want to pay out ever. It's their business to collect, not pay out.

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That is another thing I would like to comment on. Anytime I read on here that my agent says I am covered, that does not mean you are covered. Your agent isn't the one who determines the loss. The adjuster is.
This poor guy is just a perfect example of the bad things that can happen if you are not completely covered. A Personal Articles Policy will determine the amount of coverage before it is purchased. It is a pain to set up but once it is complete it's beautiful. You get someone to state the value of your games, their reasoning behind the value and you can an underwriter to agree with you (you can use the Price Guide or you can get GAP to state the value to the insurance provider as I believe I have read that he does this and GAP if that is not the case I apologize) . There will be no future issues.

No, I don't. Isn't it easier to steal a car than an awkward pinball machine? You just jimmy the door open, hot wire it and you are gone. Way easier than a pin.

I do like the idea of going to the local news.

not that how easy it is to commit a crime makes it any less a crime. walk into a home that's unlocked and it's still breaking and entering.

No it isn't actually. The act of entering a structure with the intent to commit any crime is called Burglary. "Breaking and entering" is a slang term for the valdalism associated with damaging a portal (window, door, etc.). A person can commit a Burglary without damaging anything for instance if the door is open. If they kick in the door, there is an additional charge of Vandalism.

I always got a laugh out of the Allstate Insurance compound along I-90 by South Barrington or Hoffman Estates. It had prison-like fencing, a guard gated sentry station and probably K-9 patrols. Yeah, people love insurance companies.

Ironically, I read it was being vacated and torn down due to the glut of office space along the Jane Addams Tollway. Allstate is consolidating that office with their Northbrook HQ.

I'm sure everyone knows how to disable an alarm system, jimmy a lock, hotwire a car and drive away in a 100,000 car without anyone noticing.

On the other hand, a person is moving, has been hauling stuff probably for a couple days... truck pulls up and a guy loads something else, no one would notice anything.

No difference? No, not at all.

incorrect. breaking and entering does apply to an unlocked door. the "breaking" part is sometimes explained as "breaking the threshold of the private residence":

Note that "breaking" a window or a door is not actually necessary to be found guilty of breaking and entering. For instance, deceiving a security guard to gain unauthorized access to an area may be considered breaking and entering. Or, slightly pushing open a door to enter the building may also be breaking and entering.

from http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/what-is-breaking-and-entering.html

(and countless other internet examples)

of course, whether a particular jurisdiction refers to it as "burglary" or "breaking and entering" or "trespassing" or whatever may vary by locale. the point is it's still a crime no matter how easy it is.

Laws must be different in VA, don't most your residences have wheels and thus would be governed by the vehicle code?
Just kidding before you get all worked up.

it's all good, but at least get your stereotypes right. maybe you're thinking of West Virginia? VA is pretty upscale. VA has the #1 and #2 wealthiest counties in the entire United States, and has five of the top ten. I grew up in Fairfax (#5) and currently live in Prince William (#9).

Garage is like twice the size of my entire condo..

Feel free to continue to blame the victim then. Bolt down everything your garage folks or if it is stolen it is your fault!

My dad (and every other farmer) leaves expensive farm equipment sitting out in the field overnight all alone. Miles from anyone. What would you suggest they do so it isn't their fault if it gets stolen?

I didn't say it was his fault, I said it was maybe not a good decision to leave your most valuable machine alone in the garage. It's the world we live in now, I don't like it either, but we all have to be super careful.