Insurance - appraisal for fishing gear?

[Falkus]

Spoke with my insurance today about my "hobby". When we got into it, I got the number that it's covered which is more that I expected.

 

But I wanted more information on those. She asked me how much those were and if I have any receipt of those. I told her that they were bought at the store/paypal/forums which inquired over time. Of course, she needs to have the "receipt"of each.  I told her that wasn't doable. Said that I would need to have those appraisal so that they can put in "file".  

 

How do someone appraise my value of what I bought ? how does that work? I dont want to have some guy say this NRX873CCR Rod is valued at $25. My Shiamno Core 50MG7 is valued at $10. 
 

[FishTank]

I went through this with camera equipment years ago.  I had a personal articles policy with a major company and at that the time all they asked for was proof that you had the item in question which meant either a picture of it, a receipt or a box and you that you brought the items to the insurance agent to confirm the serial numbers.   

 

After about 5 years from when I signed the policy, I made a claim when I fell down a small cliff and my equipment went into a lake.  It was a loss of about $8000-$10000.  The insurance company investigated it like it was a scam.  They tried everything to deny it.  I had to file a police report (which the police laughed at> no crime) and I had to go with the insurance investigator to the place where it was lost twice.  After a couple of months, they agreed to settle.  At first I was excited, then they tried to scam me by sending a "similar camera and lens".  The equipment had a new value of about $1000.  It was a joke to me.  I eventually had to send them item numbers and serial numbers from new equipment at my local photo store that was either exact or similar in price.  They were not going to just issue me a check despite it stating as such in my policy. 

 

After this claim, they either wanted to immediately drop my policy or double the cost with a $1000 deductible.  Also, according to them, and this is the main part related to your fishing equipment, all personal articles policies going forward must have a receipt of purchase from a reputable licensed dealer.  This meant no used equipment, eBay, or dealer specials, even if new.  This was in 2004.   

 

Here was their reasoning...  Maybe a year or two before I made my claim, it had become a major issue for them to have people buy used equipment, insure it, then claim it was damaged, lost or stolen and the insurance company would just replace it with new or write a check for the full retail price> especially if it was a partial loss.  They just didn't question it because it cost them too much to investigate it.  Eventually the claims became so frequent and high in dollars that every claim was scrutinized.  What they had found out was a lot of claims involved stolen goods and people would either sell it again or pocket the money and the product with there not ever being any loss at all to begin with.  People could turn an item over two or three times >  This is the reason they need receipts.

[Columbia Craw]

Get a policy with a separate binder for your sporting goods. Set it up for the replacement cost, not the appraised cost. Photo document your gear and email the photos to your agent.  The cost of the binder is worth it if you have over five grand in replacement cost.  Just a suggestion.  I also typed a detailed inventory with each of my rods and reels and their replacement costs. Home owners and boater policies have limited caps unless you specify an amount to cover your potential loss. When I did this, the company request the SERIAL NUMBERS on my reels and rods.  They had no idea they have no such identifiers.  Oh, BTW, use MSRP for replacement cost.

[Jig Man]

I have an separate binder for my rods and reels.  My insurance co. will not cover any of my other stuff.  I have a max value set on replacement based on msrp.  

[Falkus]

So I should call them up and ask to get a policy for separate binder for sporting goods ? 

 

What would be the average for that for about 5K. 

 

 

 

 

[LxVE Bassin]

On 1/25/2019 at 9:34 PM, Burke said:

Spoke with my insurance today about my "hobby". When we got into it, I got the number that it's covered which is more that I expected.

 

But I wanted more information on those. She asked me how much those were and if I have any receipt of those. I told her that they were bought at the store/paypal/forums which inquired over time. Of course, she needs to have the "receipt"of each.  I told her that wasn't doable. Said that I would need to have those appraisal so that they can put in "file".  

 

How do someone appraise my value of what I bought ? how does that work? I dont want to have some guy say this NRX873CCR Rod is valued at $25. My Shiamno Core 50MG7 is valued at $10. 
 

I actually work in insurance those items should be covered under a standard homeowner or renters policy. Who appraises fishing gear anyway? They are not making sense. Make sure you save your receipts. 

On 1/26/2019 at 12:50 AM, FishTank said:

I went through this with camera equipment years ago.  I had a personal articles policy with a major company and at that the time all they asked for was proof that you had the item in question which meant either a picture of it, a receipt or a box and you that you brought the items to the insurance agent to confirm the serial numbers.   

 

After about 5 years from when I signed the policy, I made a claim when I fell down a small cliff and my equipment went into a lake.  It was a loss of about $8000-$10000.  The insurance company investigated it like it was a scam.  They tried everything to deny it.  I had to file a police report (which the police laughed at> no crime) and I had to go with the insurance investigator to the place where it was lost twice.  After a couple of months, they agreed to settle.  At first I was excited, then they tried to scam me by sending a "similar camera and lens".  The equipment had a new value of about $1000.  It was a joke to me.  I eventually had to send them item numbers and serial numbers from new equipment at my local photo store that was either exact or similar in price.  They were not going to just issue me a check despite it stating as such in my policy. 

 

After this claim, they either wanted to immediately drop my policy or double the cost with a $1000 deductible.  Also, according to them, and this is the main part related to your fishing equipment, all personal articles policies going forward must have a receipt of purchase from a reputable licensed dealer.  This meant no used equipment, eBay, or dealer specials, even if new.  This was in 2004.   

 

Here was their reasoning...  Maybe a year or two before I made my claim, it had become a major issue for them to have people buy used equipment, insure it, then claim it was damaged, lost or stolen and the insurance company would just replace it with new or write a check for the full retail price> especially if it was a partial loss.  They just didn't question it because it cost them too much to investigate it.  Eventually the claims became so frequent and high in dollars that every claim was scrutinized.  What they had found out was a lot of claims involved stolen goods and people would either sell it again or pocket the money and the product with there not ever being any loss at all to begin with.  People could turn an item over two or three times >  This is the reason they need receipts.

They assigned your claim claim to SIU because of the high dollar amount and they thought you were trying to fraud them. But you had your stuff together and all the documentation and receipts so they had to pay up. Typical with insurance companies, they want your premiums but don’t want to pay out any claims.

[NYWayfarer]

12 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

Make sure you save your receipts. 

Make sure you save them somewhere where they won't burn up with the rest of your fishing gear...

[Falkus]

6 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

Make sure you save them somewhere where they won't burn up with the rest of your fishing gear...

That's my problem. I dont any any receipts for that. Mostly were bought on forums or trades so how does that work ? 

 

I hope that someone could give me some idea or making a excel spredsheet of what I have or take pix of it and match it online ? 

[jbsoonerfan]

I went through this similar situation with my guns. I had to take pictures of the gun and a picture of the serial numbers. That's a lot harder to do with fishing gear though. I am afraid if I were to lose everything in a fire, I wouldn't get half as much as all of my stuff would cost to replace. 

[Falkus]

Does anyone have any idea or suggestion on this?

 

I think I should set up a separate binder. Question is how does that work since majority of them were bought on this forum and others. In other words, there is no "proof".