[Fourlanders] Homeowners Insurance

[Rogers, Ron]

I used to insure certain radios (not all) under the ARRL program until I
moved down here and did not re-install any towers. I now am at certain
risk because I depend upon my Homeowners insurance to cover theft or
catastrophes in the shack.

The main difference between the ARRL program and homeowner's insurance
is the deductible and depreciation caveats.

With ARRL you pay for a replacement cost on each radio or accessory and
itemize each piece you insure. 

With homeowners insurance (at least with Nationwide), you have a
deductible to meet on each incident, then they depreciate the hell out
of a piece of ham equipment as though it were a consumer product.  If
the repair cost is more than their calculated value of the radio, they
only pay the max "book value". 

Sorta like auto insurance for an older vehicle...do you need collision
coverage if a fender bender is going to cost more than book value ?? 

With the ARRL plan, I only insured my higher dollar radios and didn't
even pay insurance on radios or items that I could replace for
$100-$125. I just held onto that premium money. 

When I compared my Homeowners coverage and the process I would have to
go through to process a claim and the obvious outcome to that of the
ARRL plan, I decided to simply cover my more costly items through ARRL. 

You'd have to run the numbers to see which would be your better business
plan. 

However, I have been told by someone who exercised the ARRL recovery
process and I understand that if the ARRL plan pays replacement cost on
a certain piece of equipment (based on serial number) and you have the
equipment repaired back to service, they will not accept that serial
number again for coverage. Someone else can comment on that if they have
the details.


Ron 
WW8RR


-----Original Message-----
From: fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Worsham
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 1:49 AM
To: fourlanders at contesting.com
Subject: [Fourlanders] Homeowners Insurance

I have a question for you guys about homeowners insurance and amateur
radio gear.  I am in the process of changing the insurance company for
my homeowners insurance (Allstate has gotten ridiculous).  I have been
talking to several companies getting quotes and the question of how to
insure my amateur radio equipment has come up.  They all agree that a
special rider is required given the amount of coverage I am requesting
($10,000) but they can't seem to agree what kind of rider is required.
Some want to insure it as data processing/computer equipment others want
to insure it as consumer electronics.  It is really none of those things
and I am afraid that if I ever have a claim they might try to pull some
BS and deny the claim.  My question to everyone is, how do you insure
your amateur radio equipment?  I have been thinking about just doing the
ARRL insurance program but I have heard stories about folks having
trouble when they file claims plus it doesn't cover rotators, antennas
and towers.  Let me know what you guys think.  Thanks.

73
Jim, W4KXY


_______________________________________________
Fourlanders mailing list
Fourlanders at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/fourlanders