[TowerTalk] Insurance for my tower??

[Dick Blumenstein]

Hi John-

Yes, one could look at it that way; especially since it didn't cost me 
anywhere near that number.

However, imagine waking up one morning to find the crumpled remains of 
your tower; one that took a good portion of a year to put together. You 
have insurance. In the best of worlds, what you really want to do is to 
make one call and have your insurance company bring in a professional 
team to haul away the scraped tower and antenna systems, and install 
another one in a minimum amount of time. I understand that this will 
really never happen in ones dreams and reality and that beaucoup of ones 
time will be required to coordinate the haul away/restoration. What you 
don't want is a 6-12 month search for a used tower (in what condition?) 
that will fit over your current anchor bolts. That's why replacement 
cost might be important. The quote I got from US Tower for a new 
replacement was about $37,000 for a bare tower with 2 winch systems 
delivered to my door. Add all the other stuff missing plus labor and one 
is probably not far from $50K.

The tornado that came through did a number on our roof shingles (one 
side only) and another structure. The insurance company didn't ask how 
old the roof was, nor what they thought it was worth.  We got quotes for 
a new replacement roof and went from there. Unfortunately, the tower 
would not be handled that way under our current home owner's insurance 
policy. Once you go down the path of Actual Cash Value, you will 
probably have a long and expensive path to putting up, if at all, a 
replacement tower.

Dick, K0CAT

===========================


john at kk9a.com wrote on 4/3/2018 2:56 PM:
> You can increase your home owner's accessory structure insured amounts.
> $50k for a 20 year old 72' crankup seems excessive.
>
> John KK9A
>
> Dick Blumenstein WroteL
>
> I have just completed a tower build which took me a good part of a year
> to do.
>
> Last October a rare tornado came through the area and devastated a lot
> of homes, trees and property. I started wondering if my house insurance
> would have covered the tower and antennas if it was up at that time. I
> found out.... mostly not; i.e. Actual Cash Value (ACV) not Replacement
> Cost, and then only up to 10% of my house insurance limit. They also
> couldn't tell me exactly how an adjuster would calculate the ACV.
>
> The 72' US Tower I bought and installed was in fairly good shape and
> about 20 years old. I realized that one of the scenarios in a downed
> tower would be the ability to find the _exact_ same replacement tower to
> exactly fit over the embedded 1" bolts sticking up through the concrete
> base. I don't even want to think about that issue!
>
> I checked with the ARRL tower insurance folks (Risk Strategies Company)
> and their limit is only $15K and hence I was told they couldn't insure it.
>
> Since a replacement value on the tower, motorized winch systems, prop
> pitch motor, mast and antennae if totaled (plus labor to haul away the
> broken pieces and INSTALL all the replacement parts) could cost $50K or
> more (for new), I was wondering if any other company insures ham radio
> towers?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dick, K0CAT
>
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