Thanks for bringing up the question of insurance. I've been wrestling with it for a long time and still do so which means that I haven't come to any sort of conclusion. Many years ago when I was working in gunshops and sporting goods stores, I had many customers come in with lists of guns and want an "estimate" or "appraisal" on the guns on their lists. After a few questions from me they often explained that it was for "insurance purposes." After a few more questions, they explained that they were purchasing "insurance" on their guns, often by means of a "rider" on their home insurance policy, and had to provide a "schedule" of make, model, condition, serial number and value, often along with all supporting documents such as sales records, etc. I always tried to do whatever I could to help so I provided the values based on sales in the store, personal knowledge and published accounts which were all we had back in the days before the internet. Well, in many of the cases, these same folks returned within the following year for "updates" because--surprise--their guns had all been stolen! The first couple of times, I thought it was just coincidence, but then the local law enforcement folks began showing up asking questions. At first, they seemed to suspect me or the store, asking to see out books to see if we had received any of the stolen guns, but then they seemed to suspect the owners, asking questions about how well we knew them and what kind of people they were. After thinking about it a while, it seemed to me that the thieves had to be someone who knew about the guns, their location and value. The only ones who knew all of those were: 1. family; 2. friends; 3. the insurance companies. Only one of the thefts was ever solved, to the best of my knowledge. The crooks were two guys who did yard work and odd jobs for the owner. Still, all of this left me with doubts about the value of insurance. But that was then.
A while back I sold my place and began renting. Got rid of most stuff but kept some guns. When I asked about renters insurance, I got all kinds of answers and none of them were very good. I had been with Nationwide and when I asked an agent with that company, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Since then, I've learned he's just not a very good agent. He had dozens of questions: were they going to be fired or unfired? were they "new antiques" (never did find out what that was)? did I have a safe? serial numbers? purchase records? police records (never did find out that one either)? would I be "moving or transporting" them? And on and on. The bottom line for him was: yea, I could buy insurance but the price was $100 a thousand and there would be conditions--a yearly review, instant cancelation, "depreciation," on demand inspection. The price was enough for me to walk out. So, no insurance. That was April 2013. In November 2013 a couple of druggies broke into a barn where I had some stuff stored and got between 25 and 30K of parts, ammo, reloading components, powder, magazines, optics, etc. So, back to the insurance companies. This time I started with the NRA. Not real helpful. No serial numbers, but each item has to be "scheduled" and then there was that fire-no fire issue. When I asked about 65K in coverage, I thought the guy was going to have a heart again! After choking for several minutes and telling me that "wasn't possible" because "we know about all the large collections in the U.S.", I just walked away. If the first statement didn't prove he was an idiot, the second one removed all doubt. Went back to a couple of local agents, including State Farm," and got the same old run around. "Yes…. but not really…., we don't usually…., how much…., fire-no fire…." and on and on. So then I went to a couple of the collectors insurance companies. Spoke with them on the phone, but neither one of them could get past the question of providing the name of one customer who had filed a claim for guns and was satisfied with the outcome. I just wanted one reference; one person who had a good experience, but neither company could do that. So, still no insurance. I'm still thinking, and I'll go talk with another State Farm agent next week based on what some here said, but I'm not optimistic. I'll watch for more comments but would really like to hear from someone who has filed a claim.
Thanks again.