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good info, thanks for all the replies!.
I'm wondering if fire retardent paint and an extra layer of drywall would be enough insurance for me.
 
The cost seems to be about 1% (some homeowners policies) to 1.25% (NRA / Lockton et. al.) all the way up to about 5% (collectables) per dollar amount of coverage. Lockton does not require any serial numbers and listing of guns under $2,500 from what I can tell (and over $2,500 just requires value listed, not serial number). My State Farm agent advised that they need serial numbers but they are kept locally only in his office and would be released by subpoena only.
 
Thanks for the reminder. Need to get this squared away because 2K won't even replace what's on the bench with reloading gear.
 
DrewP:

"I'm wondering if fire retardant paint and an extra layer of drywall would be enough insurance for me."

Please see the ad here to see what a wildfire can do to your guns (For Sale: Wall hangers Ruger Savage Winchester). Plenty of people had to flee these fires with little or no time to grab or secure valuables like firearms, I would personally rather count on insurance for their replacements instead of drywall to protect them.
 
so my wife and i decide to count it all up this sunday....I haven't looked at all my guns closely or counted them in a few years...the insurance value mentioned in my original post isn't enough or even close to what I had guessed in my original post and insuring all them is going to be alot more than $400 a year I'm betting...my property is 600 feet minimum to the nearest house.
there is only a couple trees withing several hundred feet and the gun room is secure and is located inside a larger metal structure. so the only fire I'm really worried about is internal...ie welding activities.
wondering if the gun room had several layers of type x drywall and some fire retardant paint if thay would offer me enough confidence.

the building is pretty secure, has it's own security system, heavy fire rated doors that would not break in easily(metal backed frame) and 2 of those heavy doors till you reach the gun room which has large guns safes inside of it that are always locked. so theft is fairly low on the concern level

would you still go with an insurance policy with all that?
 
would you still go with an insurance policy with all that?
This might depend on how often you travel with guns, ie: hunting trips etc.


Im not certain, do these collection insurance cover vehicle thefts?


Sometimes we dont always get the window seat at restauraunt stops when traveling. Years ago I had a vehicle breakdown in SE Oregon on a hunting trip. We cased our rifles and had to hitch a ride into town to get a tow, who then towed the rig to a shop where it sat till repaired. We holed up a smalltown motel for a night. (lukily it was an easy repair and we were back hunting the following day)
 
Since my MT husband and I have downsized our firearms and consolidated our firearm calibers - we do NOT have an additional rider on our house insurance or another company's policy just for firearms.

We are fine with this personal decision. So for what the cost is just for our small amount of firearms - we more or less 'self insure' our entire collection which is SMALL with NO antiques, collectibles or safe queens in our home.

We had already downsized most of our knives within the last X amount of years too.

NO expensive jewelry, paintings, china/crystal/silverware, clocks, etc. My MT husband did not have any and MINE were already sold or gifted.

Years ago, before my late husband's cancer discovery and death, we used to have 'riders' on our home's policy. We had it for some sterling silver, some expensive household goods and a bit of NICE jewelry.

We had the basic coverage on our homeowner's policy when it came to my firearms (Mine = 15 guns or so back east.), his were all bought before mine and he only owned a FEW firearms (5?) in his entire life. I think that he owned 3 firearms when I started to buy my own firearms in the late 90's. I was a member of the NRA for a few years too. NOT for a long time and I cancelled my NRA membership out here in Montana. I did support and still support pro gun causes and people. My MT husband does too.

Anyway, back east, when we changed our insurance company after close to 30 years, we decided since we had downsized so much in OTHER nice and more EXPENSIVE things over the years to NOT put any extra riders on our home's policy. We built that large brick house, super large garage and small barn. We lived in it for over 30 years too.

We did have extra polices for all of our sail boats, power boats, his BMW RT MC with the 'boxer engine', his Honda Scooter, all of our cars and trucks.

We had a special boat policy for the larger Chris Craft classic wooden boat that we restored too.

We had policies for our various open and one closed utility trailers and for my former Coleman pop up camper too.

ALL of that was SOLD and policies dropped, back east, shy of what I brought out West with me. The clean/bought brand new/well kept Coleman pop up camper and the clean low mileage SUV which I did drive out west and move out west with me have been SOLD out here in MT too.

Back east, the one person who wanted to buy the Coleman did not make up their mind fast enough, another one waited until 7 days before I was ready to move and I told them both to take a hike. Since I was packing the Coleman and going to LIVE IN IT until it got too cold and then I was going to move into a tiny log cabin. (Camp site and cabin = rented on a private ranch butt up to wilderness.) I had already decided to live on the private ranch and IF those people had made up their minds BEFORE I made my final decision, the SUV and the Coleman would have been sold back east. But as I told them, when they kept calling me, stopped over, whined and cried about losing some good deals on my camper and SUV SALES, "You snooze - you lose!" I would have sent some things through the post office and took the train out west IF they had bought those LAST 2 things for sale.

I did NOT use U Haul or anything like that and had NO moving van. What FIT INTO the Coleman and SUV was all I took. MY FFL back east man was going to ship my guns to me via a MT FFL IF I had decided to take the train out west.

Since no train trip happened, I hauled almost all of my guns, the remaining ones NOT gifted or sold back there, and ALL of my ammunition (NOT tons but enough!) with me on my long drive. I never reloaded so I did NOT have to deal with ALL of that STUFF to move. I would have and had a chance to sell more guns, back east, but I decided to keep almost all of them too. I had buyers/friends ask me about them several times but since the FINAL decision was made about me driving and NO train trip move - I decided to only sell and gift a few of them back there.

I figure that IF you do not have a large or super expensive GUN collection and can afford to SELF INSURE yourself - you come out better with guns and some other things in your life.

I ALWAYS keep an up to date LIST of his and hers firearms. I only own 2 rifles now on purpose too. UP to date lists of reloading supplies and factory CF and RF ammunition have always been kept up too.

The people who KNOW the serial numbers are our FFL dealers and our lawyer for our prenuptial agreement. He did our wills and POA stuff too. MOST of the guns shy of 2 rifles of my husband's are outdated/sold on that prenup too. They are long gone... bye bye! Mine are all gone from that list too.

Your mileage may vary - NO problem.

We do have our home insured, of course, and my husband's truck and car. I no longer drive.

Take care.

Old Lady Cate
 
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so my wife and i decide to count it all up this sunday....I haven't looked at all my guns closely or counted them in a few years...the insurance value mentioned in my original post isn't enough or even close to what I had guessed in my original post and insuring all them is going to be alot more than $400 a year I'm betting...my property is 600 feet minimum to the nearest house.
there is only a couple trees withing several hundred feet and the gun room is secure and is located inside a larger metal structure. so the only fire I'm really worried about is internal...ie welding activities.
wondering if the gun room had several layers of type x drywall and some fire retardant paint if thay would offer me enough confidence.

the building is pretty secure, has it's own security system, heavy fire rated doors that would not break in easily(metal backed frame) and 2 of those heavy doors till you reach the gun room which has large guns safes inside of it that are always locked. so theft is fairly low on the concern level

would you still go with an insurance policy with all that?

I can't give you an idea about your prices or how you would or would not recover financially when it comes to your firearm collection if a disaster strikes or if something is stolen. Sorry.

Sometimes - LESS is MORE depending on what one 'owns' in life and how often their STUFF GETS USED or 'shot' when it comes to firearms.

You should go through and double check your firearms on a regular basis. You and your wife just did this as you mentioned in your post.

Value of each gun, purchase price, purchased NIB or 'used', value in today's prices, etc. Holsters, cases, etc.

Be sure that they are all there. Write down duplicate copies of the entire details of EACH firearm and it's serial number. Photo copy your lists and type them up on your computer too. Take pictures of them if you choose to do this too. Put them in a safe deposit box if you CHOOSE to use one or keep the list in a safe place.

If you end up with some gun or gunS missing and you have NO clue on when it was taken or MISSING since you never go through them or shoot them on a REGULAR BASIS ... that will NOT work to your advantage.

Best wishes to you too.

Old Lady Cate
 
Appreciate this thread. I recently reached out to my Insurance Broker regarding a desire to add a rider for firearms and he shared that my company (Traverlers) required serial numbers AND appraisals every 1-2 years. No thanks! I just received an email today from Lockton which sounded like a good fit, especially combined with NRA/Existing Homeowner. I will likely pursue but would value any feedback that you have regarding Lockton or similar coverage.
 
Appreciate this thread. I recently reached out to my Insurance Broker regarding a desire to add a rider for firearms and he shared that my company (Traverlers) required serial numbers AND appraisals every 1-2 years. No thanks! I just received an email today from Lockton which sounded like a good fit, especially combined with NRA/Existing Homeowner. I will likely pursue but would value any feedback that you have regarding Lockton or similar coverage.

The one company wants appraisals every 1 to 2 years? Wow!

I can't help you with your other question.

Best wishes to you.

Cate
 
This thread pushed me to finally get insurance. Also insured some other collectibles at the same time. We went with Collectors Insurance. $30k guns and $10k for vintage video games and die cast cars (I'm still a nerdy kid at heart) is around $300 a year. I think it even covers accidental breakage. Having the guns secured in a safe or having a centrally monitored alarm system knocks off a good chunk. Having both doesn't save much over having one. The coverage covers ammo, accessories, and the safe itself. No serial numbers required but they said pictures help when it comes time to file a claim. They were very quick to get in contact with me after my quote request and spent 30 minutes answering all my questions. Had coverage within an hour or so of starting the process. The peace of mind is totally worth the cost.
 
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