Insurance underwriter here....
The car will not be covered by your HO policy, you need a separate policy. If you are restoring it - look for classic auto insurance (Hagerty, Progressive, Safeco, etc....).
The typical HO policy will automatically provide 10% of the home value as coverage for 'other structures' - this includes detached buildings, fences, walkways, patios, pools, etc...). You can increase that limit to a higher limit by paying a per $1000 of coverage premium.
The contents of the garage (and I am presuming no business use here - hobby only) would be considered personal property and covered by your HO policy up to your policy limit for personal property. That limit is usually 50-70% of the home value and can be increased if needed.
It is important to note that coverage is for the perils insured against (usually 17 named perils - fire, theft, lightning....) and subject to the policy deductible. Make sure the perils insured against are to your liking. If not, you should be able to purchase 'all-risk' coverage for your contents.
If you conduct business in your detached structure - a whole different set of rules apply - first of which the structure is most likely excluded from coverage from your HO policy unless you purchased an endorsement to buy back the coverage. Second, business property is usually limited to $5 to $10K, but may be increased for additional premium.
Don't try to wiggle around whether there is business or not - the contract is pretty straight forward in that regard.
I could not agree more with taking photos or video of your stuff. You should do this annually in your home. Best time is after New Year as we usually gain items around Xmas. I suggest opening all drawers, doors, shelves, cabinets and make sure clear pics/video are taken. This not only documents your stuff, but the construction of your home and other structures so insurance people know what was there.
-David
Can't afford separate insurance for garage contents but my home insurance covers outbuildings and sheds.
To go along with what dsprint stated about classic car insurance.........it is NOT expensive. I pay $235 for the wife's '64 Cutlass Convertible per year for full coverage, limited to 3000 miles, give or take some. It is not expensive at all.
If you are restoring it, you can take the insurance off, but if you are doing it yourself, in your garage, you may want to rethink dropping it, or at least carry fire on t and maybe Comp, but for the price just carry the full coverage. The reason I say that.......if you have a fire, and your garage burns to the ground, your tools may be covered, but if you dropped the insurance n the car, you are screwed. There are a lot of people that when they park the car for the winter they take the insurance off to save some money. Big mistake.
Zebedwee........your contents should fall under your homeowners except for the vehicles. I don't know how you can afford insurance on things. Like I said, I made my agent come out and look at things in both my garage and y wifes building. My wifes building is fully insulated, drywalled, has about 30' of kitchen cabinets, plus her crafts. He took pics of everything in there. On my garage, I have a CNC, a regular mill, a lathe, and quite a few thousand in tools in three roller boxes and three tops, plus other tools. He took pics of all of my tools and equipment and told me that if I get anymore to call him, or send in some pics, The only think I have new is the lathe, but I told him what the replacement cost would be on average of the other items. I didn't ******** him once. We lowered insurance on other items like my wifes Longaberger because it is not worth what it used to be. It used to be insured for $40,000, but we had it lowered to $20,000 as a lot of it is non replaceable and collectable. We also had him take pics of every room in the house to show what is in there. All in all, we spent about an hour going through things.
He told me that he was very glad that I made him come out as he did not have a clue about a lot of things. He is not up on tools, so he did not know a pair of pliers from a ball peen hammer. So he had a lesson on how to judge things. I also told him that I had paint in the garage, thinner in the garage, and an oxy/acet set in the garage. He said that would not change things. All in all, our insurance went up a few hundred.
Now I did ask him about the paint, the thinner, the oxy/acet set..........and even though it doesn't make a difference as far as my insurance, I asked him if I should let the fire department know just in case something happened. He said that would be a good idea and the fire department can make a note beside my name and address in case something happens so they can be beware.
One thing to think about, gasoline in a car can explode as gas is flammable. But if you have a 5 gallon can of lacquer thinner, you have a real bomb as it is way more flammable than gasoline. To explain that a little better.......if you have a fire burning and throw a little gas on it (kids.....don't do this at home) gasoline will explode on contact with the fire. If you do the same thing with lacquer thinner, you may very well end up in the hospital. Lacquer thinner will explode from the vapors. More so than gasoline. And if you have an oxy/acet set in your garage, you have one bottle to feed the fire and another as a very lethal bomb.
So it pays to let the fire department know that they are not dealing with the standard garage with a few cans of bug spray in it.
The same goes for ones that reload their own ammo or are ammo hoarders. Let your insurance company know, and also let your fire department know. You also may want to let your immediate neighbors know. Just like most people, if their is a fire in the neighborhood, most neighbors will come outside to watch. If the house of an ammo hoarder or loader catches fire, that house has now become lethal. Can you imagine a few thousand rounds of live large caliber ammo going off in a house fire with people standing outside watching? I'd hate to kill a neighbor all for the fact my house accidently caught on fire.
NUTTS........if you are around, what do you think of it as far as letting the fire department and neighbors aware of things?
