Garage content insurance??

[Keep]

I was wondering how many of you have "content" coverage on your garage?

I am now at the point that I have a lot of money sitting out in the garage and am looking to go to my insurance company for coverage.

So what should I ask/look for in a policy? Any ideas of cost? Any gotcha's I need to look out for?

Thanks

 

[rsanter]

there are a few things you need to get from your insurance.
first you need to find out what their limits are and what the exclusions are

for example:
an attached garage has full coverage to the limits of your policy
a garage that is seperate has limits that are 10% of your policy limits.

tools that are used in your job or used to make money or have ever been used to make money are excluded. if you were a mechanic and went back to school to get your degree and become an engineer so now your toolbox and tools from your past career are excluded from a homeowners policy.

most insurance has now put a cap in certain items. the cap is based on what value in those items the average person would have.
examples:
tools $3000
guns $1000
artwork $5000
car parts $0 yes that is a zero
it keeps going

a car in your garage is not covered by insurance. the car is its own entity

a boat on your property is not covered unless it is small (like 10-12ft or less) and does not have a motor. or depending on the insurance, only if it is an outboard.

things of your stored at another site. yes if you take your table saw to a friends house and it gets stolen your insurance may cover it. that is as long as it was there temporarly and for a reasonably short time. if you are actually storing it there or in a rented storage then it is not covered

bottom line. look at your stuff and look at what you do. if it is different than most of your neighbors, then it is subject to limits.

another note: not all insurance is replacement value. some will only cover depreciated value or what they call value at time of loss. typically that is a 5-10 year depreciation.

you can get these things covered for add on fee called a 'rider'. the problem bieng is that if you insure yourself for everthing then you will be 'insurance poor' because they will have all your money.

I have a warehouse that I keep my cars in as well as lots of parts and stuff in general. I pay $500 a year for $100,000 of coverage for contents as well as liability insurance. I had to buy it that way and I have that amount because that is the minimum amount they will write a policy for

bob

 

[rsanter]

by the way. I was told by an insurance agent I had one time that " the burden of proof is on you"
I asked him what that meant and he said it means take pictures of everything you have and keep them in a safe place."
also if you can, keep recipts, owners manuals, etc. the more the better.

I took pictures and kept them. I had a list of all the items in the toolbox as well as other things. model number, brand, etc
I was the victem of the theft of a toolbox back when I was living with my dad. I turned in a claim and was asked what proof I had and I said I had pictures.
I took her the pictures and the list of the tools broken down to what was in each drawer and matched it with the pictures.
she then looked at me a bit funny and asked why would I have taken such detailed pictures and made such detailed lists.
I told her that my insurance agent told me that the burden of proof was on me. when I asked him what that meant he told me that it means that I should take pictures and make lists of everything I had. I then asked her if she would like to see the video I made with my dads newly bought and really cool video camera.
she said that wouldnt be nessasary

bob

 

[Keep]

Thanks for that.

Couple things.

Garage is attached. I do not wrench for a living and the tools have never been used to make money. What I do is really different then the neighbors as most of them do not even know what a ratchet is let alone how to use one.

I am just worried about the tools/equipment in the garage.

 

[flamewerks]

I have contents insurance and this automatically includes I believe $1000 in tools. But I can up that to 3 or 5k, can't remember. I think it's somewhere around $10 a month per 1000? I was just there 2 weeks ago and already forgot...

 

[Charles (in GA)]

she then looked at me a bit funny and asked why would I have taken such detailed pictures and made such detailed lists.
I told her that my insurance agent told me that the burden of proof was on me. when I asked him what that meant he told me that it means that I should take pictures and make lists of everything I had.

Isn't it funny how they tell you to do something, and when you do it, they look at you and act like you are the guilty party......... like they never expected you to do what they said.

Charles

 

[Keep]

Isn't it funny how they tell you to do something, and when you do it, they look at you and act like you are the guilty party......... like they never expected you to do what they said.

Charles

I just ran into something like this when I was rear ended. My truck is a 95 Sonoma, according to the insurance company it is deemed "transportation only" (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) and only worth $1000 to them and they will write it off. So I proceeded to produce $15000 in receipts for parts and stuff I have done to it in the last 2 years. They suddenly changed their tune.

They still wrote off the truck but I was able to buy it back ($300) and fix it for less then they paid me for it. I would have been screwed if I did not keep all those receipts. :|

 

[e-tek]

If you have "content" insurance you'd be covered up to a certian amount. As well, "Outbuildings" can be added, as can extra content insurance. I have never been told to take photos or make lists, but I have taken plenty just for me (photobucket, GJ) that I could use if needed.
One time I had all my camping and climbing equipment stolen from my car. My home insurance made good for nearly 10K, not photo's required.

 

[TheShrine]

My agent came out and took pics of the construction, and then returned for pics of the finish product. Once the "stuff" was installed she came out to take more pics. The level of coverage changed slightly after the last pics, but it was in line with my investment.

 

[akdiesel]

most insurance has now put a cap in certain items. the cap is based on what value in those items the average person would have.
examples:
tools $3000
guns $1000
artwork $5000
car parts $0 yes that is a zero
it keeps going

a car in your garage is not covered by insurance. the car is its own entity

What a scam on your weapons. The way things are going now you will be paying double the amount for any new weapons and ammo.

I was told the opposite about claims on vehicles in your garage. Maybe it has somthing to do with having the same insurance company for both vehicle and home.

 

[rsanter]

the short of it is you need to check what the rules or limits of your policy. it can/will be different from insurance company to insurance company.

another example:
I had farmers insurance and years ago (you remember when there was a couple of years in a row that the insurance companied had some big hits because of huracanes and tornadoes) my rates went up two years in a row even thought I had no claims.
I decided to do some shopping around and ended up finding insurance that was much cheaper and the limits and all looked to be the same. I had not heard of the company before but was assured that they were a '4 star' company and was providing essentially the same coverage for less.
had that insurance for a few years and then my truck was stolen and I had to submit a claim. the process was kind of slow and a bit painfull but I learned lots in that claim.
come to find out I was excluded from towing a trailer. also my coverage did not extend to cover if I am in a rental car and more.....
short story is that you need to ask the question and not find out the hard way and do not assume anything

bob

 

[nissan_crawler]

I have a $40k policy on my garage, as the homeowners has a low tool coverage. I think it costs me $35/year with american family.

 

[Keep]

Thanks for all the info. I will call a couple agents and see what they tell me.

 

[phildb4]

I have used Hagerty insurance for my cars for about 10 years. In my renewal notice they now offer 3 options AUTOMOBILIA COVERAGE (premiums start at $12.00, with $0 deductible), AUTOMOTIVE TOOLS COVERAGE (starting at $28 with $250 deductible, and SPARE PARTS COVERAGE (starting at $19 with $0 deductible.) I haven't checked the details, but It must be on their website.

 

[67ElkyBryan]

I also have Hagerty for my 67. And from what they told me is that all their polices include $500 in spare part coverage. I did think about adding to mine as it doesn't take much to get $500 dollars but was told by my homeowners that they would cover any parts I had under their policy as long as it was not already on the car. Once it's on the car than the auto will cover it.
Every company I have talked to as told me the same thing. The car in the garage is its own entity and is not covered by the home owners policy. In other words if you are working on or restoring a car and have just liability or no coverage at all because it is not road worthy and you garage burns, you are SOL. They will cover the garage and it's contents, tools etc. but not he actual car itself.

 

[mikeyr]

Hagerty has a "restoration" policy for cars under restoration.

It was a bit of a pain to get AND you have to declare a schedule when the car will be finished and have to show yearly progress. I think the max time is 10 years, I am on my 3rd year

Hardest part for me was getting someone to look at the car and say what it was worth, first guy that came and looked at it said it was worth $3,500 in its current state but I had an offer of $36,000 as-is and I paid $12,000 for it. Most people would not have the problem of having 1 of 11 cars built with only 7 left in the world and the only 1 in the U.S. and also most appraisers should have a good idea what a FORD or Chevy is worth. I like the policy, its cheap and saves me in case of a fire or like that, both my restoration projects are insured, although the other car is now in its 7th year and wont be finished by the time the policy reaches its max time.

http://www.hagerty.com/auto/vehicle_restoration.aspx