Update your insurance

[SANDFORD]

Good tip re. photos . Amazed at how little coverage there is on auto parts or rv parts in general, ultralight aircraft motors,small trolling motors snowmobile parts. No known rider for most of this.

[rickyD]

Definitely a tough break. Was it possible to identify the cause of the fire? Maybe we could learn something from it.

[Lee]

LOL .

What's so funny about sanford's loss?

[wudshp]

My house and back shed got hit by lightning and caught fire last year. My wifw and I had a very good experience with Farm Bureau, however I will reiterate that you make sure you have "replacement value" as opposed to "market value", we did, thank god. It was something we paid very little extra for and did not really even know, but boy did it make all the difference. Also, I did take a hit on a bunch of marine stuff I had in the shed from my sailboat, they said there was a 2500 dollar limit on marine items including outboard motors. They said all that stuff should have been on the boats separate policy. I work in the marine industry and had all sorts of stuff I had collected over the years from all sorts of boats and it was not covered. They also said any vehicles I had in the shed were not covered as they should have had a separate policy.

Sanford, I feel for you man, been there. All I can say is take the time to really come up with an careful inventory for everything, and I mean everything you can remember. It helped me to watch and help pull all the melted and ruined stuff out, you would be amazed at how looking at a twisted piece of metal reminds you of what it was. I had a 20 page inventory that I than had to reseach replacement cost and submit. It took a long time but worked out. The other thing was for our structure repairs I had my contractor working directly with the claims adjuster, I would have been totally taken advantage of had I not done this. Good luck! its not all bad in the end. Again I feel fortunate I had a good, somewhat small town insurance agency that really helped within the parameters of my policy.

[35634]

What's so funny about sanford's loss?

Hopefully he meant "Lots Of Luck"

[wudshp]

I Also want to mention I took many pictues of the lost tools and equipment as the clean up went on as I had some good tools and sports equipment that came out,i.e., stihl chainsaws, greg lamond and gary fisher bicycles and much delta woodworking equipment as well as snap on tools, that I could still capture labels off of. I did not want them coming back later and try to question the quality of this stuff, and replace with lowes crap!

[dirtmerchant]

Sanford,

Sorry for your loss, watching the thread and taking notes as I have a similarly set up shop.

Good luck

[kantuckid]

Hopefully he meant "Lots Of Luck"

Obviously you never watched "Sanford & Son" on TV, where Fred & his son, Lamont, who had,lived & sold junk which was piled everywhere. There is even a guy on eBay(from Texas) that uses Lamontsanford as his handle there & sells bike parts-BMW bike parts.
You didn't quote me in context which makes me out to have poor taste, when I was actually trying to lighten the guys situation & add some humor to a bad situation , not pounce on him as your quote would suggest.

[osbornk]

I Also want to mention I took many pictues of the lost tools and equipment as the clean up went on as I had some good tools and sports equipment that came out,i.e., stihl chainsaws, greg lamond and gary fisher bicycles and much delta woodworking equipment as well as snap on tools, that I could still capture labels off of. I did not want them coming back later and try to question the quality of this stuff, and replace with lowes crap!

That's one reason "before" pictures are important..Some stuff gets totally destroyed and you forget what you had. Just open a drawer or storage bin and look at the stuff you forgot you had.

[SeabeckS]

That's one reason "before" pictures are important..Some stuff gets totally destroyed and you forget what you had. Just open a drawer or storage bin and look at the stuff you forgot you had.

+1 to that, and some of the other tips here. As a former arson investigator I had the opportunity to meet a lot of folks in the insurance industry. Without naming names ( I don't like lawsuits..lol) I'd also mention that the cheapest insurance company is NOT always the best one for YOU when it comes to settling loss claims. Some of them will basically nickel and dime you to death over a claim. Best is to document like crazy with photos, (and remember to update on a regular basis), and be careful with your housekeeping practices. None of us 'think' we'll ever be hit by a fire and a huge loss...so it's good to have a reminder now and then.

Sorry about your loss Sandford...take care....

[BeachGuy]

I am with the rest of the group. Really sorry for your loss.

What was told to me by a very good friend in the insurance adjustment business once was this.

The most you will get from your insurance is the maximum value of the policy less deductibles.

When filling out the inventory list of lost items do the following three things.
1. List everything you know you lost.
2. List everything you think you lost.
3. List everything you wanted but could not afford. Don't laugh if you have never been through this before!

When it comes to replacement value of lost items, the insurance company is going to make you do the leg work and prove to them the values.

I've been through one to many Hurricanes and know what your getting ready for.

Good luck with your claim.

BeachGuy

[ldcleve]

I had similar fire in January of 2000. The cause was the leaking fuel connectors on a 1995 R1100RSL. I purchased the bike on December 23rd and put it in my garage. On January 7th it warmed up a little in the Milwaukee area, and I started the bike and had it idling with the choke partially on. It caught on fire, and I couldn't get it out with fire extinguishers or smothering it. It was still too cold for water to be used. It went up inflames and took my 4 car garage my Porsche 911, My K-1 and the tools parts etc. I was able to get out some vehicles and a snow blower. My insurance company did not cover the RSL because I had not listed it yet. I thought it was covered because I had my other vehicles covered by them, but I was not. Today when I buy a bike I register it on my insurance before I pick it up.
I was able to get good settlements on the car and K-1 by listing all the accessories on the bike, documenting them with pictures and providing some equivalent vehicles that were being sold on the internet to the adjuster.

[bmwrider88]

I handled insurance claims for 31+ years. In addition to having adequate coverage, you need assistance in knowing what you had that was lost in the fire and evidence that it was there. I used to suggest that people go through their house and record each room or area with a video tape and keep it in another location. With digital cameras, it is now much easier. You should go through your house and take many photos of the contents, opening closets, drawers and any other places that you have contents. Take hundreds of pictures and save the card or better still, transfer them to a CD or DVD and store them elsewhere (safe deposit box, friend or relative's house, detached garage, camper, etc). You will be amazed at how much stuff you have that you will forget about if you don't have pictures for reference. You can also use the photos as proof of ownership to the insurance company.

People get upset at insurance companies when they are questioned about undocumented contents and they think their honesty is in question. That can happen but the insurance company is reviewed by the state insurance department and they can be fined and otherwise punished if there is inadequate documentation for a loss that has been paid. The secret to a fair and quick settlement is good documentation.

First off, Mr Sanford-
SO sorry to hear of your fire and subsequent losses. Obviously, some things can never be replaced, even if you do have adequate coverage. I've had a fire before (1987) and lost everything. I was completely uninsured, so I got nada for my loss, other than a couple grand back on my tax return that year. That meager tax check was in no way even remotely adequate for my loss of possessions, much less the couple years of anguish I suffered over the deal.

SO yes, [let us all] be smart about insuring your stuff. For those of us who own classic or vintage bikes or cars, who can say what the replacement cost might be? One alternative is "Agreed Value" coverage, whereby you state what you feel the value of an item is, (I guess you just use your own formula, IE: money spent on restoration + original purchase cost?). I have this on my 74 Norton Commando, with Progressive. Above all else, I'd say to never underestimate the replacement costs of anything. Tools, especially, add up very quickly. To use one example- inventory everything in your mechanic's tool box and just TRY to imagine what it would cost to replace it all!
Consider any older mechanical tools. Probably made in the USA, or perhaps Japan or Taiwan, depending on when you bought them. Maybe you inherited tools from your grandad or father? Today, those same tools are going to be Chinese. MUCH cheaper quality. Can you still buy Made-in-USA tools? Heck yeah- but at a FAR higher cost. So, will you "settle" for lesser quality tools in an insurance pay-out? Documentation is your only way of absolutely conveying to the company just what you have. Or lost. you can never go back and figure it out, best to nail it in advance.

I currently do not own my house, so I have renter's insurance on both my house, AND my rented garage. I own many tools and such also, so have my coverage pumped pretty high. I've asked several times at my broker's office if I need to video or photograph everything- I also own a lifetime of woodworking tools, a collection of Griswold & Wagner cast iron cookware, and a boatload of vintage stereo gear- to name a smattering of that which I value. That, in addition to 5 motorcycles of various vintages. The notion of detailed documentation of my possessions has always been po-poohed by my agent. I think it's time to lay everything out and completely photo and video everything.