Insurance

Started by davidinyork, February 16, 2018, 09:33:27 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

davidinyork

When making a list of model railway collections for insurance purposes, how do people value them? Is it normal to use the original purchase price, or the replacement value? If the latter, it is of course often going to be difficult to come up with a figure as the best guide will be ebay selling prices, and they are very fickle with some models becoming very popular and selling for double the original purchase price for a while.

Thanks

RailGooner

I use 'StecoTec Model Railroad Collector Pro' to catalogue my collection. For any item I can record: RRP; purchase price; current value.

When buying contents insurance I estimated the value of the collection at £10k+. I offered them a copy of the inventory. But the insurers weren't interested - "just inform us at the time of making a claim" was the typical response.

Intercity

Do you photograph your inventory as well? Just wondering if an insurance company would take written notes as acceptable, I started to photograph mine but wasn't getting clear enough pictures so decided to wait until I get a better close up lens (macro I think) and a display box to pose them in.

Also if you do photograph them upload them to a cloud or drive that is offsite so they don't get destroyed in whatever disaster may hit.

Newportnobby

I believe 'Magnet' are an insurance company well up on model railway insurance so it may pay to have a word with them.
No association with the company as I have my stuff insured as a 'special item on my house insurance. Likewise my moosic collection.

RailGooner

Quote from: Intercity on February 17, 2018, 03:47:01 AM
Do you photograph your inventory as well? Just wondering if an insurance company would take written notes as acceptable, I started to photograph mine but wasn't getting clear enough pictures so decided to wait until I get a better close up lens (macro I think) and a display box to pose them in.

Also if you do photograph them upload them to a cloud or drive that is offsite so they don't get destroyed in whatever disaster may hit.

I agree. :thumbsup: That's a handy bi-product of the 'Show your Latest Loco and Rolling Stock Purchase...' threads - a photo-inventory in the cloud. And with 99% of my purchases being online, I have digital copies of most receipts in the cloud too.

PLD

#5
Quote from: davidinyork on February 16, 2018, 09:33:27 PM
When making a list of model railway collections for insurance purposes, how do people value them? Is it normal to use the original purchase price, or the replacement value? If the latter, it is of course often going to be difficult to come up with a figure as the best guide will be ebay selling prices, and they are very fickle with some models becoming very popular and selling for double the original purchase price for a while.

Thanks
The default for most insurers is present like-for-like replacement cost, usually based on specialist catalogues or auction NOT ebay. However many will accept a different valuation method e.g. new-for-old provided that is explicitly stated at the time of requesting cover so that it can be factored into the premiums and you ensure it is specified in all the documents.

ntpntpntp

Quote from: Intercity on February 17, 2018, 03:47:01 AM
Do you photograph your inventory as well? ...
Also if you do photograph them upload them to a cloud or drive that is offsite so they don't get destroyed in whatever disaster may hit.

I just plonk them on a scanner, scan to an image file then edit and copy a crop of each item into my Access database where I record other info (brand, type of item, catalogue number, price paid etc..) Each item in the database has a number label stuck underneath.  Not high quality images but good enough for identification.

The database file is stored on a central household network drive which gets backed up to another disk on a (reasonably) regular basis and stored off site.
Nick.   2021 celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Königshafen" exhibition layout!
https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=50050.0

MJKERR

#7
Quote from: RailGooner on February 16, 2018, 10:32:49 PM
When buying contents insurance I estimated the value of the collection at £10k+. I offered them a copy of the inventory. But the insurers weren't interested - "just inform us at the time of making a claim" was the typical response.
Yes, all you need to make sure is the level of cover is sufficient
The only addition I would make is if taking the models out of the home, adding All Risks
Sadly you need to list each INDIVIDUAL model, AND you need to be specific!

All Risks also varies by underwriter
Some charge per £100, others per item
Sometimes these are included where the level of cover is higher, as a result it can be cheaper to upgrade the policy
Equally, some exclude "Whilst in transit in an insured vehicle", so you need to work out if need to add this option or upgrading the vehicle insurance is cheaper

Each one of my Farish locomotives models is valued at £500, and the entire collection takes me to the usual minimum level of cover

Portpatrick

I have taken out specific insurance with Magnet.  This covers journeys too/from exhibitions as well as loss at home.  When it comes to valuation, the difficult thing is the 2 layouts.  For stock I estimate £135/£140 per loco/DMU power car, £30 per coach/DMU trailer car and £15+ per wagon.  The tricky angle is that at any time some locos could not be replaced, and that is not just my kit built and home bashed items, but is a feature of short production runs.

Please Support Us!
March Goal: £100.00
Due Date: Mar 31
Total Receipts: £82.34
Below Goal: £17.66
Site Currency: GBP
82% 
March Donations