Insurance companies - what info do you need to keep?

[matengawhat]

just wondering having been lucky enough to have never needed to make s claim and now having some expensive kit - what info do you need to keep for the insurers?

what happens if you got something in the sale does your insurer only pay you want you paid or the cost of replacement - alsp how do you prove your collections as not realistic to keep every receipt?

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

matengawhat:

just wondering having been lucky enough to have never needed to make s claim and now having some expensive kit - what info do you need to keep for the insurers?

what happens if you got something in the sale does your insurer only pay you want you paid or the cost of replacement - alsp how do you prove your collections as not realistic to keep every receipt?

When it comes to anything of any real value, (£50.00+) keepng receipts is a must not just for insurance purposes but also warranty.

You need to get into the habit.There will also be a value limit over and above which you need to declare items individually(well in most policies anyway.)

What you get insurance wise in event of a problem depends on your policy ie new for old or residual value towards replacement.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Receipts for major items, notify insurance company if you have a truly huge collection of discs. Would be interesting to see how insurance company would handle loss of a huge collection of downloads, however...

 

[Anonymous]

I keep digital photos of all equipment and their serial numbers, backed up in a separate location obviously. A lot of insurers offer new for old cover, so in that case I wouldn't have thought sale items would be an issue. Some insurers do have a limit for any one single item (on mine it's £1000) so if one of your separates is above that, you might have to declare it and pay extra, or insure elsewhere.

As regards media, again I think there's often a limit on what standard insurers will cover. Best to read the small print and get confirmation in writing - I was told recently by my insurer over the phone that there is "no limit" to coverage on CDs and other media, which isn't true.

 

[Anonymous]

a good tip .... if you sell something for (an example) £100 and have to ship via courier:

dont mention it as an ebay sale .... secondly, insure it for £800 not £100 .... if they break it, they pay you £800

wife is a seasoned seller on ebay (antiques and collectables) .... insure for a high amount and they look after the item

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

dim_span:

a good tip .... if you sell something for (an example) £100 and have to ship via courier:

dont mention it as an ebay sale .... secondly, insure it for £800 not £100 .... if they break it, they pay you £800

wife is a seasoned seller on ebay (antiques and collectables) .... insure for a high amount and they look after the item

And the answers were going so well (ie honestly)

 

[Anonymous]

I think the point he was making is that if you insure high, they might be less likely to play football with it at the depot...

 

[Anonymous]

well gave you my advise ... ignore if you wish .... wife has found that by insuring for a high value, items arrive in good condition as they are well looked after during transit....

go to youtube and type in some courier names (like DHL) and you will see some clips of secret footage of what happens

(oh ... and all items have fragile stickers on them) .... just speaking from experience

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

tractorboy:I think the point he was making is that if you insure high, they might be less likely to play football with it at the depot...

Or maybe the more reason-but point accepted-you are in a more generous mood than me tonight.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9JRmgo77D4

 

[Anonymous]

There is also a program which I can't think what it's called. But it uses your webcam and scans the barcode and downloads a pack shot of cover and its a good way to keep track of dvd and cd collections.

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

dim_span:

insure it for £800 not £100 .... if they break it, they pay you £800

And man landed on the moon- oh thats another thread ,sorry.

 

[JoelSim]

Notify. Receipt. Pictures. List. And have it in your sig!

Plus you have to know everything about your kit. My insurer wanted to pay for one speaker...but they are a matched pair, what's the point in having an unmatched set in this case, worth far less when selling on. He paid for two as I argued the case successfully.

 

[Anonymous]

What irritates me is how quite a few stores (Jessops used to for example) seem to print receipts using some kind of fax type paper and ink system which, even with the receipt filed away in a box, out of daylight, will fade. Now how you could prove ownership of a product with a faded receipt I have no idea, so I endorse another poster's ideas about photos and/or video of what you own.

re. digital downloads - I read somewhere that not all insurers would cover people for digital music, so it's worth asking your insurer about it.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Though of course if you buy a camera from Jessops*, the question is how do you get it to take a picture of itself for future insurance purposes?

*Other camera stores are available.

 

[JoelSim]

Andrew Everard:

Though of course if you buy a camera from Jessops*, the question is how do you get it to take a picture of itself for future insurance purposes?

*Other camera stores are available.

A mirror

 

[Anonymous]

Hawkmoon:

What irritates me is how quite a few stores (Jessops used to for example) seem to print receipts using some kind of fax type paper and ink system which, even with the receipt filed away in a box, out of daylight, will fade. Now how you could prove ownership of a product with a faded receipt I have no idea, so I endorse another poster's ideas about photos and/or video of what you own.

re. digital downloads - I read somewhere that not all insurers would cover people for digital music, so it's worth asking your insurer about it.

I know which receipts you are talking about, what i do is make photocopies of these receipts and file them away. The store i buy from also keep records of all the equipment i have bought over the years and could easily give me a print out of everything, from amps right down to the banana plugs.

I also keep digital photos of all equipment.

 

[staggerlee]

We unfortunately were burgled a few years ago and I had a top end Naim system. When the insurance bloke came round, he wanted to see:-

1. Original receipts and credit card statments ( i didn't have the credit card statments)

2. The original boxes of the equipment (which i had in the loft)

3. Pictures of the items -ideally in the house ( sadly taken one of the whole system as i was so proud of it, as my screensaver - pre kids days)

4. I also had to get a statement form the dealer where i had bought these items.

5. Instruction manuals

I think as the system was very expensive hence they wanted all this info, This formed the bulk of the claim.

Whereas, for the TV, DVD player, computer, camera etc , they only wanted to see recipts. A few DVD's were stolen and they were happy with me just telling them what was nicked.

Now I have photographed everything and printed the pictures, in case the computer gets nicked again.

He did tell me, people making claims for stuff bought of e-bay is a problem and you have to go an extra mile to prove that you did have the item, to stop fraud.

 

[Andrew Everard]

JoelSim:A mirror

Nah - serial numbers would be frack to bont...

And anyway, how much is a RLS Nonac worth, or indeed a Supmylo or a Xatnep.? And you try proving that's a genuine Aciel...

 

[Alec]

JoelSim:

Notify. Receipt. Pictures. List. And have it in your sig!

Plus you have to know everything about your kit. My insurer wanted to pay for one speaker...but they are a matched pair, what's the point in having an unmatched set in this case, worth far less when selling on. He paid for two as I argued the case successfully.

Matched? Aren't they all? I feel i may be missig something...

 

[JoelSim]

al7478:JoelSim:

Notify. Receipt. Pictures. List. And have it in your sig!

Plus you have to know everything about your kit. My insurer wanted to pay for one speaker...but they are a matched pair, what's the point in having an unmatched set in this case, worth far less when selling on. He paid for two as I argued the case successfully.

Matched? Aren't they all? I feel i may be missig something...

Woodgrain is matching on both speakers perfectly as well as the obvious sonic matching.

 

[Anonymous]

Even if they aren't matched, is it possible to buy just one speaker?

 

[Anonymous]

This can vary from insurer to insurer and will depend on your policy conditions, so it's worth reading it. While receipts are good, insurers will usually accept photos of the equipment in your home.

If you have very expensive equipment you should check your policy because some limit the claim per item on high value goods. Also check that your policy will replace new for old. Some cheaper policies may only give you are current value rather than the full replacement value at today's prices.

Hope this helps.

 

[idc]

Dont just think about securing against break-ins. Keep all receipts in a fireproof box to protect against fires as well.

 

[chebby]

idc:Dont just think about securing against break-ins. Keep all receipts in a fireproof box to protect against fires as well.

And keep all fireproof boxes in flood-proof boxes and have them sunk into 6 feet of steel reinforced concrete and surrounded by a 3" layer of lead and some Chobham armour.

You could photograph all of your receipts and expensive items (especially the bits with serial numbers) and put them on flickr as private photos (ie the.. "only you can see this photo" setting.)

That way, flickr itself has to be burnt, flooded etc before you lose the record of your purchases.

Make sure you register everything you have bought brand-new with the manufacturer. Then they have a record too.