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I had read in a mtn biker forum about a member who had a break-in, and had all is firearms stolen. come to find out, his insurance policy had coverage maximums on various categories: jewelry , computer, etc , and firearms. his loss on the firearms was a good deal more than what his policy paid out.

so that got me to thinking I should have a talk with my agent and see if I'm vulnerable in the same way. turns out I am. my categorical max for firearms is significantly less than what I'm estimating my replacement cost would be. my agent said to best cover my collection, I should take out a Personal Articles Policy that would provide itemized coverage. great. she ran the numbers for what I was guessing my collection's value to be and the cost seemed reasonable enough. but, to get that, I would need to provide documentation that proves the value of each piece, either in the form of receipts, or an appraisal.

so my questions:
-has anyone had this done?
-what did it cost?
-is there an Austin-area place that performs this service?

thank you.
any information is appreciated.

Did you ask your agent for a recommendation?

I have USAA insurance and utilize their (Valuable Personal Property Insurace) to cover my Jewlery and Firearms.

From my understanding with USAA, you just need to have Pictures (especially of serial numbers) of your weapons and you can get market information at the time of the loss to dtermine the value. IE you can go on Gunbroker.com or go to local gun stores with your information to get Quotes to replace the weapons.

WildBill wrote:Did you ask your agent for a recommendation?

the agent didn't know off-hand. but, thinking back on it, they likely can't accept appraisal from just anyone. I have to wonder if there's such a thing as a 'licensed appraiser'.
I need to revisit the agent and see exactly who they accept appraisals from.

uthornsfan wrote:I have USAA insurance and utilize their (Valuable Personal Property Insurace) to cover my Jewlery and Firearms.

From my understanding with USAA, you just need to have Pictures (especially of serial numbers) of your weapons and you can get market information at the time of the loss to dtermine the value. IE you can go on Gunbroker.com or go to local gun stores with your information to get Quotes to replace the weapons.

that's a much nicer way to handle the same problem. unfortunately with State Farm, the docs must be provided up-front to begin the policy.

fenster wrote:

WildBill wrote:Did you ask your agent for a recommendation?

the agent didn't know off-hand. but, thinking back on it, they likely can't accept appraisal from just anyone. I have to wonder if there's such a thing as a 'licensed appraiser'. I need to revisit the agent and see exactly who they accept appraisals from.

That is why I asked the question.

thank you, I just remembered my coverage is lower then my recent fire arm purchases, time to call my agent

My homeowners policy capped out at 2500.00 for guns. I purchased an additional rider to the policy for replacement value of all guns and personal property for an additional 45.00 per year.
Without the rider I would have been out of pocket if something ever did happen!

I have to "schedule" mine, as well as jewelry, etc. which means I need appraisals. Anyone know a good firearm appraiser in Houston?

Photos will show the condition and serial number of the firearm. The Blue Book of Gun Values (https://store.bluebookinc.com/Ecom/Prod ... spx?id=401" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) will tell you the price based on the condition. Any other appraisal is likely to be considered subjective by the insurance company.

Cabela's in Buda does appraisals, $25.00 each.
John

I have done riders on my firearms or jewelry before. They normally just want a realistic value for them. Any common antiques you can use Gunbroker to kinda get an idea. Modern firearms you can just calculate the replacement cost. Rare antiques might require a full appraisal. Usually on riders, the insurance company is more interested in getting your premium for the value you claim up front, than if they have to pay out.

Also, check NRA as you are insured up to $2500 for loss of firearms as a member (if you enroll). They have reasonable pricing for their policies for additional amounts.