[TheForge] shop insurance

Peter Fels and Phoebe Palmer [email protected]
Mon Aug 12 03:54:00 2002


At 05:02 PM 8/11/02, you wrote:

Say Andrew:
We ought to know who the insurance company is that  messing you around, so 
we can get messed around by a different insurance company instead....Pete



>What type of insurance do you guys have on your tools/shop? Is homeowners
>enough or does a person need a commercial/business policy if any of the
>items they produce are sold?
>
>         If you are operating as a business out of your home, a business 
> policy
>         for that operation is your best bet, IMO, not that I'm any type of
>         insurance expert.  A homeowner's policy may cover some of your 
> possessions
>         in the event of a loss, but you have to be careful about the way the
>         policy works.
>
>         My house burned down on 8 May and I am getting a load of crap from
>         the insurance company.  One of the unpleasant discoveries I have
>         made, post facto (of course), is that my policy is structured such
>         that material losses for contents (furniture, clothing, art, etc.)
>         are paid out on a depreciation schedule, rather than cost-to-replace.
>         All you homeowners out there should examine your policies and make
>         sure you have a replacement cost arrangement.  On a depreciation
>         schedule, those rat bastards (gee, I'm not bitter, am I?) will do
>         everything they can to make certain that the lost items are 
> depreciated
>         as much as they feel they can get away with.
>
>         Also, if available in your state and you incur a loss, hire a public
>         appraiser.  They know the ropes, and while they typically take 20%,
>         which is extortionate IMO, the adjusters at the insurance company
>         will do everything in their power to screw you has hard as they can.
>         This is why insurance is the most profitable industry in the world,
>         despite their continual whining about how they are going broke.
>
>         I know this isn't the sort of thing anyone wants to spend time on,
>         but take it from someone who is currently going through it that you
>         really DO want to have a competent, disinterested third party check
>         out your policy for little gems such as this.
>
>         And make sure you always pay your premiums and get your required
>         paperwork signed and submitted on time because it is precise during
>         a lapse that your damned house is going to burn to the ground and
>         have not doubt in your mind that the insurance carrier will pass up
>         no opportunity to rob you blind if they feel they have even the 
> flimsiest
>         formal basis for doing so.
>
>         I'm in the process of suing these F(*&ing crooks.  I'd like to pound
>         their asses into receivership, but that won't happen.  All I can hope
>         for at this point is to minimiize the loss, which is going to be high
>         even if I win in court because in NJ I cannot ask for costs, which
>         strikes me as profoundly unfair.
>
>         You do NOT want to be in my position.  It may take an hour or so 
> to find
>         someone qualified to review your policy and gain an understanding 
> of it.
>         Don't make the mistake I made; you may live to regret it.
>
>  Also, I know my most homeowners insurance does
>not cover antiques, how does that figure in when a lot of the tools I use
>are old i.e. 80 yr. old powerhammers, old anvils, and one heck of a lot of
>other old tools?
>
>         See above.  In the case of antique value, I'm imagine you might 
> have to
>         prove that you were collecting these instruments as antiques and 
> not as
>         working tools.  This is the kind of loophole jumping the insuance 
> companies
>         MAY try to get you with.  Perhaps not all, but mine is an example 
> of a
>         bunch of rotten scoundrels who did not do their job properly and 
> are now
>         attempting to lay blame at my door.  I try not to think of this 
> too much
>         because I get to wanting to bite them in the knees.  Hard.
>
>
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