Insurance

[Anonymous]

With the hurricanes that hit the South recently,not to mention the tornadoes,earthquakes and the like, does anyone else besides me have insurance on their model railroad equipment and periodicals like the magazines and books that you may have in a collection? I myself am glad to have it,though with most of the magazines and books that I have,they are out of print,and no longer available,even some of my model railroad equipment,you cant find anywhere,and that is stuff from,COX,Lionel ( The H.O. trains they made)Tyco,the very first Athearn freight cars,that were made in metal form,Varney,even the earlier Walthers stuff is very hard to replace.
Andrew

[eastcoast]

I have made an attempt to prevent a loss by storing my collection
in waterproof containers. If a disaster were to strike, I would have
to just wait it out and see the result. My life as a human always has
to come first. A loss of property is saddening, but a loss of a life
is devastating.

[cjcrescent]

I know that some of you are aware that the NMRA sponsers a very good flexible insurance plan. They do not provide the insurance themselves but it is handled through a very good company. Go to:

http://www.nmra.org/model_collection_insurance.html

It will show you the options and types of coverage you can get.
Based on the option chosen, you can insure from just the trains, ( locos and cars) to just about everything you own that's Model Railroading related.

I am not associated with any of these companies used by the NMRA. Our club has the insurance and it seems very good.

I wish I had it when my basement flooded from a broken hot water tank. Then I would at least have been in a better position to replace destroyed parts of complete sets of MR and RMC going back to 1939 that I lost.

[wpsteve]

First make an inventory with your best guess at value, then go to your current homeowners insurance carrier. They will just increase the amount of your personal property coverage to cover the trains etc. Check and make sure collectables and such are covered !
This is how State Farm handeled it.. Got a price from the NMRA carrier once and it was way out of line !
You should be surprised at how reasonable the extra coverage is.. Just have your collection well documented...Take pictures !

WPSteve web site http://members.bigvalley.net/norma

[ClinchValleySD40]

I have my insurance through NMRA. I just paid my yearly premium and doubled the coverage. And a full inventory of what you have is a must and try to include some pictures.

[darth9x9]

Do I have insurance? Absolutely!!! As my grandfather told me, insurance is when you are betting something bad is going to happen and the insurance company is betting that something bad isn't going to happen. You will be amazed at the small premium for a very large rider on your home owners or renters insurance (yes, I had a rider even when I lived in an apartment).

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! I have a friend on the west coast, who in addition to insuring his collection, has his trains and layout in a separate climate controlled building built in his back yard . In addition to insurance, this building also has it's own fire and security alarm system. Twenty years ago the contents were insured for $250,000.00. Who knows what the value is today. My insurance agent always asks me about my collections and the actual value. If you are concerned, get your collection insured for the actual value. As stated by a previous respondent, keep a good record of whats in your collection and the condition of the items.