Do you have Insurance for your Train Collection?

[gmpullman]

You really have to read and review your insurance situation as time goes by. There's basically three homeowner plans. One uses Actual Cash Value which takes depreciation into account. Probably not a good choice for most individual homeowners but these have a lower premium, of course.

Then, probably the most common, Replacement Cost Value. This gives people the "peace of mind" that regardless of inflation or depreciation your property will be replaced with a "comparable" material or item. This comes with its own caveats.

Then there's Guaranteed Replacement Cost and this takes the coverage up a notch and allows you more headroom for finding an exact, or close to it, replacement.

We had a fire back in 2012 that did some damage, none to the layout, thankfully.

Our insurance company was very responsive and cooperative. The people who do the appraisal and cost estimates are pros and they combed every square inch of the house and made exact calculations for the repair and replacement.

"Collectible" items were covered under the personal belongings endorsement. One area I was surprised about were some of my railroad books. Many of these I bought years ago, some were closeout sales, others were bought used but "like new". So a book that I had a receipt showing I paid $10 for would cost $350 to replace since it was out-of-print.

I was given a choice. Accept the $10.00 OR buy the replacement book and trun in THAT receipt for reimbursement. I did that for some items but not for others. I figured I was reimbursed for fair value on most of the items and any squabbling would just complicate matters.

I did have some G scale items damaged and I was given free rein to replace that stuff. Even things that were only available on eBay, the insurance company regarded that price as "fair-market" value.

My policy has a $250,000 Personal Property coverage limit and an additional "prized posession" coverage (coins, furs, art, collectables) that has a $20,000 limit. This is all included in the coverage level we chose for our "package" so I do not pay any additional premium for special "riders" for HO train layout stuff.

Read your policy, TALK to your agent. Know where you stand.

Good Luck, Ed

[York1]

Kevin, Simon, Mike, others? bring up a good point.

Claiming insurance is difficult if you don't remember what you have.

Right now that seems silly, but after a tornado or fire, it may be difficult to think clearly about what belongings are gone.

Insurance people say at the least, one should try to have a list of anything worth any amount.  Pictures are better.  It takes only a few minutes to take some photos in each room.

You may not need to buy extra insurance, but a list or photos would ensure that you remember everything to make your claim should it be needed.

I'm with most of you.  The value of my layout is in my time and effort, and there's less monetary value.  I wouldn't want to pay extra for that.

At the same time, while I worked and even now, I do pay extra for a large umbrella liability policy.  It's only $12 a month extra, but with lawsuits and such today, it made sense.

[richhotrain]

My most valuable asset ever was a Bachmann Spectrum 4-8-2 Light Mountain. I bought it for $170. But soon after purchase, it developed a limp as the driver wheels fell out of quarter.

At that point, I nicknamed it Thumper. It was uninsured. As its limp grew worse, I sent it back to Bachmann for repairs, but Bachmann claimed it lacked the parts to repair Thumper.

I never saw Thumper again, and I resolved to never more buy anything of value. So, now, I have nothing to insure.

Rich

[SeeYou190]

mbinsewi

I don't have anything collectible or of any unusual value.

Four or five years ago my wife and I sold off everything we had that was valuable. I was travelling non-stop for work, and she was riding with me. We were never home, and the valuables were just one thing for us to worry about.

We did not have much. I had two paintings that were insured for $20,000.00 which I sold for about $14,000.00, and I sold an antique lithograph of a brewery for $2,000.00. My wife had about $10,000.00 in jewelry. She sold a bunch of purses for about $4,000.00 I think.

We then sold all the collectibles that we could get more that $50.00 each for. A  lot of other stuff went to Goodwill.

Then I took down the train layout and purged the collection.

I sold the Mustang about a year ago.

Not having any valuables is a huge stress-relief. Honestly, the oil paintings I have bought at antique stores for a couple hundred dollars each bring me just as much pleasure as the valuable pieces did.

-Kevin

[mlehman]

You should have an inventory of your hobby holdings in any case and it should include the cost/value of each item. Most homeowners policies will cover things within the limits of their coverage. Easiest thing for everyone is to have replacement cost coverage. They buy you a new one at market price if it's a loss.

If you have something especially valuable, then you may need specific coverage.

Take your list to you insurance agent. Most of the time, if you have replacement cost coverage, they'll tell you you're already covered. If not, get a quote on the extra coverage, then some quotes from others (the NMRA offers such insurance, another perk of membership) to compare and go with what works for you.

[mbinsewi]

Ours is under the home owners policy.  I don't have anything collectible or of any unusual value.

Mike.

[selector]

No.  We are covered to a maximum amount for fire/theft/accidental damage.  They pay out, we do with it what we want. Live in a motel until we die, rebuild, get second hand stuff and spend the rest on hobbies.  Blow it all at a local casino.

No, I don't contemplate any of those.  Maybe when I was 12.

[PRR8259]

No.  In the event of a fire, etc. I deem the homeowners insurance to cover a little bit of trains.  I don't have that many trains, and the value of our belongings in the house, since most furniture is used, hand-me-down, is likely less than what the insurance coverage would actually be.

In short, I do not want to have a fire or other tragic event, but the insurance claim, if we did--we might come out ahead.

The cost of riders to cover the musical instruments, wife's jewelry, and trains and other collectables is probably more hassle than it would be worth.

I love my trains, and my trumpet (which these days I can't even use since everyone seems to believe you can catch Covid from blowing through a horn, which is total complete bs), but I can't take them with me, and if I had to I could always find replacements.

John

[Track fiddler]

Poppycock

Lawyers would like you to believe you need to come in their office for a living will and pay a bunch of Bookoo bucks.  Insurance should be covered under your homeowners policy if you add it to it

You can write your own living will and have it notarized by a notary of republic to work just the same.

Our train real estate is a big part of our lives and should not be overlooked.  This can be added to an informal will as well and be perfectly legal.

 

As far as insurance goes, just try to add that to your policy as expensive as our hobby is and see where that goes for you

Or just look at the idiot jokes on television of the insurance company's advertising and hopefully you don't have an insurance company spending millions of dollars on idiot TV commercials

 

Just enjoy what you enjoy while you're here

 

 

TF

[BATMAN]

Insurance is something to have to keep you from getting wiped out, like the extended warranty racket you play the odds and for 99.9% of us, it is a waste of money. I could handle the hit that the loss of my trains would bring and I bet the premium would be about $5000.00 over 25 years, that's a lot of train stuff I could buy.

[richhotrain]

tstage

And simple answer...Nope.

+1

[tstage]

Trainman440

Simple question...

And simple answer...Nope.

[rrinker]

 I don't have enough - yet - to go beyond what my policy provides by default. Once I have more of my layout completed, and more equipment - this might change. 

                                    --Randy

 

 

[SeeYou190]

Trainman440

Simple question, do you pay for any additional insurance for your trains?

Yes... My professional tools, trains, wargaming, and supplies are covered by a special policy. My hobby supplies and tools alone are worth over $20,000.00, which was a surprise. My wargaming stuff values out about 3 times my model railroad stuff.

My layouts were never covered against vandalism. My agent suggested that was almost impossible to insure. I would like to know if anyone has had a different experience.

My policy covers replacement cost, not market value. It is added to my homeowner policy, and costs almost nothing. I guess they figure a thief is unlikely to want my stupid toys. 

I also had special coverage for my original Boris Vallejo painting, but that was insurable as art, so it was a bit different. Brass trains cannot be insured as art unless they a 1/32 or 1/24 scale or something.

Be prepared to take a lot of pictures. I have over 5,000 pictures of hobby items. These are on a portable hard drive in a safe deposit box.

Brass Trains Dot Com allows you to archive your collection there, and they even value it for you. That is very convenient.

Talk to your agent. My hobby stuff accounts for about 80% of the value of all of our posessions.

-Kevin

[BigDaddy]

I hope my friend Howard Zane does, but I think the insurance agent would laugh in my case.

[Snip]

No insurance rider.

But the total outlay of my O, HO, and N "sets" is probably around $250USD.

[snjroy]

No, but I took some pictures... My collection is not worth that much and if there is a fire, the insured amount is more than enough to cover it. It's not like I have a huge brass collection.

Simon

[Trainman440]

Simple question, do you pay for any additional insurance for your trains?

Charles