Realistic Insurance valuations for my Naim items?

[Sloop John B]

My insurance doesn't have the option to replace my 15 y.o. Naim NAC 552 with a shiny new one so I'm wondering what are realistic valuations for the following (i.e. I could replace them s/h if desired);

Naim NAP 300 (2007) DRd 2016
Naim NAC 552 (2009)

.sjb

 

[Mike Reed]

What is your home insurance cover if not 'new for old'? Are you restricted by a one item limit?

 

[Darren L]

I've no idea of the value of your equipment. The last time I bought contents insurance the person on the other end of the phone asked me how much it would cost to replace with new items.

 

[Sloop John B]

What is your home insurance cover if not 'new for old'? Are you restricted by a one item limit?

Good question but my understanding for named items over a 5k value it’s a bit like car insurance where I wouldn’t get a new Lexus LS if my 21 year old one was a write-off. My hifi at current valuation is bringing my contents to a level that’s attracting a premium so I want to have a realistic valuation so as I can reduce my insurance.

I’m in Ireland and we have a paucity of insurance options compared to the UK and our 30% fibreglass flat roof makes us a persona non grata to a few of the ones that are doing business here.

.sjb

 

[gavreid]

New for old normally applies while the model (or an updated form of it) is still available. If it's obsolete that's another matter...

TomTom is probably a good place to start. They'd probably give you a written statement...

Pre-loved Naim

Why buy preloved from Tom Tom Audio Here s

tomtomaudioshop.com

 

[hifinutt]

maybe change your insurance for one which does not classify hifi as valuables . there are a few about

 

[Stuart Frazer]

I'd say prices for used replacements would be about:

NAP 300DR - £3k
NAC 552/PS (non-DR) - £7-8k

 

[Bas V]

I stopped my extra insurance for hifi years ago. I thought it too expensive against the chance that it gets broken or stolen...

 

[RobFTM]

I’d agree with Stewart above. The last two or so 552DRs on eBay have gone for £7.6k and £8.2k. I’m frankly amazed that they sold for a (comparatively) low amount.
There are 300DRs for sale for about £3 -£4k so perhaps £3.5k would be reasonable.

 

[RobFTM]

I stopped my extra insurance for hifi years ago. I thought it too expensive against the chance that it gets broken or stolen...

But what if the house burns down? Perhaps that’s the last thing on your mind in that, hopefully highly unlikely, event

 

[Stemcor]

If you are unfortunate enough to have a break-in, the thieves are most likely to look for something easy to steal.

Following an “incident” at my Mother’s house, we were advised that the items that are most often taken are cash, jewellery, mobile phones, laptops and ipads. All relatively small and easy to sell. Top target are bedrooms. The scumbag opened the wardrobes, drawers etc and found nothing. If he/she had bothered to look downstairs they would have found a wodge of cash. Remember, they want a quick in and a quick out.

I really wouldn’t bother insuring hifi; it’s far too big and too much hassle for a thief to steal. On the other hand, guitars are well worth insuring. Everybody knows that a Fender or a Gibson has value.

 

[Darren L]

New for old normally applies while the model (or an updated form of it) is still available. If it's obsolete that's another matter...

Yeah, my preamp and monoblocks are no longer in production, when I explained this to the insurance person they asked how much to replace with something similar.

 

[stevec67]

Go on Fleabay, look for "Buy It Now" values for the items in question, that's your figure. Don't overthink it. If the worst happens you can haggle anyway, it's not as if they will haggle over the difference between £5k and £6k. If you told them it was £200 worth and then a claim said £5k, they would rightly complain. But £5k and £6k are the same numbers in their world. It's the same risk.

I did have my hifi stolen in 1995 but maybe the desirable items have moved on. Not many people had a home computer back then, I didn't. Then again CDs were worth stealing then, the various Theft Converter joints would give you £1 each so people would just hoover them up.

There used to be a school of thought that you should leave an item of reasonable value or some cash on view (on view inside, not visible from the window!) so that any thieves might well grab that and say "close enough" before leaving without further disruption. An old lappy and an old mobile phone might fit that bill.

 

[cctaylor]

@Sloop John B You think you have problems with insuring your 15 year old Naim equipment. My Naim stuff mostly dates from 1977. However no individual item exceeds the specified item limit for NFU and the overall cover is more than adequate.

 

[Sloop John B]

@Sloop John B You think you have problems with insuring your 15 year old Naim equipment. My Naim stuff mostly dates from 1977. However no individual item exceeds the specified item limit for NFU and the overall cover is more than adequate.

Well it looks as if my NAP 300 has gone well under the limit with the 552 only peeking out over it.

Hopefully that with a lower rebuild cost which the insurance company increased by 25% in the quote will get my insurance down a little from the €1056 I’ve been quoted for a 4 bed semi in Dublin!

.sjb

 

[Bas V]

But what if the house burns down? Perhaps that’s the last thing on your mind in that, hopefully highly unlikely, event

I'd worry about other things then. I really don't want to insure myself for every unlikely event. If I'd do that, I should also participate in every lottery...

 

[kevinrt]

I may have misunderstood the situation as I have no expertise in this area.

I remember some wording in ‘contents’ policies such that you must give a realistic estimated value of ‘all’ of your house contents. You cannot just choose to leave some of the contents uninsured. Doing so could invalidate your policy.

Worth checking. My experience with insurance companies is that their first approach is to look for factors that allow them to deny a claim.

 

[gavreid]

I may have misunderstood the situation as I have no expertise in this area.

I remember some wording in ‘contents’ policies such that you must give a realistic estimated value of ‘all’ of your house contents. You cannot just choose to leave some of the contents uninsured. Doing so could invalidate your policy.

Worth checking. My experience with insurance companies is that their first approach is to look for factors that allow them to deny a claim.

I can see the logic, certainly. If you're under-insured then you can't just choose what you weren't counting come the day of reckoning, it would have to have been stated up front.

It wouldn't be reasonable to fail to pay up but I suspect that they would reduce the claim by the percentage that they felt appropriate.

 

[IWC Doppel]

If you change your policy to limit valuable to valuables and have it included within contents that is usually much more appropriate. I have a spreadsheet that I send to the insurers with an approximate used value and not replacement cost as this can change and in some cases difficult to value what new item might be.

Also remember the better insurers have a more reasonable approach to settlement and mandated to do it expediently and reasonably. Other's its all about strict policy limits and mitigating settlement cost

 

[Darren L]

I'd worry about other things then. I really don't want to insure myself for every unlikely event.

Surely that's the point of insurance (apart from the legal requirements) to give cover for the unlikely event?
Last year in August my ex and my eldest moved to a newly renovated and refurbished property.
A couple of weeks after they moved in they put on the heating as it was a chilly night, there was an electrical fault with the wiring to the oil fired burner, this caught on fire and went into the loft, the roofspace went up like a tinderbox.
The fire brigade were called and put the fire out, of course this meant all the plasterboard ceilings came down.
Thankfully no one was hurt.
My eldest lost everything apart from the clothes they were wearing, all their clothes, furniture, electrical equipment, books, records suffered both smoke and water damage.
They had no insurance.
So however unlikely or unfortunate an incident can be it can happen, shit happens.