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HiFi Insurance

L

Lucaslucas

just a brand new second hand
If anyone is bored enough to discuss insurance. Is it worth getting hifi insured under a different specialist insurance policy? Especially if hifi items are a collection of difficult to source and hard to prove value of components, particularly older stuff, for example I have a nac 32.5, which is from 1985, how would your common insurer value it considering inflation, depreciation etc and there is no way it could be replaced with a newer model. Do they cover cables... snake oil?
 
Not IME Lucas, but it depends on which provider of home contents insurance you use.
Do you have that currently in place?
 
It is a little dull but if you don't get it right from the off inurance companies are specialists at not paying out on claims.

I have ammended my home CONTENTS insurance to specify the HiFi AND music collection. Should the place burn down they might not beleive there are around 2000 Lps and 600 CDs. While this is not that unusual it is neither the norm.

I also specified Linn TT and Naim Audio amps with Kef Ref spks.

The policy as standard covers new for old and accidental dammage.

It raised my premium from £100ish to £130
 
In the case of your 32.5, the insurance company would probably regard the cheapest pre- in the current Naim range as equivalent, and would settle the claim on that basis. Nowadays this would probably involve putting you in touch with a local dealer with whom it had negotiated a discount. If you insisted on cash, the most they would pay you is what they'd have ended up paying the dealer, and they often negotiate substantial discounts - 30-35% is by no means uncommon. On the plus side, dealers are usually quite flexible with regard to providing alternative products. Your worst case scenario is that you end up owning a new amplifier you don't want, but which will be able to sell for a price far exceeding the cost of a replacement 32.5.

Cables etc. will be replaced similarly, although you may find people distinctly bemused at the fact that anyone could pay that much for a kettle lead or a bit of wire.

The key is proof of ownership, so keeping receipts, and photos of the equipment will help inordinately in settling the claim.

As to specialist insurance, it's important to realise that virtually all insurance policies have a "High-risk items" limit and a single-article limit. High-risk items always includes jewellery, watches, coin collections etc. and commonly includes audio-visual equipment and is set at 25% of the sum insured or a figure like £10,000. The single article limit is commonly £1,000 - £2,000. If you fall foul of either of these, you will not receive the full amount you've claimed for in the event of a claim. If you break the high-risk items limit, there is a (small, but still real) risk that the whole of your claim will be repudiated on the grounds that the company would never have accepted the risk if they'd known about it.

If you have equipment that costs in excess of these figures you will need to declare them as specified articles to your insurer, and pay the additional premium, or buy a policy with no limits from someone like Hiscox.
 
Horrible thought really isn't it? In reality, how would one actually replace a collection of 1000+ LP's / CD's if the worst happened?

And replacing the gear as well... looking at the stuff in my rack, the superb JuicyMusic Blueberry preamp isn't being made any more, Mark Deneen shut up shop over a year ago. And Ortofon have issued all the 90th Anniversary SPU's they're going to issue.
 
What CLIFF says above surprises me. After many years of questioning insurers about my hifi cover, and paying over the odds some time back for 'high net worth' insurance with itemised kit, it seems that audio-visual, which includes hifi, is covered for accidental damage and doesn't have a per item maximum.

Understandably, you need to be adequately insured overall. I claimed for a broken Roksan Shiraz cart. fifteen years ago under this a-v section, and had no problem, That was in the highish hundreds then!

The 'valuables' limit per item does not include a-v items, which are invariably covered under a different section; certainly on every contents policy I've had for twenty plus years.

A thread by Zener on this very subject a week or two back had similar postings to this. He was sceptical about his broken cart., but discovered eventually that he WAS covered under this section of his insurance.
 
Some companies class hifi as ‘furniture’ and don't require itemisation of equipment - it’s then included in household insurance.
 
Norman Green said:
Some companies class hifi as ‘furniture’ and don't require itemisation of equipment - it’s then included in household insurance.
Click to expand...


That's a new one on me, and I've been with many diverse companies over the years. Mind you, they've always been the recognised leading insurers.

If it was classed as furniture, it wouldn't have the benefit of accidental damage cover (where this hasn't been taken out as an addition).
 
A sensible place to go is insure4Retirement.co.uk

You don't actually have to be retired or even of retirement age.

They do a very comprehensive policy with no specific AV sub limit or any requirement to disclose equipment.

Its all covered on a replacement as new basis up to the full contents limit and with accidental damage cover.

Just don't let them put you with Equity Red Star as the underwriter!

Go for the other one which is called Prestige Underwriting Services and is backed by AXA
 
Do be careful that your hi fi items aren't immediately saleable. You could get a visit from the not so local burglar within the week. In fact, if you could mark them simply by name without mentioning that they are hi fi - and hopefully something that no one will have heard of - then all the better. Otherwise a capture-all household policy and a 'replacement as new' clause for a sufficient limit (you may have to pay higher for the overall limit to keep the confidentiality) might be a better bet.

I am quite serious about this aspect to insurance, without wishing to malign anyone in particular. I know quite a number of people in the jewellery trade and none of them insure with anyone at all, for just this reason. I also had this confirmed by a retired solicitor friend telling me over supper how one of his clients - who had just moved house being done within days of taking out a policy that he had overseen (and, I presume, itemised.) I can only assume the list looked too good to resist.

I always went with the AA on household contents because they had generous limits back when I needed them. I also got cover for kit being in the back of the car or at someone else's house.

(There's a lovely little thing they can do with not being in your house which someone more expert can probably tell you about. I lost a Dupont lighter while I was out - and they are not cheap. The insurance company, even covering me for say £1,000 of losses outside the home, were able to wriggle out of it by questioning whether I might have lost it inside the home. Being something that size, as opposed to, say, a laptop, I couldn't be sure. No payment.)

Best, CT
 
Thanks for the responses. I have got the hifi covered under my insurance policy, as individual items and beyond what I paid for them. We specifically asked about hifi items and they said they were covered. So hopefully if any chav does get in my house, looks at the, i.e. 80's box (32.5) and actually has an appreciation that some thing with so little bling might be worth anything, Im actually likely to get back more than it is worth.

Thinking about it, the music issue is a big one, I would be the most upset at the loss of my music collection. Even though it is all 0/1's (all on hard disk) - cataloging and claiming that back would be more work that getting it together in the first place. The benefit I guess is that it is easy to back it all up... might just do that now...

Ive taken pics of everything too, very good point Cliff, especially for those of us with old 2nd hand stuff.
 
Not only photos and receipts - serial numbers as well should be recorded as this can help prove ownership, service history and ultimately value.

Although serial number stickers on the outside of the case can be removed by the average scumbag, most name kit has the serial number scratched on th chassis under the toroidal transformer which can be viewed by slackening off the transformer mounting bolt
regards
Richard
 
Slightly off topic, but a while ago I did see a Basik TT with (new) Akito and Adikt on Ebay. Apparently the seller's cat/child/something had knackered the original Basik arm and K9 cart, and so his insurer's new for old policy had got him Linns current entry level items. It didn't sound too great though apparently! Hence on Ebay.

I'm fairly sure that my hi-fi itself is covered, not that I think its successful theft is all that likely. No one can find our house, even with directions and GPS co-ordinates! The police's attempt at setting up a neighbourhood watch here consisted of a few of my neighbours telling the 'nice young policeman' that he didn't need to worry about them... "Jerry used to be county clay pigeon champion you know" before launching into "what are you going to do about the tinkers leaving those poor horses by the side of the A166?". I love rural folk sometimes, shooting buglers is fair game, but mistreat a horse and... well they'd probably shoot you for that too if they had their way!
 
I recall from a claim I made once that LPs were treated like clothes, ie not new for old, you get about 30%. I don't know whether this is general. How you'd get all your LPs new anyway is another matter but the money you'd get could be less than you'd hope.
 
i have had all atempts at insuring my hifi rejected by numorous insurers, most just laf or dont even bother to get back to you, my house insurance policy covers £60000 for contents to a maximum of £2000 per item, i have had a watch added to the policy but they wont insure anything over £20,000, leaving my belovered Naim to fend for its self in a fire or to make its own way home if stolen :( does anyone know of a good hifi specialist ?
 
Hiscox high value home contents cover? Maybe even their standard home contents cover if you have it itemised. If they won't do it (which would surprise me) it might be a matter of getting a broker to talk directly to a Lloyds Syndicate... I've also seen a specialist hi-fi insurer advertising in one of the Mags, but I can't remember the name right now.
 
I was with Hiscox for years, on the basis that they covered total contents well over the normal limit of £100k or so, they seemed very flexible and didn't require listing of individual items...

However, last year a claim of £400 for accidental damage to a piece of AV equipment led to a £200 premium price hike (from £750 to £950 p.a.), so they'd get their claim money back in 2 years, notwithstanding the £5k I'd paid in premiums over the preceding years.

Needless to say, I'm not with Hiscox anymore, but it was a struggle to find another company that would insure for higher-than-normal contents values.
 
Are you sure that didn't also have something to do with the Insurance Premium Tax going up? Maybe we should set up our own sort of PFM Mutual Contingency fund? Everyone pays in 5% (perhaps, just pulled that number out of the air) of what they want their equipment covered for, anything left over i.e. post tax profits is then paid out as a dividend to the members based on what they paid in.
 
I have insured all my Hifi + AV stuff and it was all accepted.
Last summer our house got striked by a lightening and all damages (over 3000 quids) were paid without any problems.
 
I switched to Hiscox on advice of someone here on PFM- becuase they dont limit value of items to £2,000. I tried others and soon found out they had no intention of covering my hifi.
We have a £500 excess because Im not concerned about liablities in this range. Im more concerned about a wipe out by fire, storm etc or a very thorough burglar rather than the last junkie who stole our Indian Rupees and left the U.S dollars, left the gold cufflinks and stole the old mobile phones.Got caught red handed by the alarm system then went to prison for 4 yrs and 2 months....Result.
 
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