Pinball Insurance?

[Chris Bardon]

Thought of this a few weeks back with the hurricanes on the east cost, but assuming that there was a flood, fire, earthquake, etc, do any of you have extra insurance on your pin collections? I kind of figured that it'd be covered under "contents", but it occurred to me that there might be specific limits on things like pinball machines. I know, for example, that I have a limit on books/comics that I'm way over, but I remember the cost to get an extra rider was so high as to make it not worthwhile. Anyone looked into this for pins? I know I figured out the replacement cost for my collection a while back, and even at only 7 games it was pretty substantial. I try to make sure that I have up to date pictures of stuff (just for proof of ownership in case they ask), and have lists of things like movie and game collections. Anyone looked into what's covered and what's not? What about electrical fires that originate around pins? I know it's not likely (but not impossible). Basically, if your house burns down, but you have pinballs in the basement, is your insurance company going to go through and pull "unlicensed commercial electrical device" or some crap and deny you coverage?

 

[Grauwulf]

This is a really good question, I look forward to the answer.

 

[Malibu-SS]

I asked my insurance company if my machines were covered under my policy that I had in place already.
They looked into it and told me that they would be covered under "contents" as long as they were no longer being used for commercial use,and to make sure that I had the proper amount on my insurance,which I did

 

[flyer666]

I asked my insurance company if my machines were covered under my policy that I had in place already.
They looked into it and told me that they would be covered under "contents" as long as they were no longer being used for commercial use,and to make sure that I had the proper amount on my insurance,which I did

Collections are only covered up to 10k

 

[Menace]

I asked my insurance company if my machines were covered under my policy that I had in place already.
They looked into it and told me that they would be covered under "contents" as long as they were no longer being used for commercial use,and to make sure that I had the proper amount on my insurance,which I did

Collections are only covered up to 10k

Really? Maybe its different from one company to the next because I asked my agent the same question and I got the exact same answer as Malibu. Nothing about a 10k limit, and I made sure my agent knew my collection was worth more than 10k.

It would be interesting to know what other members are told by their insurers.

D

 

[Monkeybug]

I was told it was part of the house contents, just as jewellery, audio/video equipment, stamp collections would be. Same as Malibu stated.

 

[Vengeance]

Same as everyone else, it would fall under contents up to the maximum you have for your contents insurance.

One thing to keep in mind, there is no such thing as flood insurance in Canada. I've looked, and it's not covered.

the only type of "flood" that is covered is a sewer backup, so if Sandy had hit Ontario with the force that it hit NY state, you would be up shit creek and there isn't anything you could do about it (I've looked)

 

[Hammerhead]

the only type of "flood" that is covered is a sewer backup . . . . you would be up shit creek

Funny - pun intended?

 

[Mr.T]

My insurance covers up to $5000 max. per item loss. Except in cases of Terrorism... then is covers nothing!

It's via TD Meloch Monex.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Just to close the loop on this, I did end up talking to insurance company over the weekend, and I confirmed that there wasn't a specific limit for pins (or other electronics), so it just counts as whatever you have under "contents". Given that I'm at $2m now, that should be plenty.

 

[Ancient Games]

Ya, my insurance did a walk through when I had 14 machines. When they saw the machines the only concern was if they were for commercial use which of course they were not. Then what the value was so they could make note of it.

Cheers, Mike