Do you buy Insurance for Stereo Equipment?

Many of you may be wrong with your policies going with the idea that individual items add up to the enter whole. That just is not the case with most plans. My premium cost roughly 10-15% more even though I increased coverage by about 50% when insuring certain items at a determined value. I hope Theo is fully covered per his plan but I was not with mine even though I was insuring all my belongings to the value I had invested in them, say $100k. In an event where there was a total loss, maybe a fire, it would have been very difficult if not impossible to recoup all that loss. The reason being that my stereo equipment made up roughly one quarter of the total insured value, but according to my "$100k" plan, the cap on stereo equipment was far below that. Jewelry it's own percentage, clothes another, housewares etc.

Learsfool-I hope that in a loss your friend will make it whole, but unless he/she owns the insurance company it is not up to them. These companies don't make a profit by paying out in full to every Tom Dick and Harry that experiences a loss. The devil is the details and from my experience value is not value to insurance companies, it's value in certain and confined areas.

Keeping receipts and pictures is ideal but unless that info is stored off site(or itemized with your insurance company) it is susceptible to damage. Who's to say you spent what you spent when it's all ash and there was no record of it other than your memory? When buying used we don't have the paper trail associated when buying new, for me it's usually a MO out of my checking account, that is hardly a receipt for goods.

Just be sure that your covered, don't assume.

"You need to "schedule" each item with your insurance company"

I was a Homeowner's insurance underwriter for 15 years, and this is very sound advise. Yes it's expensive, because the claim fraud is so high with scheduled items (art, jewelry, coins, antiques, etc) but if you want your gear covered for more than about $1000 it must be scheduled. When you schedule an item a photo and some type of proof of value will be submitted and approved. If your agent doesn't know about scheduling items find another agent.

Such insurance is very expensive as it needs to be underwritten in a special policy form. Even then, they try to cap any one items at a max of $5K. To get the proper insurance you need to provide a detailed schedule, and yes, the underwriter will come to look at the 'stuff'. I have a special policy rider that covers my equipment and media. Cost for the rider is now $2300 a year. The policy max's out at $325,000.

My agent, who is a friend told me my equipment was covered under the homeowners policy and the equipment did not need to be scheduled. I explained the cost issues, and he said my policy had enough room to cover all my household items plus my system. I decided to write all the equipment with serial numbers and replacement costs down and emailed it to myself so I can retrieve it if there was a fire.

Depends on the Carrier. There are standardized polices but there are also standard endorsements which can alter that policy. I have had USAA for 20 years and it is excellent. Before I owned, I rented and when I rented I had two break-ins and USAA replaced $20K and $18K in audio gear respectively, without hesitation (full replacement value).

Now I own and I asked USAA what I need to have a separate rider for, I was told jewelry, so i got a rider for my watches and my wife's rings. I then upped the "contents" coverage to 75% of the home's reconstruction costs. Which, if I have a total loss would replace all my "contents" gear included.

As long as your policy does not have a specific limit on "electronics", it will be covered as a "content". If your policy does have a limit on electronics, pay for a rider if you need additional coverage.

Or go bare and hope for the best....