Fire and tools

[Denise Ohio]

Geez, Jack. Now you got me blubbering like an idiot.

And I don't blubber.

It was the dog.

I've got nothing else after that to say, other than thank you for telling me about this.

[Loren Blount]

A question about a shop fire. How did your insurance cover your tools? Were they listed separately on your home owners/renters insurance? If they are in a detached garage does that make a difference? Do they depreciate the value of the machines? What do they do about valuing and replacing items no longer manufactured like Bedrock planes? I am curious because I have built up a sizable investment in my shop over the last 10 years and have just started thinking about what would happen if there was a disaster? I would appreciate some real world experience here, before talking to my insurance agent.

Thanks Loren

[Randal Stevenson]

A question about a shop fire. How did your insurance cover your tools? Were they listed separately on your home owners/renters insurance? If they are in a detached garage does that make a difference? Do they depreciate the value of the machines? What do they do about valuing and replacing items no longer manufactured like Bedrock planes? I am curious because I have built up a sizable investment in my shop over the last 10 years and have just started thinking about what would happen if there was a disaster? I would appreciate some real world experience here, before talking to my insurance agent.

Thanks Loren

The neighbors house was underinsured. I knew what all tools he had, and helped him make a list, and his property, easily surpassed the amount of coverage he had. Now, several people I have talked to, have mentioned that most people are underinsured, as most couldn't afford the insurance that would cover a complete replacement.
As for the machines, I think that would in part, depend on wether you have replacement value insurance or not. For things like your Bedrock planes, or specialty items that are no longer made, you would technically, probably need an apraisal.
Is your detached garage listed separately on your insurance now?
From my mechanics stuff, and a garage board I visit, most homeowners insurance, has a total amount they provide for tools. Anything beyond that, requires separate riders.

[Loren Blount]

I'm not sure if the detached garage/shop is listed separate or not, thats a good point though, and a question I'll be sure to ask. I will also check on the tools cap you mentioned.

Thanks Loren

[Jack Dickey]

My homeowners insurance covers all outbuildings at 10% of the value of the home .. IOW current new house is insured for $165thou , barn wud be $16500 ..

The contents of the house as well as the house were depreciated , we still maxxed out on the house tho' ..

My insurance did not question us about contents and proof of having a particular item , we went room by room and made a list and approximate value for everything .. We had a lot of one off stuff that we couldnt put a value on , but I feel the insurance did us right .. They checked the value of every item and depreciated them based on age of the items .. Some items we made money on , some we lost money on , but in the end we came out way ahead of the actual monetary value of the items ..

My suggestion would be ask your insurance agent a lot of questions , take digital pics of everything and detailed information on each item with approximate value , burn it all to a CDor DVD and store it off premises , as in a safety deposit box .. And keep it updated ..

We got a fantastic sum of money for the house , but if we had actual replacement cost insurance , then they would have paid us what it would have cost to rebuild our house as it was before the fire .. I did not know about this insurance until the adjuster was telling us about it .. I do not know what the extra premium would have been , but we would have gotten almost twice as much money as we got for the house .. Another we didn't have coverage on is , we had a limit of a few hundred dollars on freezer contents , we got it added after the fire , for less than a dollar a month , it covers $500 in the freezer ..

Any questions , feel free to ask them here , and I'll put up what I can tell you ..

[Scott T Smith]

[quote=Jack Dickey;1071699]First off , I dont want anyone to feel sorry for us , we're fine in the end ..

A fire , you just feel violated , it cant be described ..
quote]

Jack, all that I can say is "Amen brother".

On the positive side, the outpouring of support after the fire was tremendous. One of the most uplifting instances were the myriad of volunteers from the NCWoodworkers.net that came out and spent two days helping me sift through the ashes so that all of the remnants could be identified, photographed, and boxed for insurance purposes.

It was a dirty job, but it meant the world to me. Most of these were people that I had not even met; they just cared enough to come out and help.

[Jack Dickey]

Yeah I know about that too , we live out in the country on a major US highway , and are served by a VFD ..

The fire started around 315 friday afternoon , and at dark we had almost $7000 in cash and checks , by Monday it was almost $10,000 .. We got over $3000 from three people we had never seen before , they pulled up , asked my name , pulled out the checkbook and started writing , give me the check and drove off ..

[Scott T Smith]

My homeowners was the same as Jacks - 10% of the main house value for the building. I ended up losing around 50K on the replacement cost, per the insurance companies estimate.

Fortunately, I had replacement cost coverage on the contents, and the company has been great to work with. The way that it works is that I will receive a depreciated value for the tools, and if I replace them I'll get full replacement cost.

[Jack Dickey]

My contents coverage was the same as yours ..

And they even allowed us to stay with them they didnt drop us likea hot potato ..