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I was in my gameroom last night not to play games, but just to behold the beauty of all of my gaming stuff when it ocurred to me.
What if something happens to my stuff? Fire, theft, floods, explosions, terrorism, car accidents, whatever. I know that people take out insurance policies on things like jewelry, baseball cards, furniture, etc. Why not take out a policy on videogames?
Has anyone insured their gaming videogames? Can they be insured? Would you insure them if you could?
This is an important post, given that many of us seems to have fairly large and valuable (at least to us) collections.
Homeowner's policies offer some protection for personal property (e.g. GAMES), although there typcially is a sizable deductible, and limited coverage. You homeowners had better check your policies carefully. If you live in an apartment, you can get similar coverage for personal property through a renter's policy (guess what? renters almost NEVER carry any insurance!).
The best way to go is to purchase a separate "rider" on your insurance policy (homeowners or renters) that will specifically cover your game collection up to a specified amount. Any insurance broker can assist you with this, and it's not particularly expensive to take out an extra rider for, say, $10,000 on specified personal property.
Also, here's a tip: photograph/videotape your entire collection as clearly as possible -- this solves a lot of problems that may arise in the event you have to make a claim on an insurance policy. Along this line -- DON'T STORE THE PHOTOS/TAPES IN YOUR HOME!! -- they generally get destroyed along with your other property when the fire/flood/earthquake occurs. :)
My wife has $30,000 in renters insurance. We have it with State Farm, and it is included with our auto insurance. We pay an additional $15 a month.
Back in October, my videogame collection was ripped off. They stole my Dreamcast, with 50+ games, my PSx with 40+games, my N64 with 20 games, and several Saturn controllers. I pumped up the claim a little, and recieved $7200 of the $8,900 in claimed loss. With the money, I replaced my Dreamcast and most of it's games. I then purchased a PS2, and a Gamecube. I bought about a dozen of the lost PSX games, and around 6 of the N64 games also. I have yet to replace my N64, but at least I replaced most of the stolen items, and came out with some new consoles.
If you live in an apartment complex, I would highly recommend renters insurance. My wife and I came to the conslusion, that my stuff was ripped off, by the maintenance man. The items he stole,were too conventient. He did'nt go for my DVD or surround stereo. Did'nt steal jewelry, or cd's, but went after my beloved gaming collection. Too convenient, for someone who just broke in to steal whatever.
Would you have to go through one by one? Another thing, can you basically give an estimate as to how much your collection costs? I've kept all my reciepts for just about everything I've bought in the past 3-4 years. Not including my eBay purchases. Would the insurance guy believe that someone spent $100+ on say...Panzer Dragoon Saga?Quote:
Originally posted by Prince Planet
Also, here's a tip: photograph/videotape your entire collection as clearly as possible -- this solves a lot of problems that may arise in the event you have to make a claim on an insurance policy.
I think about this all the time. Think I'll borrow a video camera and make a tape of my games.
Good topic.
Quote:
Originally posted by Shinobi128
Would you have to go through one by one? Another thing, can you basically give an estimate as to how much your collection costs? I've kept all my reciepts for just about everything I've bought in the past 3-4 years. Not including my eBay purchases. Would the insurance guy believe that someone spent $100+ on say...Panzer Dragoon Saga?
The insurance company, will only pay you a depreciated value on a game like Panzer dragoon Saga. I claimed it as lost (Cough) and they gave me somewhere around $30 for it. I had the reciept, to show how much I paid, but it they can't find a current market value on a stolen, or lost item, they go with a depreciated value. The first $1,000 or so of the lost items, will not be depreciated, but those items, are the insurance adjusters choice. I told them, that my PS2 (Cough) was stolen. They put it as a non-depreciated item, as the cost to replace it, was about the same.
Even if you don't have reciepts for all your stole items, they prefer you show a reciept, as they say that will help the claim move faster. You can still claim items, that you don't have reciepts for, but you take the risk, that if those stolen items show up ( they catch the theif), then there may be some questions. It's your word, against the perpetrators though. Get a burn proof safe, they start at $30, and are well worth the money invested. Just remember, you don't need proof, for everything you lost, but going overboard may raise a question of doubt.
Excellent thread. I've been thinking about this exact thing lately.
My first big goal of the summer is to document all of my gaming collection on paper, and with pictures and videotape. Then I have to get myself a burn-proof safe and mail copies of the tape and pics to my bro for safe keeping.
Thanks for the reminder guys !!
- Kabuki
I guess this is where sites like videogametracker.com come into play. Not only can you document what games you have, but you can also include info like when you bought it, how you bought it, and how much it cost. That would be a big help in insurance claims, especially if you don't have all your receipts.
Taking pics is really a good idea as well. I'll have to do that and keep it in a fire-proof box. I've been meaning to get one of those.
Hmm... Birth and marriage certificates? Not a good reason. Insurance policies? Nah-ah. Safe-deposit keys? Nope. Game collection? YES! Time to get a fire-proof box!! :D
I had a list on my computer, but it got corrupted, so I had to delete it. That was a long-ass document too! Of course, I had 1 game name per line, but made it easier to read. Maybe next time, I'll put it in alphabetical order, even.Quote:
Originally posted by kabuki
Excellent thread. I've been thinking about this exact thing lately.
My first big goal of the summer is to document all of my gaming collection on paper, and with pictures and videotape. Then I have to get myself a burn-proof safe and mail copies of the tape and pics to my bro for safe keeping.
Thanks for the reminder guys !!
- Kabuki
I have digital photos of every single game and system I own on both my hard drive and a network drive. If my apartment ever burned, I'd just download the photos from the network drive and head to State Farm.