Why Bother to Insure Your Trains?

An abject lesson in WHY you should have additional insurance on your trains or "when my temporary layout met a house fire":
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5WsI7MGNgk"]YouTube - Why You Should Insure Your Model Trains[/ame]

 

You Got Lucky in my mind. I know a Guy that had his house stuck by lightning, it started a fire in the basement that got so hot it started to melt a steel beem in the basement. The basement is also where he had all of his trains. Huge collection of old american flyer, s gauge, ext... He had insurance on his trains but i do not know how much he got from the claim. He had to have over $20,000 of stuff.

 

Although I DO count myself lucky, you should have seen the upstairs. The worst part of this has been dealing with our insurance...a fate I would not wish on my worst enemy

 

As YOU are well aware of given recent developments! I will say that ALL of my engines run and a few monts of restoration is all that will be necessary for the rest of it...

 

So sorry to here about the damage caused by the water and you are exactly correct, insurance is important. Hopefully, your home insurance will cover the damage resulting from the water.

Another good lesson learned is to ensure that those doing work on your property have insurance. A quick way is ask that their insurance agent provide you with a certificate of insurance. I know this is a pain to do, but it will provide you with some comfort.

 

It is not a pain, and it provides far more than comfort. After Hurricane Katrina, many "contractors" showed up to help with our recovery. After determining what services they were offering, we asked "Are you licensed, bonded, and insured?" They all answered to the effect that of course they were. Our next statment was "Fine, I want a current copy of each document before you touch my house." One or two went to their truck and came back with copies of all, but the rest said they would bring them in the morning. It's obvious that we never saw that bunch again.

During the past three years, our local TV and paper have reported continuously of local folks giving tens of thousands of insurance dollars to unlicensed, unbonded, and uninsured fly-by-nighters and never seeing them again. Yet hundreds of folks kept doing it, and are still doing it despite the warnings that include videos of homeowners admitting to what they had done in the hopes that others would listen to them.

 

I'm REALLY tired of corporate america and insurance, rates keep going up and up and up, yet when pay time comes...weaseling.
I'm in on the lynch mob when people get some gumption and decide enough is enough..

 

John, as soon as you become 50, I recommend that you join AARP. AARP provides homeowner insurance through The Hartford. It's an excellent policy that is a totally different from that which The Hartford offers to customers who walk in off the street.

We have it, and had a very good experience when our house was struck by lightning in '07. Everything was covered and replaced at Replacement Cost, not Depreciated Cost which is how most other homeowner policies are written.

 

I never even thought of insurance for the layout i am building. I live full time in a rv and i have it set up so i can take it out [on a slide] and if i want i can take it in the rv or to another persons home even but I think i will check Progressive and see if it is covered :msmile:

 

Thanks guys. Yes, I was told that the yard care service was licensed and insured, and their advertizement in the phone book said they were...but clearly I should have gone the extra mile and asked for copies of it before allowing them on the property. Something else I learned is that you should also ask if they have worker's compensation insurance because if they don't and one of them gets hurt on your property they can actually sue YOU.

I have learned a lot from this experience and wanted to pass these warnings on to you guys here so the same never happens to you. Even with the best insurance (AARP excepted) we will never see the full value of what we have lost and indeed are paying through the nose for the things our insurance company won't cover, or only partially cover.

 

The Guy i talked about had to tear down his house because of it. The fire got so hot in the basement that, it started to melt the main beam and warped the house. What the fire did not, the smoked ruined. On A Happier note, he finished rebuilding his house and started to buy and rebuild his railroad. Saw him at a traindhow in febuary and he is doing good.

 

Trains should be treated like any other household item. You should declare (itemize) your trains when you contract for the homeowner policy the same way you do with your furniture, dishes, bedding, clothing, tools, etc. Make a list of every loco, car, structure, track, switch, etc., with replacement value including your labor if appropriate. Then back that up with panoramic photos in which you can point to each loco, car, structure, etc. It doesn't have to be one photo per item, but just enough to show the adjustor that have done your homework, know what you are talking about, and are not trying to B.S. him/her.

I know it sounds like a pain in the butt, and few of us actually do it, but as I'm sure John and others can tell you from their experiences, it is absolutely worth the trouble.

 

Get a RIDER on your Homeowner's Policy. Was a little bit hard to explain, and get the Insurance Co. to understand what they were insuring. " You want to insure what??? Toy trains?!?!'" I went to route of of asking if the Insurance Co. could insure a COIN COLLECTION? Yes, we can. Well just think along the same lines, but substitute Model Trains for the coins. Once we got the idea across, NO PROBLEM! Costs about $7.00 extra a year on my Homeowner's Insurance. I have to keep a record of what I own, estimated value and price paid when new. I video tape all the stuff yearly and have an agreement to use a certain printed value guide for an estimate of value.

The NMRA also has a tie-in with a specialized Collection Insurance Company that several people that I know are using. Looks to be a good deal also.

 

I have State Farm and they said once my Garden Railroad goes into the garden, that they would cover it. Well I'm not so sure I buy that but it will be interesting to see come summer when it goes up.

 

I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As you may recall the Cedar River flooded at record levels in June 2008. The crest of this flood suprised everyone at over 30 feet, more than 11 feet above the previous record.

I know at least one modeller in town that lost his whole layout and most of his rollingstock in the flood. The rapid rise of river left him almost no time to move his models to higher ground. Nearly everything was ruined beyond practical recovery by the nasty, dirty flood water.

His insurance did not cover any of his layout or models. My advice is for you folks to get either separate policies or riders to your existing policies for your trains and layout. Document everything that you have. This is the only way that you can guarantee that you will be reimbursed for your trains in the event of a disaster.

Bob Perkins

 

When we work with owners bidding out projects we always require contractors to provide license, bond, and insurance information when they bid and then we have it in the contract that we need current copies at each billing, along with a progress or final payment waiver.

Is it a pain? Yes. Is it necessary? Well, considering how many people have taken us on AFTER having problems with either a contractor who hasn't kept up insurance or has unfairly placed a lien OR with a recalcitrant owner who is not paying a contractor's legitimate billings, I would say it is necessary.