Insurance worries?

[Ze_ro]

Has anyone here ever made sure to keep good documentation of their collections in the event of theft? Or, worse yet, has anyone actually had to file an insurance claim for video games that were stolen?

 

I generally keep a (somewhat) up-to-date list of what games I have, and what hardware I have (including serial numbers when possible)... but I don't currently have any pictures of all my stuff to actually prove that I had it all. I've always wondered what the police would say when I told them that over 500 video games were stolen... not to mention all my Commodore 64 junk in the basement! I wonder what they would do to try and replace it all... just give you credit at Electronics Boutique?

 

--Zero

[dwh]

It's weird that this topic just came up.Two days ago I got the insurance increased on contents in the house I am currently living in.I should take digital pics of everything too...

[Markimus of K.]

Earlier this year I took digipics of all my carts and systems, burnt them onto a CDR and put it in my safety deposit box at the bank. I hope I'll never need it!

[Varan]

Insurance is good in the event of theft, fire, flood... etc. A better protection against theft though is deterance. Install a surviellance camera in the room with your games. Even if it's not really hooked up, no casual thief is gonna take your games with a camera aimed at them.

 

To deter random thiefs who aren't really aware of your collection, get a security system with external surviellance... or at least stickers that say you have it.

[Skatepunk60]

good idea , thanks .. im taking inventory tonight

[bloatedmonkey]

Don't forget that collectables are often covered separately. I think mine has a $500 limit.

[ATARIPITBULL]

I have a lot of money tied up in my atari collection, and I do have an up to date list of all my items on paper and disk, now I think I'll be giving my insurance agent a call somtime this week.

 

 

[Cassidy Nolen]

We carry additional insurance on our house for the arcade machines, the games, my toy collection and for Nicole's jewelery. You are crazy not to.

 

If you will recall, my mothers house burned down back in March. Thank God everyone was ok, but they lost everything. They had let their insurance run out and never renewed the policy. If I could urge you all to cover yourselves, then I would feel better. I know you think it could never happen to you, but trust me, until you have walked through the room you grew up in and seen that hell after a fire, you will never understand.

 

Cassidy

 

BTW, I think the additional 50,000 in coverage was like 150 bucks a year. Its pocket change as monthly payments. Most insurers will offer an installment plan for policies too.

[Jeffy Arensmeyer]

 

Been there, done that...

 

We were vacationing in New Orleans when someone called us at the hotel to say that "All of your video game stuff has been stolen".

 

It's hard to get complete, precise info from non-gamers.

 

They got the SNES, Lynx, GameBoy, Jaguar, N64, Dreamcast, several various controllers, some import SFamicom games, lots o' SNES games, bunches of N64 games and some other accessories.

 

Lessons learned...

[*]Collections are only covered up to about 3 to 5 grand

[*]You'll need box ends and/or photos to prove what you had

[*]You ideally need serial numbers and possibly self-made identification marks in case your stuff shows up in a pawn shop

I purchased a hardened steel stamp for marking steel. It has a very unique character on it that I use to mark some of my wares. No, I don't whack my games with a hammer, but you would be amazed at how easy it is to make a faint, but traceable mark on plastic just by pressing softly.

 

Some of my stuff found it's way to a local pawn shop, while some of it was in the trunk of a car loaded with thugs that wiped out on a twisting road.

 

Know what you have, document serial numbers or unique identification numbers, and maintain a copy of your list somewhere besides your home.

 

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[Joel D. Park]

I try to keep pictures of every new thing I add to the collection.. It's also my web page.

 

www.Atari2600.net

 

I don't allow things that aren't my own to be on the page unless it's an unrelated document or something.

 

This doesn't include my other collections though, maybe it should.