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Gun Insurance Recommendations?

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10K views 66 replies 42 participants last post by  Treefarmer  
#1 ·
Looking to get some gun insurance and after reading quite a few threads on here I’m inclined to go with Gun & Trophy Insurance. Figured I’d get the most up to date opinions before I made any decisions. I do not have homeowners insurance as my wife and I are currently building a home and are renting a condo that my father in law owns.

Is Gun & Trophy the way to go? I will be staying well clear of SIA after reading some bad experiences.
 
#67 ·
FWIW, I use Eastern Insurance, luckily I have not needed to file a claim.

I have no experience with Gun & Trophy.

When I rented I always bought a renter's policy to cover my personal belongings.
I would second the renter's policy as it provides liability insurance as well as coverage for your valuables. You can usually add things like guns, jewelry etc. as scheduled items. Look around for whatever company you might want to insure your new home with and start with renters.
 
#5 ·
Friday a friend of mine sent a group text to a bunch of us that often shoot together asking what is the best gun insurance. Said he has his covered under homeowners insurance but it is very expensive. It is one of those things I've often thought about but never did do. This summer I did talk to my home owner insurance agent about it and he pretty much talked me out of it and said I had to have each gun appraised.

So I spent the weekend digging around about gun insurance looking at multiple sites. More interested in personal reports of those that have filed a claim, insurance is often worthless when you go to file for anything I have found, more times than not they always try not to pay. Medical, vehicle, home, it doesn't matter. Don't know anyone that says they love insurance companies most will tell you how much they hate them.

From what I read that applies to gun insurance between most home owner riders and others including SIA and NRA. Clear winner seems to be Gun and Trophy.

In addition they cover and have paid in situations that most others will not.

Sunday night figured I might as well finally jump in and totaled up the cost of all my guns. Well not all, only the shotguns I didn't include rifles or pistols but don't have as many of them. I was just under the $48K Gold limit and shocked that I had that much in shotguns. Guess buying guns for 50 years will do that but it still surprised me. It only took me a few minutes to sign up for the Gun and Trophy Gold Plan once I realized that I really should have done it a lot sooner. There is an additional $25 admin fee on top of the plan cost at the end. Still well worth it but hope I never need it. Which is insurance in general. I do have more piece of mind about it now though.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I think you made the correct decision.

My firearm inventory is worth $35,000. And all of it is stored in a gun safe at home which cannot be removed from its location without opening and removing the door. That eliminates theft from anybody that isn't skilled at safe cracking which covers about 99.99% of anybody likely to target your home for theft. So, the only firearm insurance I really need is to cover one or two firearms I might travel with for hunting or clay target competitions.

The clear choice for me is Gun & Trophy; I have their Silver plan which covers any single firearm worth up to $10,000 and with a cap at $20,000. I have no single firearms worth more than $7,000 and wouldn’t have any reason to travel with more than $15,000 in firearms. My cost is $130/year. I used to have the SIAI coverage that cost me $411/year. When I switched from the NRA insurance to the SIAI insurance the SIAI was cheaper than the NRA. I don’t know anything about Eastern Insurance, but I don’t think you can get a better deal than Gun & Trophy.
 
#8 ·
I used to get upset with insurance companies until I realized that they are not in business to pay claims but instead are in business to collect premiums! Like Luke said in Cool Hand Luke, "Just getting my mind right, Boss". I now have gotten my mind right!

ALL insurance is worth nothing until the day you need it for a claim.
 
#9 ·
My home owners does cover my inexpensive guns up to a certain value, per gun if they were all stolen or damaged in a fire or weather related incident. I care a rider for my expensive target gun. I found this cheaper then putting all firearms under one policy such as the ones mentioned.
Steve
 
#13 · (Edited)
How do you prove the value of each gun for replacement. Do you need professional appraisals for each gun. Say you had a vintage something or other that cost $37.50 in 1897 but it’s worth $5000 in today’s market. Can you just tell the insurance company how much you want each gun covered for. I remember when I shipped the last gun I sold and asked at the USPS to insure it for $800. She tried to tell me that unless I could prove it was worth $800 it wouldn’t be covered. I just laughed and said please insure it for $800 and hoped it didn’t get lost in the shuffle. It was a vintage side by side from the 40’s.
 
#63 ·
Loss settlement clauses vary within policies and companies. How a claim can be paid might include the following options under an inland marine policy: 1.)ACV (actual cash value) defined as RC-D, replacement cost minus depreciation. 2.) Replacement cost basis (assuming gun is still in production). 3.) Stated Amount- Agreed Value between insured and insurer. 4.) Fair Market Value. Amount gun is selling for in current market. All policies have terms, conditions, and exclusions. Most policies have deductible clauses as well.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Over the years I have owned some nice shotguns. Not sure if I would be classified as a collector but I do believe I cannot afford to own anything I don't use. I am not concerned with risk while they are stored in a proper fire-resistant safe but I do believe the biggest risk is when transporting or using them. What I do is schedule them at replacement value on our homeowners policy like my wife's jewelry. My agent has been great and when I travel with or plan to use a gun for the season I call and activate the insurance and when they sit in the safe I deactivate the insurance. The only guns I leave insured are my clays guns that are used weekly.
 
#15 ·
I am a lawyer. Insurance is only as good as their willingness to pay and your ability to successfully sue them if they won't pay. Get a big company like State Farm. Try to chase down one of the "budget" companies is a losing bet.
 
#17 ·
Former commercial insurance broker, I checked several resources, Gun and Trophy was best for me. Your homeowners insurance is very limited unless you schedule and list every item, it’s none of their business what I own. NRA was expensive for what they covered or more importantly did not cover!
 
#23 ·
I have a fair sized gun collection and travel with two Krieghoff’s during the summer to numerous shoots. I had an unusual claim several years ago, my gun burnt in a fire while at the gunsmith’s business Location. The gunsmith did not have insurance coverage, something I ask about now if leaving a gun over night. I had Eastern Insurance, once they verified the fire, got a picture of my burnt gun, all of which took about two days, they mailed me a check for the insured amount, $17,000.00. No muss, no fuss, had my check within a week. I will never purchase gun insurance from anybody else. Not only great service on a claim, but cheap rates compared to most other carriers.
 
#32 ·
For anyone who thinks that their guns are covered under their homeowner's policy, best check with your agent as to the deductible amount. Our deductible is 2 or 3 % of the value of our house!

A separate schedule takes care of that, I was told. The additional cost was small for my inexpensive guns.
 
#33 ·
Gun and Trophy appears to be a great policy. I have been looking as well. There is a $500 deductible, so if you were to lose a single gun that isn't worth much than the insurance isn't really worth it. However, a lot of us own guns well above $500 and this makes the plan a no-brainer. I have been trying to find reviews from people who have made a claim to see how it went.
 
#47 ·
I use Eastern (Laura Sewell mentioned above). Both Eastern and Gun and Trophy are agents for the same insurance company (Hanover). The application was easy. For guns over $10,000 I listed the current retail price obtained from my dealer. Guns under $10K you just list them and decide how much insurance you want for the bunch. No appraisal needed. The cost is a fraction of what State Farm wanted for adding to my homeowners and homeowners only covered a fraction of the possible causes of loss that Eastern covers.