by jaysonbernard » 26 Sep 2007 23:53
Over the course of the past 2 days I have learned the value of a good insurance policy and insurance agent.
We will start with Tuesday Morning. My wife and I had woke up at 6:30 so I could take her to pick up her car from the tire shop when they opened up so she could make it to work on time. We get washed up, dressed and all of that. Walk out side to leave and notice that the side door to my van is partially open and there is no lock in the door. Take a look inside. All of my tools are gone. Everything, my blitz machine, SDD Machine, lockout tools, pinning kits gone and a couple spilled all over the floor. All of my tool bags gone. Locksets and hardware everywhere. So much for cleaning everything up the night before.
Call 911. The lady on the phone said someone will call me back.
20 minutes later, no phone call back
Call 911 again, ok someone will call you back.
long story short 2 hours later we finally get a police officer out to make a report and take fingerprints. I would have thought it would be a big deal having somebody out their with an arsenal big enough to rob a bank....
I am freaking out this whole time because I don't have insurance on my tools and equipment. I just have a business liability policy and a garage keepers policy(airbag deployment, scratched paint ect.).
Well after the police leave, on the horn with the insurance agent.
He tells me "That really sucks. I'll see what i can do.... I'll call you back in a few." After about 15 more nerve racking minutes. The phone rings "Hey this is Chris from state farm... I have good news...." good news that's just what i need. Every thing would be covered under my homeowners insurance. Downside have to provide receipts for everything.
So starts the incredibly long task of going through 3 years worth of receipts and itemizing everything. Itemizing individual hand tools gets quite tiresome after 500th $2 dollar tool.
Luckily enough i was able to dig up receipts for most of my equipment. get all the paperwork filled out and faxed to the claims adjuster by the end of the day.
This morning my agent was able to pull some strings and expedite the process so i could get reimbursed asap. At around 4 in the evening he calls me and says come to the office now because i have a check waiting for you.
All said and done. There was approximately $12,000 worth of damages. The check waiting for me was just under $8,000.....???? Well after depreciation, and of course a $1,000 deductible... on the plus side, after I replace everything that is missing, the insurance company will cough up the difference(they will pay replacement cost, after the fact.)
The bottom line is I was lucky that this had happened in my driveway. If it had been anywhere else I would have been SOL. I am now the proud owner of a "floater policy" that will cover all of my tools and equipment. Up to $30,000 without the deprecation hassle, no questions, no problems. But of course now that I have filed a claim the premium is much more than it would have been, but I am covered, heaven forbid something happen again.
So anybody out there who doesn't have insurance covering their tools, I would highly encourage you to get some. It would be a very costly loss. If this happened to me anywhere else, I probably wouldn't be in business anymore.
