# Are your trains insured?



## Jerrys-RR (Jun 21, 2010)

I am curious whether many large scalers have specific insurance to cover their trains or simply depend on their homeowners insurance to cover everything. 

Do you rely on your homeowners insurance or do you have some sort of special insurance and if so, has anyone actually had to file a claim?

If you did, what sort of response did you get from your insurance company?

With mostly plastic trains, there would not be much left to prove what we own if there was a fire. I have some videos covering most of the trains etc. but that proof does not prove actual ownership.

We recently had some visitors (G Gaugers) and what most surprised me was the highly overestimated value they assigned to the trains (around 500% of what I would guess the approximate value to be). I would not want it floating around that my trains were worth as much as was estimated (no point in tempting thieves).

In the event of theft, vandalism or fire I don't trust my insurance to cover the trains even though my agent "thinks" I am covered (the agent actually has little to say if there is a claim).

I would not want to pay an expensive premium for extended coverage if my homeowners already covers the trains so I am wondering what happened if anyone actually had to file a claim.

I would mainly like to hear from anyone who personally filed a claim with an insurance company rather than guesses of what others think their insurance would do. Hearing good or bad experiences with specific insurance companies would be great.

Thanks,

Jerry


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## Ralph Berg (Jun 2, 2009)

Jerry, 
This is a tough question because insurance regulations vary from state to state. Generally speaking, anything inside an insured structure is covered up to the dollar amount of your policy. 
I would suggest getting a "rider" for your trains, especially those that are outdoors. 

I did have a lightening strike burn down a shed. The couple of train items I had in the shed were covered. 
However, it's the items outdoors you have to worry about. In this state, if a tree falls on your shed and crushes your lawnmower, you are covered. If the mower is out in the yard when the tree crushes it, you are not covered. 
Ralph


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Are outside trains considered an "attractive nuisance" like an outside dog?


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Contact your insurance provider BEFORE you have a problem, and ask. Two years ago I wondered about mine. my brass track (as expensive as it is now) and also what was in my garage, not only for theft and or fire. The agent was not sure, and called the home office, and she replied back that both the track outside, and in the garage as well as anything in the garage, and the house itself. Regal


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Posted By blueregal on 26 Apr 2012 11:57 AM 
Contact your insurance provider BEFORE you have a problem, and ask.

Exactly - every insurance company will handle this differently unless something is spelled out in the policy already.
In my case, the insurance company wanted a list of the items.

Would also be good to get something official from the company in writing.


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## bvdrr (Jan 3, 2008)

I haven't actually fileda claim on rolling stock itsrlf,but did filed for vandalism to the tune of over $1000.00 and collected on my home owners.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Many years ago when we lived in the Denver area we had a large hail storm go through our neighborhood. We got a new roof and the siding re-stained. It also did about $1000 damage to some cars and buildings. My Insurance company, American Family, rolled them all into one master claim. The damage to the trains was covered and part of a single claim with a single deductible. I had built some screens to park the trains under, but a couple of the cars stuck out.

Chuck

Here is a picture of a Delton caboose and an LGB coach after the storm. Note all the debris on the screen to the left side and on the ground. There is a fracture in the roof of the coach behind the chimney.











The Delton caboose was rebuilt into a housing for my rotary.


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

I talked to the agent about covering the trains. She simply increased the coverage for contents to an appropriate amount. They did want an inventory however.


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Take a roster shot of each locomotive/car in your inventory. USAA told me that trains are covered under regular homeowners insurance, just up the coverage. But they made a good point by saying take pictures of everything in your home. Ie; Open the drawer in your kitchen, snap a photo, close the drawer, move to the next one. Think about all the little bits and parts that you have bought over the years; styrene, paint, knives, drill bits, etc. Everything should have coverage, but you tend to only think about the big ticket items when filing an insurance claim. 
I took a picture of every single piece of rolling stock that I own, plus a shot of the box (if I still had it) that contained the manufacturer, item number. The insurance company said the best thing to do is to take photos or video when you are moving. As you pack it into the box, it gets a picture. My wife and I got through about 1/2 our stuff when we moved recently before we got lazy and stopped. Recording something is better then nothing. 

Craig


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Craig's idea is a great one. 

But, you have to store the photos some where outside your home. 

I have my own website where I have some photos and will be adding a lot more in the near future. 

Not only photos of the items, but images of the receipts or in my case, I have an excel spread sheet listing every train I have along with the original cost of that item and even the cost of shipping as most were purchased off Ebay. 

Remember, you can post stuff to a website without having it seen by the general public. No you don't want to store your social security info on it, but it's a great place to store your house inventory photos and description.


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## Santafe 2343 (Jan 2, 2008)

* My trains are insured even if I take them to a train show for display. This is direct quote from my State Farm agent*


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I am curious whether many large scalers have specific insurance to cover their trains or simply depend on their homeowners insurance to cover everything 
I have not had to claim specifically for my trains. We have a 'named items' rider on our homeowners, with my son's cello and wife's engagement ring listed, etc. My policy is for 'replacement cost' and my experience with a burglary many years ago (no trains were injured) is that the insurance compan worked hard to get us 'replacement' items. 

The expert is JK, a live steamer who lost all his trains when his house burned a few years ago. I've no idea what he did, and I'm not sure he wants to talk about it. I could ask if he doesn't pop up here. This is what he was left with - the greatest and most tragic flatcar load ever: 











_(It was a K28. Found in the basement afterwards, I'm told.)_

I did suffer a flood, which homeowners ins. does NOT cover. "Contents" coverage is separate from the FEMA max of $250K for your home. We had bumped the additional "contents" coverage to $35K the year before - when we tallied all the stuff that got destroyed in the flood (2-3' of water in one level ranch house,) including a bunch of my tools and the track outside on my garden layout, we were north of $60K, so the adjuster didn't quibble; he just approved it. Of course, my track was mostly salvageable so it was tough to claim it was 'destroyed'. 

_When calculating the value of the items destroyed by the flood, I was astonished to discover that a 10-year-old pine wood floor was now depreciated by FEMA to almost no value. Drywall was also depreciated - as if old drywall has any resale value ??? Especially if it has been wet. 
Flood insurance is not replacement cost insurance and won't ge you new drywall. (You can apparently buy additional flood insurance - I wish I had.)_


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

My trains are insured even if I take them to a train show for display 
I confirmed the same - items travelling with me are covered even if not at home.


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