Extra insurance for firearms

Has anyone purchased extra insurance? I have quite an expensive setup in my Blaser and the airline will only cover up to $5000. I have Global Rescue Travel insurance but it doesn't seem to cover more than $2500 for luggage. Anybody ever have an issue while travelling with expensive firearms?

If you feel you need some extra then get it and make sure that it specifies the firearm and equipment that is attached to it.

I was covered under my homeowners policy so I didn't worry about it. I also believe that the airline claimed that they were only responsible for $500 on a firearm but that was a couple of years ago.

Thanks. I hadn't thought to check my homeowners policy. I should have mentioned that I was wondering about extra insurance while traveling/flying with my rifle.

@Rider717, About a year or so ago @Hank2211 was returning from an African hunt and had a very expensive rifle receive extensive damage. You might contact him and see what insurance he was carrying and how much they reimbursed him. I carry complete insurance on my rifles for home and travel purposes but don't own any in the price category you are referring to. Good luck.

sierraone said:

@Rider717, About a year or so ago @Hank2211 was returning from an African hunt and had a very expensive rifle receive extensive damage. You might contact him and see what insurance he was carrying and how much they reimbursed him. I carry complete insurance on my rifles for home and travel purposes but don't own any in the price category you are referring to. Good luck.

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I don't carry specific insurance for my firearms. The one which was damaged needed a new stock - my homeowners policy would have covered it if thad been lost, but apparently not for this type of damage. The airline paid me the maximum payable under some convention, which came to about C$ 2,500. That did not cover the cost of the repair.

I am fortunate that I can carry the cost of repair. If I could not, I would likely have looked into insurance. As it is, I tend to "self insure".

Hank2211 said:

I don't carry specific insurance for my firearms. The one which was damaged needed a new stock - my homeowners policy would have covered it if thad been lost, but apparently not for this type of damage. The airline paid me the maximum payable under some convention, which came to about C$ 2,500. That did not cover the cost of the repair.

I am fortunate that I can carry the cost of repair. If I could not, I would likely have looked into insurance. As it is, I tend to "self insure".

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Thanks Hank,

The airline will only pay up to $5000 for an additional $50. I am more worried if the case disappears entirely or gets completely destroyed somehow. It took me years to save up to get this rifle and it would be financially difficult to replace it on my own. I have a rider on my homeowners insurance for it and will check with them to see if they cover while traveling. I have 2 barrels, the receiver and bolt housing plus 2 very expensive scopes in the case. It adds up to a lot quite fast!

I have been hunting for over 50 years and have slowly increased and refined my collection of favorite firearms without any insurance besides my Homeowners Policy. I just inquired and found that they will cover stolen firearms or those lost in a fire, etc. up to $5,000 value, limited to $2,500 per item with a $500 deductible. My best recovery on a $12,000 Double Rifle would be $2,000. Ouch. An internet search yielded a company (Collectinsure) that insures collectables including anything you collect or have and their annual rates are very reasonable if you have a 300+ pound safe and are not in a flood zone. The coverage is complete - in or out of the safe, at your range, on a trip, on a plane, car, train, boat, camel, whatever, hunting in the US, Canada and other places such as South Africa. I got a quote for an $18,000 policy to cover the firearms I am taking to Africa this year - premium is $149 per year for a full year's coverage. Staff is friendly and they are used to dealing with firearm owners. Contact Jeannie at jstanca@collectinsure.com. Ed

So I've done a bit of research in this area. Here's what not to do:

1.) Do not get a homeowners policy that covers firearms. They won't pay out FMV. They will charge you 100-300 basis points a year based on declared value. (example: $100,000 coverage...$3000 a year)
2.) Do not buy insurance from the shipper/freight company. They will never pay a claim, they'll blame you, say it wasn't packed correctly, etc.
3.) Do not trust your clever insurance salesman when he offers a great deal, an inland marine policy to cover the guns at only 80-150 basis points a year based on declared value. It's still a gip.
4.) Don't buy the SCI or NRA policies...total scam. They don't pay. They charge a fortune. It's for suckers.

Do google Eastern Insurance / The Hartford "Fine Firearms Insurance". They charge only $160 per year for $50,000 coverage and a $500 deductible. You do not have to schedule your guns unless they exceed $10,000 in value. Since you have a blaser, the action of the blaser is worth <$10,000. Each barrel is <$10,000, each scope is <$10,000, so you're covered for whole or partial loss without scheduling them.

Here's a link. You will not find a better deal or a better policy. https://www.easterninsurance.com/insurance-quotes/personal-insurance/historic-firearms

Best deal in the business. I've had them for years. I had a claim, they paid fairly and timely. No hassle. No disputes.

Thanks. Purchased insurance for the next 12 months but printed and put your info into my 2020 daily planner for when the renewal comes up. Ed

Quick correction:

I looked at my policy today. IT IS NOT a $500 deductible, it is a $100 deductible! Add to that, the only exclusions I saw were a.) theft from an unlocked car, b.) terrorism.

Because under the covers, it is actually a much broader policy being marketed as fine firearms insurance, it has more coverage than you would think. For example, when I spoke with them, they said my collectible / custom fly rods and reels are covered, as are all firearm accessories related to an insured firearm, etc.

Never had an issue traveling with firearms. I bought additional coverage to be added on to my homeowner's insurance policy. It covers all perils, loss & damage even during travel, except damage due to flood as we do not have flood insurance on our home. The price was reasonable. Our insurance carrier is Travelers. They offered a couple of policy options: one was the one we got which was up to $10,000. To get more we had to get a policy based on declared value of each firearm. Neither policy required us to divulge serial #'s. Both covered the firearme "accessories like scopes, slings etc...

BigSteve57 said:

Never had an issue traveling with firearms. I bought additional coverage to be added on to my homeowner's insurance policy. It covers all perils, loss & damage even during travel, except damage due to flood as we do not have flood insurance on our home. The price was reasonable. Our insurance carrier is Travelers. They offered a couple of policy options: one was the one we got which was up to $10,000. To get more we had to get a policy based on declared value of each firearm. Neither policy required us to divulge serial #'s. Both covered the firearme "accessories like scopes, slings etc...

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@BigSteve57 I will bet you a beer you're paying 2x to 10x more for this additional coverage.

To establish facts, would you mind sharing with the group your: Coverage amount, deductible, and annual premium?

Typically, homeowners policies will cover for about 100 to 300 basis points of value, per year. Minimum. $100,000 coverage = $1000-$3000 premium per year, or 100 to 300 basis points. Same for jewels, watches, furs, etc.

Compare to my suggestion, $167 a year for firearm insurance that covers $50,000 in assets with $100 deductible. $100,000 coverage = $334, or 33 basis points.

These threads come up all the time. Every time people extoll the virtues of their agents and their policies, but the data is lacking.

If anyone is paying less than 33 basis points per $1 insured for gun insurance, let me know. I'll eat crow. So confident am I in my statements, that I bet most people are paying MINUMUM 3x and often 12x what they should be paying for coverage. And by the way, not all of them pay out when you have a claim!

I was responding to the OP who asked who had purchased extra insurance their firearms.
I made no assertion that this was the cheapest insurance out there. I made my decision to use the company we had used for many years based on cost, one that has shown us a history of payouts and excellent customer service.

I get $10,000 coverage for replacement value for all perils excluding flood and earthquake. To extend coverage to flood and earthquake I would have to add those options to the host homeowner's policy.
Deductable: zero
$200.00/year.

Thank you for the information on Eastern Insurance / The Hartford "Fine Firearms Insurance". I'll take a look but my decision to purchase from them will not be based solely on cost. No purchase I make with the possible exception of gym socks ever is.

Two translate @BigSteve57 , you're paying 200 basis points per year.

What I've found from homeowners policies, when it comes to claims, they will assert the following:

1.) Due to its age, the firearm was not intended to be used, and the catastrophic failure was due to inappropriate use.
2.) The damage was a result of a latent defect.
3.) The firearm was insured for $10,000, but our "experts" found one online for $1000, therefore, we now dispute the value of the loss and offer you a pittance.
4.) The repairs cost only $500 to make the weapon servicable. We will not pay to send it to Europe for reproofing. We will not cover the necessary refinishing that must happen after reproofing. We will not cover the catastrophic loss if it fails during reproofing.
5.) The damage was due to misuse.
6.) The damage was caused by neglect in packing.
7.) The damage caused by bad repair/gunsmithing is not covered. Loss of value due to this is not covered.

I spent about ten years of my life working for insurance companies. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Here's what I can tell you happened to me with my excellent fine-firearm insurer that worked very well:

A.) The barrels were damaged in transport. Ribs separated, regulating wedge moved.
B.) Cost to relay the ribs, rebrown the barrels once solder is on them again, send to Europe, reproof, build regulating loads to CIP spec, will take 2 years and cost X.
C.) After "curing" the issues of the claim, the residual value of the now "restored" versus "original" gun is a depreciation of X in value.

Their answer: No problem. We will pay you for the claim fairly. We will let you buy the damaged/destroyed gun for residual value if you'd like to poke around trying to get it fixed over years of time, we realize we cannot have claims open for years and years "hoping" it gets fixed. They settled fairly, they let me buy the "rubble" back from them at the fair value of the damaged item.

Oh, and they paid me for the custom ammo that was now worthless for the rifle that lost regulation. They paid me for the very rare oak and leather case for the gun that had its highest value with its original gun. They paid me for accessories that were useful only for the firearm in question.

Flawless claims execution. I was made whole on the loss. They understood the gun, what was required to fix the gun, that there were a dozen people in the world that could fix the gun, and that there would be loss of value through the repair. <- No common insurer would go along with these reasonable arguments, they would wear you down until you took pennies.

This is the only time in my experience where the insurer was fair and expeditious. I've seen every shananigan you can imagine with insurance claims but Eastern Insurance (Hartford) does not play those games.