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.