17 Jul
2014
17 Jul
'14
7:59 a.m.
On Thu, Jul 17, 2014 at 8:27 AM, Tobias Russell
<tobiasrussell1971 at googlemail.com> wrote:
I asked a specialist insurer a few years ago about
insurance for vintage
computers and basically they said that they would only insure if they were
never turned on as they assessed the fire risk to be too great to provide
cover. If you can find one that will ensure, its often just a case of
getting an agreed value that is backed up by an experts opinion.
I have a special rider for "computer and dataprocessing equipment" on
my homeowners policy (from when I ran a support biz from my home)...
I'd have to check if there are any modifications, but if that gets
raised as an issue by the agent, perhaps one could get a rider that
excludes electrical fire (or fire where the equipment is the source)
but still covers theft, water damage or loss by fire from another
source (since most house fires (in a non-smoking household) start in
the kitchen or are caused by space heaters or extension cord
overloading.
Value, of course, is still an issue to be solved. I think *in
general* unless it's rare and expensive (5-figure) stuff (Apple Lisa,
Apple 1...) it might not be worth the hassle of trying to negotiate
the policy and come up with appropriate coverage and premium rates.
Look at what's currently being done for luxury household goods (gems,
furs, original art, stamp and coin collections...) as a starting point
for estimating the costs and hassle. That segment has decades of
experience behind it, so trying to insure vintage/collectible
computers won't be _easier_ than that, and is likely to be quite a bit
more difficult to come to terms on.
-ethan