If you have a gun collection, you should consider insuring your firearms. The U. S. is estimated to have 466 million guns with nearly half of U. S. households possessing at least one gun. It’s not always the case that your homeowners insurance provides coverage with incidents involving your gun collection. Also, the coverage that you carry may be insufficient to sufficiently cover the costs. There are different ways of insuring your firearms that we will review in this article.
Three Different Ways To Insure Your Guns
1. Homeowners Policy without an endorsement – Insuring firearms under your homeowners insurance without an endorsement will offer some very limited coverage. Your current homeowners insurance most likely protects somewhere between $1,000.00 and $2,000.0 in firearm losses. This coverage for loss would be by default within your personal property limits.
2. Homeowners Policy with an.endorsement -You may add an endorsement under your homeowners policy to insure your firearms with special coverages and higher limits.
Generally, the firearm endorsement can be added at different pre-determined levels. Sometimes in increments of $5,000.00. However, some insurance companies may require documentation of your gun’s serial number. Also, be aware that in most cases homeowner’s policies do not cover accidental damage. Finally, homeowners policies frequently limit coverage to theft/burglary and loss or damage caused by a house fire or flooding.
3. Collectibles Insurance – Collectibles insurance many times offers broader coverage than a homeowners policy endorsement. Unlike an endorsement, collectible insurance may expand coverage to loss in the mail, accidental breakage and more. Additionally, in many cases collectible insurance programs may also cover ammunition, gun safes and more.
This separate policy allows you to match the policy closer to your collections actual value. These policies generally do not require serial numbers for insuring your firearms valued under $20,000.00. The Blue Book of Gun Values may be used to determine the value of your firearms.
To learn more about scheduling and insuring your firearms, call you FAPCO agent.