Have people got their hifi equipment insured just that it’s so expensive have people got it covered.?
Don’t know what it’s like in the UK but sometimes in the US electronic equipment is included in base coverage, sometimes it not (requiring a “rider” to be purchased on top of the base policy).
Part of normal home insurance here in Germany. To be sure, I informed my insurance company about the system and its components, had them add it to the total insured amount (making sure that lightning, overvoltage, etc. is included). Photos and receipts saved off-site is recommended
I live in ireland and I think it’s only a base coverage I must check what’s covered on home insurance.
ALWAYS check with YOUR insurer, whatever anybody else’s insurance contract says won’t help you 
Make sure they pay new value
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Oh, another thing here in the US, Insurance companies are increasingly forcing owners to carry high deductibles (“excess”) in their coverage - usually in the $1000-$2500+ range. Otherwise, coverage becomes prohibitively expensive.
It’s usually covered under standard contents I.e it doesn’t fit the description of easily portable valuables like cameras, watches or jewellery or works of art.
Having said that many of the systems here are unusually high in value, I would say keep receipts, photos , boxes etc .
Your system photo may be worth a lot . Personally I cannot wait to tell a loss adjuster what I think the value of my 19 year old CDX2 is at today’s prices.
It may be my one and only chance to watch spontaneous human combustion
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No so bad over here, you can elect to have a deductible of your choice and depending on this the premium becomes lower, but it’s affordable even without a deductible. Comes down to personal taste.
Yet another reason to check with one’s own insurer (and compare offers with others)
Usually will be like that (but best to check). Good point with the high value. Make sure that either the coverage is high enough for the real value of the whole household or make sure that the contract includes a waiver of under-insurance.
What many people don’t know: If you are under-insured, the payout is always only the insured percentage, for every payout.
Meaning that if the value of the household items is 100K and the insurance coverage is 50K, you are 50% under-insured. Even of damage is just 1K , you still only get 500 payout, the same 50%.
If the contract includes a waiver of under-insurance, it takes care of this, ensuring that you get 100% payout up to the insured amount of 50K. It’s also a way to avoid high premiums if you are quite sure that any accident will never take out your whole belongings. (But in a fire you can’t be sure really).
In the context of expensive systems (and the living situations in many photos) it is probably best to make sure that the coverage is simply high enough for all you have, and bite the premium bullet
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Or go for a policy that is unlimited value and based on the size of house. You have to declare art, jewellery, stamp collections etc above some £K but the concepts of insured value and under insurance don’t apply.
Basically though you can’t do it on the cheap.
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I think both of you may be right, it’s a long time since I worked in general insurance, what Suedkiez is describing is “ average “, theses days a lot of household insurance is based on simple questions of type of house and sum insured is either £50,000 or less or over £50,000 or over .
David is spot on when he says “don’t do it on the cheap”
You wouldn’t attach Titan speakers to a Naim Statement with bell wire
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What @davidhendon describes seems exactly the waiver-of-underinsurance scheme that I meant. It may have a different name in UK but it’s clearly implicit: Premium and coverage is based on averages per square meter (i.e. house size) and the insurer won’t check the actual values, i.e., effectively waives his right to claim underinsurance (in Gemany, these actual words are in the contract). However, there is usually a max coverage in this scheme because the insurance people are not fools, and if your actual value exceeds the limit, you are still out of luck for the part that exceeds it.
Alternatively, you can go by real value and tell them an insured sum - in this case, it’s your job to be sure that the value is not too low.
With the systems and living arrangements on display on the forum, it is in any case best to verify that the value does not exceed any limits the average/size-based scheme may have.
I gave the following reply to a similar question on the forum about this time last year & stand by what I said then:-
"As I stated earlier, I am a retired insurance broker with 45 years in the industry.
Most of you here appear to be buying your cover direct from the insurers. Why not let a broker do the work for you? My premium has changed no more than £30 in the 5 years since I retired & actually went down £7 this year with a major insurer that I have faith in when it comes to making any claims.
The direct writers, including the big names currently buy in your business cheap & usually apply a large price hike at first renewal, hoping you either won’t notice or you can’t be bothered to shop around each year. They don’t really care if you renew or not, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
This situation may change as the Financial Conduct Authority have just demanded that insurers play fair & offer the same premiums to both new & existing customers. It is possible that this could come in force sometime next year but I understand that insurers may strongly resist.
An insurance broker will be desperate to hold onto your business by quoting you the best terms possible as, at best, they will only break even on the commission they are paid in the first year of the policy. The profit starts to be earned from year two onwards.
Ian2001 made a lot of good points earlier in this thread & I will try not to repeat them. I would however add to his comments as follows:-
1 Check that the overall sum insured is sufficient to replace all your contents at replacement cost, not just you Hi Fi. If your Hi Fi is worth £20,000 & the rest of your house contents another £50,000 but you only allow 25,000 for them you will receive a reduced pay out for a theft for example, even if it is only the Hi Fi that is taken & you had allowed the full £20,000 for it.
2 As has been said your domestic Hi Fi is normal contents & not Personal Possessions but will not be covered outside you home by most policies. If you do take it, or parts of it, away on holiday etc & require cover, speak to your insurer/broker.
3 New for old cover is known as ‘Reinstatement’ & this term will be in your policy. Very few UK policies are not new for old, ‘Indemnity’, cover. If you do have one I suggest you consider changing it. Good for lower premiums but a disaster if you need to make a substantial claim unless you have thousands of pounds lying around that you don’t know what to do with. With their prices, not a situation many Naim users will find themselves in!
4 Accidental Damage cover costs about 15% more that ‘Specified Perils Only’ cover & is, in my opinion, well worth the extra. You are more likely to damage equipment whilst decorating than lose it in a fire/flood etc.
5 Make sure your policies single item limit (if it has one) is adequate to cover your £20,000+ 500 series. If not, speak to your insurer.
6 Finally, ‘at last’ I can hear you saying, insurers are very good at paying claims if you are properly insured. This is contrary to popular belief but is never the less true. Whoever is asked to pay a claim for a damaged Hi Fi, the claims handler will be happy to pay out £500/£1,000 with very few questions. Most of them are only human & will not believe an amp costs £20,000 or a cartridge £2/3000. Mind you I have always found it odd they don’t blink over a £20,000 Rolex! Therefore make sure you have all receipts & serial numbers for kit & photos if possible. This will prove you actually owned it & that it will cost what you are claiming to replace it. For the ultra cautious provide the insurer with full details of your system before taking out the policy. They will probably say you don’t need to but I would insist they acknowledge that you have provide details as it makes any future claim dealing easier & quicker & very difficult for them to avoid liability.
Follow these points & you should be as well covered as it is possible to be!
If you have got this far give yourself a big pat on the back!
Hope someone finds this information useful."
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Very good advice. Can only underline the broker thing, I didn’t think to mention it because it seems obvious to me. A good one will listen and ask the right questions so that you have the best coverage and price for your needs.
(Either that, or if you are already comfortable with the intricacies, use one of the many websites that compare premiums. Read carefully)
This is not true of the scheme I am thinking of. The cover is unlimited. I’m sure it varies from market to market though.
yeah, may vary and there may well be legal mandates in some jurisdictions. I am surprised if any insurer would let you insure a diamond-and-gold mansion with 30 Statement systems in 60 rooms for the average per-qm value of UK households though 
I did do this for 40 years, but ultimately my business wasn’t enough to justify them taking it seriously and after a laughably poor insurance renewal proposal put together I can only assume by a work experience kid, I went elsewhere.
Doesn’t say a lot for my industry & sadly I can imagine this happening nowadays. Even worse now when often done by a few button pushes on a computer.
‘When I was a boy’ we were trained rather better than todays youngsters. Good brokers are still around but you have to work a little harder to find them.
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