2015 Nebraska Hunt

[BretN]

Tom,

Sorry to hear about your rifle. Good luck with your insurance company. One thing I've learned recently from a roof claim we made is to just keep jumping through the hoops. If you are persistent with the claims rep and keep giving them all the documentation they want, you will eventually get paid. But stick with it and don't accept less than what you think is fair. Verify your scope still works, that can be added to the claim if broken. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Wis65x55]

Tom,
The thought that crosses my mind is whether the hard side gun case compromised in some way that may not be immediately apparent?
Keith

 

[DrMike]

In light of your experience with that fine rifle, Tom, I found the following article timely.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/...y-up-for-damaged-checked-luggage/?intcmp=hpff

These two paragraphs are especially pertinent.

"On Nov. 25, the DOT issued a notice to airlines after recent airport inspections “uncovered the fact that certain airlines routinely exclude liability for damage to specific parts of checked baggage.” Under current federal law, carriers are responsible for reimbursing damage incurred to handles, zippers, wheels and other exterior parts of luggage left in their care.

But the investigation found that airline baggage policies of several carriers state they won't reimburse passengers for any damage incurred --which is a direct violation of the law. In Sept., the federal agency investigated incidents among airlines at 16 different foreign and international airports and found that “certain airlines may be refusing to accept reports of such damage"-- meaning that customers who complained were simply turned away."

 

[tddeangelo]

Interesting.

They'll certainly take my claim, but they absolve themselves of liability since I didn't make a claim within 4 hrs of landing and there is no damage to the hard case in which it was stored.

I was told if I make a claim with AA, they'll "consider the situation and make a decision".

 

[Wis65x55]

Tom,

Don't let that 4 hour policy stand in the way of making a claim. From my paralegal training, this kind of a policy would never survive one second in most courtrooms or jurisprudence reasoning!
Keith

 

[tddeangelo]

I just remembered that I had gotten something from the NRA a long while ago, like a year or so, give or take. It said I could just activate at no cost firearms damage/theft insurance. I remember doing so, but I can't find any verification of it. Anyway, I looked it up, and it is apparently what they call "ArmsCare" insurance, covering up to $2500. I applied to file a claim tonight and get the forms via email. Before I proceed further with Homeowners, I'm going to run this down. This might be the best option of them all, depending on what they do. What I could google up on this insurance is generally pretty positive.

Fingers crossed!

 

[SJB358]

That sounds positive!

Good luck. Hope it works out.

Might be a good time to have the throat lengthened too, while your working it.

 

[DrMike]

Hey, we're all pulling for you, Tom. Hope you never have to use it again; and I hope I never have to use it.

 

[tddeangelo]

Moral of the story- I just need to do the stock replacement on my own dime and move on.

American could give a rat's behind, and getting a lawyer just isn't worth it. And they know that, I'm sure.

Homeowners is forcing the higher deductible of the policy. While I have a firearms endorsement, they say this goes against my general homeowners and not the firearms coverage. Awesome.

NRA insurance pays if homeowners won't. Initial contact with them leads me to believe I'm going to spend a lot of time chasing paper for not much end result.

So, I'm pretty much done. They all have this setup to make it a pain to pursue and it worked for them in my case. Between work and family and the holidays, I just don't have the fight in me for this.

But it doesn't mean I'm happy about it. Far from it.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Damn Airlines Companies. Its probably in their employee manual to do stuff like this whenever a gun owner comes through. After all, we are probably off to "murder Cecil the Lion" somewhere.

It will be a cold day in a hot place before I fly with American Airlines ever again.

Sorry this happened to you friend. Insurance, insures nothing these days. Seems they all have some sort of wiggle room on any imaginable scenario.

Dale

 

[tddeangelo]

You're sure right about the wiggle room.

I talked to my local rep for my insurance. He's a genuinely good guy and tries to help anyway he can.

This is making me revisit my insurance on the firearms. Of particular concern to me is my custom flintlock long rifle that was a high dollar item. They won't offer a policy to cover theft of it to the amount it cost to have it made. Mind boggling.

 

[DrMike]

That stinks even worse than I thought! Insurance! It's hard to feel positive about the insurers. Don't even get me started on the incident when my truck was hit a couple of weeks ago.

 

[tddeangelo]

I can, if it really comes to it, slap a Medalist on that rifle to get it working again. Not what I bought it to have, but for $300 or so I can make it usable again.

I'd prefer to more appropriately stock it as the SuperGrade that it is. At this point, that has to wait till the holidays come and go before I can start sorting that out.

My bigger issue is how to actually insure my firearms, as having them actually protected in a meaningful way is proving to be quite a challenge.

 

[tddeangelo]

Just as an FYI, I decided to post to American's Facebook page. They did acknowledge the post, but nothing more. In hopes of putting a little pressure on them via shares/distribution of the situation, I shared that Facebook post on the Winchester Model 70 group, and was told by the forum admin there that:

(1) the damage to my rifle was my fault, and I should "put my big boy pants on and accept responsibility"; and

(2) My "drama" was not welcome in the group.

Just something to know if you participate in that group.

 

[Dr. Vette]

There are companies that specifically insure firearms. Generally speaking your homeowners company doesn't care about anything but its own bottom line, and if you really want to insure your firearms then get a company that specializes in it.

Think of it along the same lines as finding a specialty insurer for older / classic cars.

 

[tddeangelo]

Yes, I am finding that out. They flat out won't insure my custom flintlock for what it's worth. They'll insure it, but for only about 2/3 of what it cost to have it built, as that's the limit for benefits on whatever type of policy it is that they say is the right policy for that item.

A high school classmate of mine deals with insurance and is interested in the business, lol, so she's coming out to meet with my wife and I to discuss the issue and see if her company can help.

Since I'm not holding my breath there, I guess I need to start looking for the right company.

 

[truck driver]

That's a tough one for sure Tom I'm sorry to here about what your going threw. I do know about insurance companies and their bottom line is to not pay off on claims as when the idiot hit my truck and ran thinking it was slow and I couldn't keep up to him but he got caught and went to jail after several postponements by his lawyer and only then did his insurance agree to pay my bills.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've done some looking since your post, as I'd like to also check out some firearm-specific insurance.

http://www.corevensguninsurance.com/fir ... ollectors/

https://www.easterninsurance.com/

http://www.siai.net/index.asp

http://collectinsure.com/

These appear to be the best ones to compare. If anyone else has recommendations please add them. FYI, for SIAI you need to be a member in one of their approved organizations. If their quote beats others it might be worth an SCI or similar membership. I see that Nat'l Sporting Clay Assn is only a $500 lifetime membership, 1/3 the cost of an SCI life membership. Might be worth it even if I only shoot sporting clays a few times a year. :grin:

I have a list of all of my firearms, serial numbers, etc. Time to update the values in order to get some quotes.