Heritage insurance

[dbintegrity]

Originally Posted by crnazz

Will Heritage cover a guitar that you've just sold and is now in route to the buyer?
My insurance rider, for my guitars, states that, once sold, it is no longer covered even though the buyer hasn't received it yet.

Yes, Contact them prior to shipping and they will note it. Once it arrives in good shape it will then be removed from the policy....

[crnazz]

Originally Posted by dbintegrity

Yes, Contact them prior to shipping and they will note it. Once it arrives in good shape it will then be removed from the policy....

That's awesome!

(cuz, as you may see from my previous post, I just don't put much faith in the insurance with the various carriers).

[dbintegrity]

Originally Posted by crnazz

That's awesome!

(cuz, as you may see from my previous post, I just don't put much faith in the insurance with the various carriers).

And for good reason....

[Deliberate1]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

I'll give you my experience on a claim. It wasn't a total loss so I'm unsure if they'd just pay out the full price or what. I had a D18 I insured for full replacement cost of 2450 last year. It was cracked in shipping at the tailblock. When I opened the claim they asked if my repairman could provide a quote for repair along with the loss of value of the instrument. My repair guy wasn't comfortable with value as he doesn't watch the market. After making the claim with Heritage the claim was immediately handed off to a case manager at Traveler's Insurance (who my policy was through at the time).

We discussed it and they wanted an appraisal to determine the loss of value. I sent detailed photos to Gruhn's for that. Gruhn's estimated the guitar to be worth $1900 in excellent condition with a loss of value of $500 because of damage. So it really didn't matter that I had it insured for $2450 in this case because that was more than what it was worth. So Traveller's cut me a check for the repair, appraisal, and $500.

As you can see there's a fine line on valuation. If you overvalue your instruments you could be paying too much in premiums. If you undervalue you could lose out.

Thanks for the tale. As an attorney, I have handled more than a few property damage claims, mostly involving vehicles. Your experience, and resolution, sounds familiar. Glad it all worked out for you.
David

[Jwills57]

I have Heritage Insurance on quite a few guitars. Been a customer for over 25 years. In my experience Heritage is an excellent company, reasonable rates, easy to contact, responsive to questions. When I first looked into insuring my guitars, I was warned off just purchasing a rider on my homeowners policy, because of hidden restrictions and problems with valuations. For instance if you took your insured guitar out of your house and it was damaged, coverage could be significantly less than if the guitar was actually damaged inside your house. So, I called Heritage and was completely satisfied with all the information I received. Maybe Heritage is a bit more expensive than the homeowners rider route, but for the peace of mind, it's definitely been worth it for me.

[crnazz]

Re: Heritage

I will be very interested to find out what my homeowners "Valuable Personal Property" rider ends up paying on the damaged/and then lost Taylor.

This will be the first time I've submitted a claim with them. If not up to my expectations, I'm switching to Heritage. OK, so USAA, if you're listening - this is a "test"!

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by crnazz

Re: Heritage

I will be very interested to find out what my homeowners "Valuable Personal Property" rider ends up paying on the damaged/and then lost Taylor.

This will be the first time I've submitted a claim with them. If not up to my expectations, I'm switching to Heritage. OK, so USAA, if you're listening - this is a "test"!

While this may be a good course of action for you, consider that most insurance premiums are increased following any significant claim. Insurance companies do not lose money. Ever. They may cover your loss, but when your premium goes up remember it's you paying them back for the claim they paid you. It sucks, but that how it usually works. They will raise your premium, but since you feel good about their claim service you'll likely pay it... and if you decide to switch to a different insurance company, they will have access to your prior claims and will factor that into their premium calculations.

It would be best if the shipping company could step up and acknowledge that it is their liability.

[crnazz]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

While this may be a good course of action for you, consider that most insurance premiums are increased following any significant claim. Insurance companies do not lose money. Ever. They may cover your loss, but when your premium goes up remember it's you paying them back for the claim they paid you. It sucks, but that how it usually works. They will raise your premium, but since you feel good about their claim service you'll likely pay it... and if you decide to switch to a different insurance company, they will have access to your prior claims and will factor that into their premium calculations.

It would be best if the shipping company could step up and acknowledge that it is their liability.

Good point. And one that I should consider. I will be evaluating the process as we go.

[Tim McKnight]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

Do you know how Heritage pays in the event of a loss?

We had a business policy with a Heritage for several years and then had ONE claim that was an absolute nightmare to settle. It took MONTHS and only after we filed a claim with the BBB Heriatge finally agreed to reimburse us for the loss of ONE guitar damaged in shipping.

[StringMeUp]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

We had a business policy with a Heritage for several years and then had ONE claim that was an absolute nightmare to settle. It took MONTHS and only after we filed a claim with the BBB Heriatge finally agreed to reimburse us for the loss of ONE guitar damaged in shipping.

Thanks, Tim. That is good to know.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

We had a business policy with a Heritage for several years and then had ONE claim that was an absolute nightmare to settle. It took MONTHS and only after we filed a claim with the BBB Heriatge finally agreed to reimburse us for the loss of ONE guitar damaged in shipping.

Bummer. I’ve had two claims with them. One was damage in shipping, and they fell all over themselves to get me a check before I’d even gotten the appraisal. Second was a lost guitar with ups, and they sent a guy out who found it promptly. Sounds like you did get your money which means, to this day, I’ve not met anyone who hasn’t received payment for a loss.

[Tim McKnight]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

Bummer. I’ve had two claims with them. One was damage in shipping, and they fell all over themselves to get me a check before I’d even gotten the appraisal. Second was a lost guitar with ups, and they sent a guy out who found it promptly. Sounds like you did get your money which means, to this day, I’ve not met anyone who hasn’t received payment for a loss.

Glad to read that you had a more positive experience than we did. We immediately refunded the recipients full purchase price of the guitar which we built for them but I found it very poor business practice for Heritage to drag their feet for MONTHS to reimburse us for the only claim we ever filed with them after being their customer for many years. We paid far more in premiums over those years than the single claim which we filled so it was not like they were losing any money. A bad experience like that made us realize there are plenty of other insurance agencies willing to take our business.

[The Bard Rocks]

I am dealing with a small repair issue now, trying to make sure it was actually shipping damage. They are trying very hard to settle this with me and I am proving to be the difficult one here as I first want to make sure it is a legitimate claim.

Tim's experience sure runs counter to my own - and those few i have real about. I am no lover of insurance companies in general but have this feeling that maybe I should be with Heritage (which is an agency, not an insurance company). If Tim's is not the only voice in the wilderness, I'd like to hear more and restore my inherant lack of faith in insurance companies! I know they recently moved from Traveler's to another firm and wonder if there was one before Travelers that they may have severed relations with because of such difficulties that Tim experienced.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by crnazz

Re: Heritage



I will be very interested to find out what my homeowners "Valuable Personal Property" rider ends up paying on the damaged/and then lost Taylor.



This will be the first time I've submitted a claim with them. If not up to my expectations, I'm switching to Heritage. OK, so USAA, if you're listening - this is a "test"!

Remember that Heritage is no deductible coverage.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

We had a business policy with a Heritage for several years and then had ONE claim that was an absolute nightmare to settle. It took MONTHS and only after we filed a claim with the BBB Heriatge finally agreed to reimburse us for the loss of ONE guitar damaged in shipping.

You would have been dealing with a claims adjuster from the underwriter, Travelers or The Hartford. Do you remember which company?