Do you have receipts fo your gear?

[Unican_Eric]

A thought has come over me while reading a post from rgrjit8 that asked if you have had any of your gear ripped off. There was a reply from brainsmasher that said the police were at his place to investigate such a thing but its what the cops said that made me think. COP: "You sure have alot of gear here". or something like that.
This has got me thinking. Some of my gear was bought at pawn shops with receipts and some without. Some on ebay and from yard sales and newspaper ads with no receipts at all.
Should we not have some type of catalogue or something with a record of receipts or computer printouts(ebay) so that we might not be looked at funny by the police if they ever need be on our property. I mean it would look like we were a fence for stolen electronics with some of the numbers of gear we have. I am about 60 peices or more now.
Do you have a system to prove you stuff is not stolen if ever asked?? :scratch2:

 

[Alfaman]

Im not nearly close to 60 pieces but would not be to concerned the burden of proof would be on them. At least the way I understand the law in the USA. I'm sure Canada is the same.

Alfaman

 

[mobydud]

I'd just point them to my eBay feedback. That oughta be enough!

:roflmao:

 

[Wireworm5]

I keep receipts for everything. I also took an inventory of all my electronics with my digital camera. Then with my photo editing program I typed in the serial #, where I bought it, invoice #, and how much I paid. Then I super imposed this type onto the photo. I copied everything onto a cd using Jpeg and made 3 copies that I store in seperate locations. This was very time consuming however, it took me two days or three days to complete when I only anticipated a couple hours at the start.
The beauty of this is you can view the stuff on your tv, computer and if need be you could e-mail a photo to an insurance adjustor.
I was thinking of doing this inventory as a small business for people's valuables. But most people I asked about it said they wouldn't pay for this service when they could do it themselves. Surprizinly very few people do it. But I can tell you if you ever get B&E you would be grateful to have such a record of your gear.

 

[Toasted Almond]

I keep a logbook of everything bought/sold. Where I bought it, date of purchase, amount paid. Date of sale, who purchased, amount received. The burden of proof is on them, not me.

 

[bookasan]

I do the same exact thing as TA. If the law ever did go into my garage, thier first thought would probably be that I ripped off every house in the neigborhood. Only 2 kinds of people would have that much gear. A thief or an AK member.

They would have to have cause for susspision before they could even assume the stuff was hot. If they did assume it was hot, they would have to prove it.

 

[Manitoulin]

Keep serial numbers, and pictures... (long, but important)

When my car stereo was stolen, the insurance company wanted:
1. Receipts
2. Serial numbers
3. Bill of sale or proof of ownership
4. Owner's manuals
5. Photos of equipment installed.

They kept 1, 3 and 4 in order to pay me. They even wanted the cases from the CDs or no money...

After the shock of the loss of my car stereo, I was told to qualify for home audio equipment collections (like my h/k stuff) insurance, anything over and above what is considered normal would require a separate rider. In other words, I have 11 receivers in a three bedroom condo. Max allowed for normal coverage is 5 (3 x BR, LR and Rec room). Therefore, I must continually submit a detailed list of what I own and my rates change as I buy and sell. This sounds stupid, but it is a fact of life. Read the fine print on your policy. There is no standard homeowners or tenants policy that covers any collection, be it audio, CDs, stamps, etc.

If you do not have receipts, keep a list of serial numbers and photos (better yet a continuous video of a walk-through of the house showing all the stuff owned with close-ups of serial numbers). This is especially true for CDs. Keep a running list, with as much details as possible on how and where you bought them (i.e. store, garage sale), etc..

DO NOT ASSUME COVERAGE just because you have homeowners (or tenants) insurance! State Farm, as will most other insurance companies, will ask for qualified proof . This I know for sure as the ex works for SF and told me of many sob-stories where the claims were denied due to lack of proof.

The best advice I can give you is:
1. Get replacement cost insurance. This protects against depreciation.
2. Document everything. Even the simplest things like patch cords and speaker wire.
3. Ask you insurance broker if your collection requires extra coverage (a rider). If it does, pay for it.
4. Do not advertise your collection. As another thread notes, most burglaries are done by someone known to the victim. Do not boast or advertise your collection to strangers.
5. Keep copies of all records offsite. If the house burns down with the pictures and receipts, you are SOL (with State Farm for sure). DO you honestly think that any insurance company will pay you for your collection if you simply tell them you have one?

Remember, insurance is another form of gambling. You are assuming the worst, the insurance company is hoping for the best. Who will win? Normally the insurance company if you have no proof of loss.

 

[Soran]

I have a green manual for my first rotel rx-1603. I have the bill from 1981 on my fathers name, and i have the serial number 650 53109
I have a blue manual for my second rx-1603. I have the bill from the first owner in 1979. I have my own bill that i bought it. I have the serial number 720 96516
And of course i have a lot of pictures.

 

[Strawman]

I was discussing this topic with my brother lasr night, we think that is a good idea to have some current date stamped video of the equipment on your premises, as well as blue book/or current E-pay type replacement costs. Granted, this may only be of value for fire or some other disaster unless you have a specific rider like on jewelery (the wife's hobby, but itgenerally goes up in value) You might want to pick your insurance agent's,(cringe) brain on this. If you're like me, sometimes you have to shred the money order receipt after you get your prized "fill in the blank". Kind of like digging a hole and burying the shovel. <grin>

 

[Manitoulin]

Do not overlook the obvious...

Simple , but often overlooked trick is to start the video with a shot of the TV on a channel that lists the date/time, like the weather channel , then do the inventory.

A query; was my information previously posted good info, or did I babble?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[luvvinvinyl]

Joe, it made very good sense to me, but I am not always the best judge of what might make sense to many people.

 

[mentalmonkey]

Great Post! My wife accually asked me about this the other day. I got to start documenting (pictures) my gear. Scarry thought of someone losing all thier hard gotten treasures.

 

[dshoaf]

Lost it all in a house fire....

about 10 years ago. Marantz, some Bose - no loss there, lots of CDs and all my original LPs from the late 60s/early 70s. As others have noted, I had to provide *lots* of documentation.

Its tedious but I learned that the claims department just wants to pass their audits and there's definitely a 'thud factor' in play when it comes to claims. That is, give them far *more* paperwork than they're asking for. This worked for me as I was never questioned about any part of my claim that ultimately came in at about $200K in all.

I do hope no one ever has to go through it as I did.

Cheers,

David

 

[abpeep]

I've done a couple of things to try to document what I have before I try to talk to the insurance company about being sure my stuff is covered.

I built a spreadsheet to document my LP collection and input as much info as I can, including Goldmine value or what I know I paid on some of the stuff that may be of more than minimal value. Goldmine shows what the various pressings are worth and has values for VG, VG+ and NM. I try to listen and do an objective grading of them to determine a value. I also have a field to include comments that back up my valuation - generally how to identify which pressing I have. How much of this info will be accepted I don't know but could prove to be worth the effort considering that I have many LPs that are valued at more than 5 bucks and some into the 20-25 dollar range. I know someone who had records stolen and the insurance company accepted the fact that he had about 1,000 albums but allowed him $.25 per LP.

I also have a folder in Outlook that I keep all emails related to buying on ebay. But I don't have any receipts for a few items that I have bought at the thrifts.

Will take some pics also. Digital should have capability of date capture, if not on the print, then it should be in the file info.

Probably need to burn a CD with all this info and keep it in the safe deposit box.

Alan

 

[Manitoulin]

Any pictures should show identifiable proof the unit is in your house. Closeups with no background should be done only after long shots, otherwise the insurance company can claim that electronic pictures may have been downloaded. Date stamps are handy, but are not considered as proof, as they are user inputted.

 

[kcollins4]

Guys,
As long as you're at it, you might as well do all the valuables in your house. After a recent burglary of my home, I realized the importance of some kind of proof for your valuables. Think of how much jewelry your wives or girlfriends have. Even just cheap stuff. It adds up. Pictures on cd's kept at a relatives house is a good idea too in case of fire, for all your stuff. 30 minutes with a digital camera could protect thousands of dollars of accumulated stuff. The cops even like pictures of where everything was sitting to keep track of a burglars patterns. :thmbsp:

 

[Tom Blasing]

I even have receipts for stuff I don't own anymore.

except for the turntable.