• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Lost everything in a fire

Quadman2 said:
Man, so sorry to hear of your loss! Nice gear you had, eh? Electrical fire?

Do want to go vintage or modern? Used or new?

Does size of footprint matter?

Going for 4 speaker set-up, or trad 2 channel?


Q
Click to expand...
Sorry, I intended to explain the answer to the first part of this question and just forgot to. My neighbors who I love like family were burning old business paperwork that was long out of date. Why they wouldn’t hire a shredding service is beyond me but here we are. They have a nice fire ring in their backyard and we’re using it for burning these file boxes of paperwork. As they thought the ashes were cold they were adding them to their flowerbeds (suppose to help the flowers). I was out of town picking up a racecar when I got a call from another neighbor telling me my fence was on fire and that he had been hosing it down with a waterhose to put it out, he asked if he could come into my yard to extinguish from both sides. Later that day the neighbor who started the fire called, apologizing profusely, explained what happened and had already sent her husband to the store to buy the lumber that was burned in the fire (it wasn’t much). It was a small incident, a few pickets and I knew it was an accident. Early the next morning however some of those ashes flared up, started the fire back again, caught the fence on fire and quickly spread to the things I had on the other side of the fence, then to the shop and the rest is history. I had a cherry 1969 Olds Cutlass in there with loads of custom parts, powder coated suspension, detailed engine compartment, perfect interior etc. 4 motorcycles including a Gas Gas trials bike, a 2stroke dirtbike of my kids and two vintage HONDA CB and CL 200 motorcycles and a Quicksilver Ultralight Airplane. Not to mention 10’s of thousands dollars worth of car and motorcycle parts. I’m a car guy, 90% of what I have in there were automobiles and automobile parts along with something near $10k in audio equipment. Soooo, no electrical fire, an avoidable accident on the neighbors fault. What does recovery look like? Well the insurance company took one look at the building and considered it a total loss and sent a check for the structure right away. The contents are a different story. I have a replacement cost policy, but the way they work is they pay ACV first (actual cash value). So to get the MOST out of your insurance policy you need to make a detailed list of EVERY single item in the shop, whether it was a total loss, a partial loss or something that just has smoke damage. A good insurance companies policy is to make you whole again. To that effect I’m making a list of every single item, line by line, along with a description of the item, a model number of the item (Google is your friend here) and a price for the item, and the NEW/REPLACEMENT cost. In some items that are no longer available I went to eBay and other Google sites and found the best condition version of the item I was looking for, took a screen shot and added it to my list. You also need to add an approximate date you acquired the item, or how old it is. The insurance company will then use some algorithm to determine what they think these items are worth now and they will issue a check for that amount. Because I have replacement cost policy, as I replace any of these items they will reimburse me for the difference they originally paid and what the new price is. There are some items I won’t replace, I’ll just get ACV value for them, there are other items I will definitely replace. There is a LOT more to how it works and what is and what isn’t paid for for example, project cars and motorcycles and they’re parts are NOT covered under your regular home owners policy. If you want more info you can ask me here so everyone can know or you can PM me, either is fine. I’d be happy to explain.

Sorry to be so long winded but I felt like it might be helpful to some.
 
Sad for the overall loss, but esp for that vint "Olds" loss. :(

Good input on the destroyed Classic, as to needing to have separate vintage insurance coverage, and the tedious job of having to account for other losses after the event.

Accidents happen, however some can be avoided. Hope your follow up goes as expected!


Thanks for that detailed share! :thumbsup:


Q
 
Cars, motorcycles, airplanes and their assorted parts are NOT covered under your contents insurance. Your policy probably has a small amount for these parts, like mine did, of $2500. If you have individual coverage on all of these vehicles, you should be covered, I didn’t have coverage on each item because they were currently “projects”. By the way, classic car insurance from a place like Hagerty is stupid cheap, $100-150 a year and it’s agreed upon coverage if you say it’s worth $30k and can justify it that’s what they insure it for. Of course you never think something like this is going to happen. Luckily since my neighbor started the fire I used their insurance policy to cover ALL of my automotive parts and pieces, almost over $150k. My insurance is picking up all of the contents of my shop, 90% tools and 10% audio as well as the building itself. My neighbor, who is a doctor and a surgeon had low rate coverage insurance, likely from a crappy insurance salesperson who didn’t bother explaining why you need more and how cheap it is to go higher. His liability insurance was only $100,000. For reference, my liability policy is $1 million dollars. The difference between having a $100k policy and a $1mil dollar policy is about $23 a year. If you accidentally start a fire and burn your neighbors house and only have $100k in liability insurance, expect to get sued. Again, I don’t want to make this an insurance lesson but let it be a public service announcement. Again, wanna hear more, shoot me a PM. Otherwise, keep up with the suggestions on audio equipment. I like to listen to stuff loud, I like classic rock, some punk, 80’s alternative, blues and blues rock and even some modern electronica.
 
I can highly recommend the Bose 1801/4401 pair. Tons of power and after a complete restore, better than original, in my opinion. I would put the Pioneer Spec 2 in the same realm. The Yamaha M series is good. I'm sure there are great options in new products, but they will cost about double or up. I think your idea of the Citation 16 is a great option. You know the family and like the sound of them.
 
By the way, I know very well what you are going through. I was sleeping with my then girlfriend when our place caught fire. We got out with the bed sheets only, in February, and ended up burping or coughing up house fire smoke for a full week afterwards. This was in 82. For years, I would wake up to the sound of transformers, and had to visually review the whole place before I could go back to sleep.
 
dieselsdad said:
Cars, motorcycles, airplanes and their assorted parts are NOT covered under your contents insurance. Your policy probably has a small amount for these parts, like mine did, of $2500. If you have individual coverage on all of these vehicles, you should be covered, I didn’t have coverage on each item because they were currently “projects”. By the way, classic car insurance from a place like Hagerty is stupid cheap, $100-150 a year and it’s agreed upon coverage if you say it’s worth $30k and can justify it that’s what they insure it for. Of course you never think something like this is going to happen. Luckily since my neighbor started the fire I used their insurance policy to cover ALL of my automotive parts and pieces, almost over $150k. My insurance is picking up all of the contents of my shop, 90% tools and 10% audio as well as the building itself. My neighbor, who is a doctor and a surgeon had low rate coverage insurance, likely from a crappy insurance salesperson who didn’t bother explaining why you need more and how cheap it is to go higher. His liability insurance was only $100,000. For reference, my liability policy is $1 million dollars. The difference between having a $100k policy and a $1mil dollar policy is about $23 a year. If you accidentally start a fire and burn your neighbors house and only have $100k in liability insurance, expect to get sued. Again, I don’t want to make this an insurance lesson but let it be a public service announcement. Again, wanna hear more, shoot me a PM. Otherwise, keep up with the suggestions on audio equipment. I like to listen to stuff loud, I like classic rock, some punk, 80’s alternative, blues and blues rock and even some modern electronica.
Click to expand...


With all the above detailed insurance points...great points covered, better known BEFORE "it" hits the fan...then AFTER! :thumbsup:

I've known several who hadn't that separate vint coverage, and got burned, big time.


Q
 
dieselsdad said:
Cars, motorcycles, airplanes and their assorted parts are NOT covered under your contents insurance. Your policy probably has a small amount for these parts, like mine did, of $2500. If you have individual coverage on all of these vehicles, you should be covered, I didn’t have coverage on each item because they were currently “projects”. By the way, classic car insurance from a place like Hagerty is stupid cheap, $100-150 a year and it’s agreed upon coverage if you say it’s worth $30k and can justify it that’s what they insure it for. Of course you never think something like this is going to happen. Luckily since my neighbor started the fire I used their insurance policy to cover ALL of my automotive parts and pieces, almost over $150k. My insurance is picking up all of the contents of my shop, 90% tools and 10% audio as well as the building itself. My neighbor, who is a doctor and a surgeon had low rate coverage insurance, likely from a crappy insurance salesperson who didn’t bother explaining why you need more and how cheap it is to go higher. His liability insurance was only $100,000. For reference, my liability policy is $1 million dollars. The difference between having a $100k policy and a $1mil dollar policy is about $23 a year. If you accidentally start a fire and burn your neighbors house and only have $100k in liability insurance, expect to get sued. Again, I don’t want to make this an insurance lesson but let it be a public service announcement. Again, wanna hear more, shoot me a PM. Otherwise, keep up with the suggestions on audio equipment. I like to listen to stuff loud, I like classic rock, some punk, 80’s alternative, blues and blues rock and even some modern electronica.
Click to expand...

Oof, I really feel for you. I had my house burn down in 2004. It was a freak accident caused by what the insurance company called "spontaneous combustion" it was a custom log cabin. A week earlier I had paid a company to come do a little repair work and put some kind of sealer on the outside to prevent rot.

I was out of town, and got a call from my wife saying the house was gone. Fire department came quickly but it was already too late so they just contained it so it didn't spread. I was very lucky to have very good insurance, but the itemizing was very tedious. Luckily I had pictures and records of a lot of it, along with important documents in a firebox that survived.

You seem gung ho to get back to it which is good. I lost so much that it took me over 10 years to finally get the motivation to replace a lot of what I lost.

We built a new house on the same land, and after that ordeal we were pretty minimal for a long time. We still don't have nearly the same amount of stuff as before, and now we tend to buy quality over quantity.

Good luck with getting back to normal with everything.
 
Luckily you have a year to claim items you’ve lost in the fire. You might remember what they were immediately or even 6mo later, but 8mo later your looking for that wrench and voila, it’s gone. Add it to your list. I understand what you mean by minimal. I plan on going back very minimal. I had high end tools and box That I intend to replace. I had a lot of junk in there I didnt need. Some items I had 4 or 5 of the same thing, don’t need that. I had a drive on lift and a two post lift. For what I do, the drive on lift takes up less space and suits my needs just fine. Of everything that’s lost I miss my snap-on tools and my stereo system the most.
 
dieselsdad said:
Luckily you have a year to claim items you’ve lost in the fire. You might remember what they were immediately or even 6mo later, but 8mo later your looking for that wrench and voila, it’s gone. Add it to your list. I understand what you mean by minimal. I plan on going back very minimal. I had high end tools and box That I intend to replace. I had a lot of junk in there I didnt need. Some items I had 4 or 5 of the same thing, don’t need that. I had a drive on lift and a two post lift. For what I do, the drive on lift takes up less space and suits my needs just fine. Of everything that’s lost I miss my snap-on tools and my stereo system the most.
Click to expand...

It took me years to stop myself from thinking I had a bunch of things. Someone would remark about needing something, and I'd offer mine, and then instantly retract it realizing that it was gone. Or I'd be looking for something and my old lady would remind me that I didn't have it anymore.
 
I do not understand how someone can be an insurance agent and think they are a good person. Their behavior is the very essence of kicking someone when they are down. If you pay the premium, you should get the coverage.

I need to clean my place for fire hazards.
 
Kodaline said:
I do not understand how someone can be an insurance agent and think they are a good person. Their behavior is the very essence of kicking someone when they are down. If you pay the premium, you should get the coverage.

I need to clean my place for fire hazards.
Click to expand...

I think you mean insurance adjuster. Insurance agents sell policies and are not usually involved in claims settlement.

Statistically 20% of insurance claims are fraudulent in whole or in part. Padding a claim is fairly common. If an in-house adjuster (insurance company employee) feels such is the case with a particular claim, it may be forwarded to an independent adjusting company specializing in such things. And those adjusters can be brtual.

But there are in-house adjusters who have been at it a long time and do not automatically roll over and comply with every claim they have. An experienced adjuster can have anywhere from 50 to 150 active claims in front of them at any given time so sometimes those which involve a large loss can drag on.
 
Kodaline said:
I do not understand how someone can be an insurance agent and think they are a good person. Their behavior is the very essence of kicking someone when they are down. If you pay the premium, you should get the coverage.

I need to clean my place for fire hazards.
Click to expand...
All said and done, I had a pretty good experience with the insurance company (State Farm) . They did end up refusing a few things, but all and all, they were responsive and helpful, and in the end I felt fine with the final settlement. I did have to jump through some hoops, but I had plenty of time to do it. Maybe I got lucky, but they were good about walking me through the process and making sure that everything was accounted for before they paid out. I did get 2 payments though, one for the house which came really quickly and another for the possessions, which took a while.

We were pretty far into building the new house before the possessions check came, but that was absolutely fine.

It was a weird experience to live in a completely empty rental for a year though. We decided not to buy much more than we immediately needed until we moved into the new place. I felt bad for the old lady and my kid though. I was away a lot for work then, and they had to live in a strange temporary place while I was gone. I did take them with me for a while just to get them out of there.
 
62vauxhall said:
I think you mean insurance adjuster. Insurance agents sell policies and are not usually involved in claims settlement.

Statistically 20% of insurance claims are fraudulent in whole or in part. Padding a claim is fairly common. If an in-house adjuster (insurance company employee) feels such is the case with a particular claim, it may be forwarded to an independent adjusting company specializing in such things. And those adjusters can be brtual.

But there are in-house adjusters who have been at it a long time and do not automatically roll over and comply with every claim they have. An experienced adjuster can have anywhere from 50 to 150 active claims in front of them at any given time so sometimes those which involve a large loss can drag on.
Click to expand...

halkaloogie said:
All said and done, I had a pretty good experience with the insurance company (State Farm) . They did end up refusing a few things, but all and all, they were responsive and helpful, and in the end I felt fine with the final settlement. I did have to jump through some hoops, but I had plenty of time to do it. Maybe I got lucky, but they were good about walking me through the process and making sure that everything was accounted for before they paid out. I did get 2 payments though, one for the house which came really quickly and another for the possessions, which took a while.

We were pretty far into building the new house before the possessions check came, but that was absolutely fine.

It was a weird experience to live in a completely empty rental for a year though. We decided not to buy much more than we immediately needed until we moved into the new place. I felt bad for the old lady and my kid though. I was away a lot for work then, and they had to live in a strange temporary place while I was gone. I did take them with me for a while just to get them out of there.
Click to expand...

Ok, I suppose I mean adjuster. I had a recent bad experience with one. Tree fell on unoccupied grandma's house. We received maybe 65% of what it is insured for, but the cost to repair is much greater than the 100% due to it being historical and brick. We sold the place for a fire sale price to a historic landmarks foundation that is rebuilding it and finding hidden damage.
 
Hello neighbor in Arkansas. I totally sympathize with your situation. I’m not sure I could emotionally withstand what happened to you. Stuff is stuff, but vintage stuff is so much more meaningful and difficult to replace. Not to mention all the family heirlooms,etc. Right here on Audiokarma is a great place to buy/sell audio equipment and parts and media. It’s called Barter Town and is its own separate section but it’s not visible to non subscribers (cost is $25 annually). I consider this modest fee probably the best value of all my spending. Not only does it support this wonderful community of enthusiasts, it also puts you in touch with a bunch of like minded and largely very trustworthy folks. I have bought and sold many items listed on Barter Town to my complete satisfaction. I encourage you to subscribe and see for yourself. You can also post “wanted to buy/trade” ads on Barter Town for items you are seeking. Best wishes as you deal with a seriously traumatic experience.
 
FWIW, I've been researching preamps and power amps of late and I keep going back to the Schiit Freya and Vidar. I have a Schiit DAC and that little $100 box is pretty kickass.
 
halkaloogie said:
It took me years to stop myself from thinking I had a bunch of things. Someone would remark about needing something, and I'd offer mine, and then instantly retract it realizing that it was gone. Or I'd be looking for something and my old lady would remind me that I didn't have it anymore.
Click to expand...
I already know the feeling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom