Simulator Insurance!!!

Thought I would pass on this tidbit of information about your simulator and insurance. If you have a simulator on a low budget or high one, you likely might not think about how much you really have invested and what the cost would be to replace it.

Let's say you purchased a MIP 5 years ago, now that same MIP might cost twice as much. And, what about all the little small things that go along with your MIP? How about just purchasing a Yoke, Pedals and Throttle Assy. from CH for example, and some Go Flight Modules? In either case, you invested good money. If you happen to be a person with a full 737NG sim you might have $30k or more tied up in it. Well, this is my point, what type of insurance do you have in case you lose it in a fire, storm, flood, etc & etc?

Is it home owners insurance, renters insurance or a special insurance that just covers your simulator. My guess is, you haven't given it much thought and believe your home owners or renters will cover it? Did you know that if you have home owners or renters and you have...let's say $100k for all your personal property in your entire home, that would not likely leave much to cover your simulator or hobby in general.

What if your sim, with computers, the whole works is worth $25k, that leaves $75k for whatever you have left, and I mean everything; clothes, furniture, jewlery, electronics, you name it, it's considered personal property. Therefore, what I just did was up the personal property coverage another $100k to $225k total. That extra $100k is just to cover my sim and RC airplane collection. Here is the great part, it only cost me $50 more per year!

Yes, $50 once per year to pay for the enitre sim and rc planes to get replaced in case they get destroyed (not counting RC crashes while flying them). Even in twenty years that is only $1,000 to cover the costs for actual replacement. So, if for example I spent $100 today for a part and in ten years it costs $500 for the same part, the insurance pays $500, not just the original $100...look for "replacement cost" in your insurance binder.

Finally, I hope this gives you ideas? And, here is another. When is the last time you called to get a requote on your insurance from the company you're with? I didn't for five years and I found out that I was paying twice as much for half the coverage! Silly me! Did you know that insurance agents will not tell you when prices go down for the same coverages or when after so many years you're considered a safer insured person (if you haven't made any claims), and then you're supposed to get lower premiums? Nope, they leave that up too you to ask! Funny, all the money I just saved by redoing it, now pays for that extra personal property insurance for 40 years...

Happy and...safe (insured)...flying!

Almost forgot, always and I mean always, photograph everything you own and keep records of the serial numbers (if any) and purchase prices in a safety deposit box because you'll have to prove that pile of Balsa wood or toasted pile of purchased SSTD, DSTD, or MDF and wires was your RC planes and/or Simulator, if you had a home fire for example...

Okay, my post above is long, but it has good merit. In fact, let me tell you more about that merit. Today, my insurance agent visit to inspect the wood burning stove that is in the same room as my simulator. He needed to verify it's installment and manufacturing safety applications being followed.

I'm sure I posted about this before, in the past, that I had the garage converted to a room, and because of that, it is legal to put a wood burning stove in; otherwise, a garage=no for wood burners. Anyway, the agent took one look at the simulator and was shocked, as well as overwhelmed. He just could not believe there is a full-size simulator sitting here. He thought I was talking about a desktop setup when I first informed him.

Of course he asked to take it for a flight, but he also suggested more insurance in a different manner. Sure, that sounds normal right? He sees a chance to make more money, so he offers. Honestly, that wasn't it. In fact, he was telling me about certain caps for personal property insurance. For example, the cap for the computers is $5000-$10,000. So, only that amount (of the entire personal property total) can be claimed as computer and computer related property. Thus, if I have 8 computers and they, with all the Interface Cards get destroyed, I can only claim that amount, even though the replacement amount is worth 5 times that much.

What to do? He is going to look at a special class of insurance since the simulator is not a normal item to be covered. It's covered in the personal property for sure, but he wants to remove caps for any type of item(s). Yes, it might cost another $50 per year (a guess), but it's still worth it! Therefore, the moral to this story is, not only get insurance for your simulator/hobby, but also have your agent come visit! Oh, if you really want to make this funny, get a video camera and record their surprise, and then put it on youtube as:
How to freak out your insurance agent!