Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    	This is terrible.  Where is the scene of the crime?  Did you
    have them insured?
    
     - Chris
    

    my house, Tewksbury Mass.  I'm about to find out how good my
    homeowner's insurance is.
    
    -dave

    I can sure sympathize with you Dave, I had my A500 and all my
    accessories stolen last may. It's an awful feeling. Hope everything
    works out okay with the homeowner's. Unfortunately for me I didn't have
    any apartment insurance, so I ended up buying a new system.
    
    
    			-Paul
    

    
    Wanna buy some insurance?
    
    Ed.

Just how *do* you cover a computer under insurance? In a house?  

>>> In an Apartment?

What are good agencies for Apt. dwellers to cover things like that? I'd like
to get my computer and my telescope covered - real quick! All this talk
about nasty thieves makes me real uneasy.

John

    Insurance is a GREAT idea!
    
    Come this January, I'll be living in an on-campus apartment at
    Northeastern University.  All my Amiga equip. will be there also
    and I'd really hate to see it stolen! (Especially since it is almost
    paid off)
    
    How Much should insurance cost?
    What insurance agencies should I talk to?
    
    Steve O

     
    I can give you some examples from my own experience...
    
    First, when you discuss home/apartment insurance, make sure that
    you get REPLACEMENT VALUE coverage.  If you don't, you may get $300
    for that stereo system that would cost $3000 to replace.
    
    Second, when getting additional coverage for your computer system,
    make sure you get hazard coverage, such as lightning or flood damage.
    Also insure your software, since it most likely is worth about as
    much or more than your hardware.
                                                     
    I guess you can get about $10,000 worth of content coverage for
    about $150 per year.
    
    Ed.
    

My son has his Amiga on campus at U-Mass. My insurance agent said that there was
"no way" we could get insurance to cover a loss under those circumstances. It's 
just too easy to leave a room unlocked (either by you or your roomie) and it's 
an easy, high visibility, high value target. Besides, How could you prove a 
theft actually took place rather than simply an attempt at a false claim?

Dave

    re: .8
    
    Which insurance company or agent is this?  Based on the last question
    it sounds like he doesn't want to do the paper work for the few
    dollars (I think my A2000 + periphs ran $24 on Metpay) he would
    make.  Really, how can you prove any theft took place if that's
    the agents attitude?

    re:.9
    
    Sure! Metpay tells you that now, but wait until you file a claim!!!
    That's when you find out...thats when you find that the burden of
    proof is on you! Trust me, I've gone through this with them on my
    car! I even had an eyewitness, and the address of the person(fleeb)!
    I'll save the rest of my comments for the METPAY complaint notesfile!!
    
    Back to amiga stuff....

    I have a renters insurance with State Farm that covers everything
    in my apartment, including my computer.  I had to give them a list
    of what I have in the apartment and the value when they wrote up
    the contract.  They suggested that I either video tape or take picture
    of my belongings in the apartment as prove that I do have what I
    said I have and keep the tape or pictures in a safe place.

    Chong.

I have my system insured with a company called "Safeware," a division of
The Central National Insurance Company of Omaha.

Safeware advertises in the back of computer magazines like "Byte."  They
cover full replacement of hardware and purchased software after a $50
deductible.  The exclusions in the policy look reasonable: gradual
ware and tear, insects, manufacturing defects, illegal trade (eg, you are
a drug runner and the government confiscates your system), nuclear hazard,
rust, dampness, heat, cold and war.

They do cover theft (even from a car under certain conditions), fire,
explosion, and "all risks of direct physical loss to the property
covered from any external cause, except those specifically excluded."
When I bought the policy, I was told that lightning strikes and such
were covered (the policy doesn't contradict that statement).

The insurance may be ordered over the phone by calling 1-800-848-3469.
You can give them your credit card number and the insurance will start
immediately.  If you buy the policy over the phone with your credit card,
you have a ten day approval period to inspect your policy after receiving
it.

The rate schedule is as follows:

	Amount of Insurance	Annual Premium
	Up to $2000		$39
	$2001 to $5000		$69
	$5001 to $8000		$89
	$8001 to $11000		$109
	$11001 to $14000	$129

In general, the company recommends that you keep sales receipts in order
to prove that you actually possessed the items covered by the policy.

I have never made a claim against the policy, so I cannot comment on
how well they follow through after a loss.

    My homeowners policy covers theft AND burglary.  The difference
    is that whereas burglary involves some one breaking and entering
    to steal, theft merely involves the unlawful removal of the item.
    In other words, I can leave all my doors unlocked, and have someone
    just walk in, leave no fingerprints or anything, walk out with
    something and still be covered.  Naturally the theft option is a
    little more, but if you have this sort of option available in the
    States it might be the solution for our friend on campus.

While on the topic - I also suggest you back up your hard disk and give the
floppies to a friend.  I know of one person who lost an Atari-ST system where
the thief took the ST, Monitor, and hard disk, and apparently said "oh yea, get
the floppies too", and took the backup set.  He set back MicroEmacs work on
ST by about two weeks in the process.

    I'm back.  Thanks to note 1958, I'm an Amiga 1000 owner again.
    No monitor or memory expansion so far...
    
    13 days without an Amiga was too long.  I thought no USENET mail
    was bad, this was much worse.
    
    re: .14, good point.  That sounds like they knew how to steal a
    computer.  I suspect my disks were saved by the rat's nest of cables
    I had running behind my computers and up into a metal rack to connect
    to the stereo.  It looks like they tugged hard enough that the rack
    fell over, making a lot of noise and dumping the disks all over
    the floor.  Based on that experience, my new setup will be full
    of traps.
    
    -dave

    When my Amiga 1000 was stolen from a Northeastern University dorm in
    Boston, it was covered by my parents homeowners policy because I was a 
    dependent.  In fact one of the first statements the police made was
    that it probably would be covered if my parent had homeowners
    insurance.
    
    This year I had a VAXstation at my apartment in Malden.  Metropolitan
    wouldn't insure it.  Another company did sell me insurance for (gulp)
    $400+ per year (for $30,000 coverage).  

    A while back, I looked into insuring some equipment my employer
    lent me.  I found out that homeowners policies generally don't conver
    business related equipment.
    
    For example:  You buy an Amiga 2000 system as a home computer system
    to do your personal computing stuff on (playing games?), and it's
    covered.  Your employer lends you an Amiga 2000 system (or you buy
    one on your own) for doing work related stuff on at home, and it's
    not covered.
    
    Don't ask me how they make the distinction for people running their
    own business out of their home, 'cause I don't know.