If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Well a fireproof safe would work just as well. Do you guys know what you are talking about? Do you buy expensive editions to hide them in a fire proof safe? If you're not educated, you will immediately ruin them with mold or mildew -you need a dehumidifier in the safe.... you insure books to PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT, not necessarily to replace them -for some, replacing is IMPOSSIBLE. |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
If I'm not mistaken, the insurance company will accept whatever estimate
one makes for the value of one's collection and set the premium accordingly. You are ENTIRELY mistaken. Special editions need to be documented and appraised. They are not fools, they will not allow you to place a two thousand dollar value on a common paperback. When you buy insurance, you are a valued customer. When you CLAIM insurance, you are an arson. They will attempt not to pay for expensive collections without documentation -only fair. |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
You forgot insects, mildew, mice, vandelism, theft.....
|
#14
|
|||
|
|||
How does one determine the values? I think of the value of the book
in terms of the difficulty I would have replacing it. You begin with the receipt. What YOU paid for it. Equity through appreciation in value is tough. Retailers already include a markup when they sell it to you the collector. You will be lucky to recoup YOUR losses, never mind your "current value". |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
The rates are based on what you insure and it's value and other factors.
Sounds like Mr. Haney on Green Acres. You go low, they go high and the prices can change with the weather. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
"Brian" wrote in message om... They might accept $5 per book for hardcovers or might point to a thrift store and claim $2 per book. Or, they might find an excuse to deny the claim completely. This happened to me. The adjuster seemed helpful, agreed with my values and was optimistic about the claim - then weeks later I got a letter informing me that the claim was denied because of an exclusion in the policy - I sent them proof that their reason for denying the claim was invalid. They simply ignored me. I discussed this with my agent (who was actually knowledgeable and competent) and he said that I would most likely win if I took them to court. Then I told him the amount. Since the claim was small he recommended against it unless I had lots of spare cash for a lawyer and/or lots of time to spend on this. No lawyer would take a small case on contingency, so I would have to spend a thousand dollars or more to pursue it and maybe get awarded my expenses back if I won. [I could try small claims court, but then I would have to spend many more hours learning the system and rules.] I would not get paid for all the hours I would have to spend on this. [Plus you have to show up for the court dates - missing work or classes - and you do not get much choice.] You have little power unless you are ready and able to take them to court. They do this all the time, so they know what to do to make it difficult, expensive, and time consuming for you. Actually, there was one more very inexpensive option open to you, and that involves writing to your state insurance commissioner and asking for an investigation. Every state has a Department of Insurance, and one of the things they do is investigate complaints by the public about unfair claims practices. They have the power to order the company to pay the claim. They can also fine the company, or pull their license if there is a pattern of abuse. There is usually a form for you to complete, stating the reasons you feel your claim was unjustly denied, and then the Department of Insurance will write to the company. The company will have a "compliance officer" who will investigate internally and hope and pray they can support the decision of the claims' department. Sometimes, if the company was clearly wrong, they will fold right away. ("Oops. We had a new adjustor! The letter got shredded by accident! The check was issued on 4-12-02, but never cashed, we'll send another." Whatever.) More often, the company will try to offer documentation to support the company's position. Sometimes they win, but often they don't. I can guarantee, however, that an insurance company won't ignore a letter from the Department of Insurance unless they are run by total idiots with a corporate death wish. Alice (I sit beside the compliance officer.) |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Allan Adler writes:
For me, it is not about getting monetary compensation for the books. If the insurance company came to me and offered to buy my books for an amount equal to the probable claim on the policy, I would turn it down, since I want the books, not the money. So the problem is how to guarantee that the entire collection can be replaced by another collection containing the same information. That is a problem the cost of whose solution has to be assessed one book at a time, even if they aren't particularly rare (and they aren't). It has been pointed out by various respondents that one can't expect an insurance company to honor one's estimate of the value (in my sense of replacement cost) of one's book collection. It has been pointed out by one in particular that the entire premise of my concept is at odds with the point of view of book collectors, namely that it really matters whether the book is a first edition or a cheap paperback reprint with the same content. The available modes of insuring books are apparently based on that point of view, not on mine. There is, however, another approach to insurance which I ran across when I wanted to insure my computer. A moving company, for example, will insure your possessions during a move, but its concept of insurance doesn't cover the functionality of the computer. As long as it still makes for as good a piece of furniture as it did before the move, it has not been damaged, in the view of the moving company. I learned about an insurance company called Safeware which did insure functionality. Their deal was that if your computer system was damaged, they would replace it by a comparable system. I'm not sure exactly how they made money, but I think that apart from the premiums, they also gained from the fact that by the time anything stomped on your computer, it would be a lot cheaper to replace than it was to buy in the first place. I think a similar insurance concept could be used for private libraries for insuring the content of books. It might take an insurer with excellent access to replacement copies. Maybe this is something that Amazon might want to explore, for example. Returning to the respondent who objected that collectors are more interested in rarity and art than in content, I'm glad to have had attention drawn to that point. In common parlance, someone who has acquired a lot of books can be spoken of as having a collection and might informally be described as a collector. This is to be distinguished from what one be called a Collector, with a capital C, who fits the more specialized concept used by respondent. I certainly fit the description "collector" but not the description "Collector". It might have been the intention of those who started rec.collecting.books to provide a forum for Collectors, but at the same time this forum is the closest thing I have found to a forum relevant to my needs as a collector. If I'm mistaken on that point, I'll be glad to know it. I suppose there is also soc.libraries.talk, but I think there the focus is on public libraries, not private ones. Regarding the difference in focus between collectors and Collectors, I was once sitting in a university coffee shop reading an old volume of Mathematische Annalen from the 19th century. Someone wanted to know what the old book was and to look at it. I showed it to him and he started telling me I couldn't get much for it. I realized after talking to him for a few minutes that he did not realize that people actually read books, instead of just buying, selling and appraising them. I don't think this newsgroup is populated with such individuals and, accordingly, I'm inclined to think that collectors in the wide sense belong here too. Ignorantly, Allan Adler ************************************************** ************************** * * * Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT Artificial * * Intelligence Lab. My actions and comments do not reflect * * in any way on MIT. Moreover, I am nowhere near the Boston * * metropolitan area. * * * ************************************************** ************************** |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Comic Books and SF Magazines on eBay | CHANGE DOMAIN TO DJA D0T MAILME D0T ORG TO EMAIL | General | 0 | January 16th 04 10:38 PM |
FA: Comic Books and SF Magazines (Several Lots) | CHANGE DOMAIN TO DJA D0T MAILME D0T ORG TO EMAIL | General | 0 | January 14th 04 02:59 AM |
[FAQ] rec.collecting.books FAQ | Mike Berro | Books | 0 | December 26th 03 08:18 PM |
Book signing information | Ted Kupczyk | Autographs | 6 | November 2nd 03 02:04 PM |
UPCOMING BOOK SIGNINGS | Todd F. | Autographs | 5 | August 4th 03 06:54 AM |