In case of theft do you.....

[NavajoNPaleFace]

I was burglarized in 1998 and quickly found out the value of keeping serial numbers AND pics.

I still have all of mine in binders out in the work shop and on disc in the safe.

It doesn't hurt to keep any sort of proof of ownership (including receipts and manuals) as some insurance companies might want to balk on settlement.

My insurance company (Farmers) had no problem with reimbursement but when I had to claim one of my guns which was seized at a pawn shop the Phoenix Police required two notarized statements of people that knew I once possessed the gun because I had no proof of ownership for that one.

 

[MinnMooney]

About insurance...

Sorry if I was mis-interpreted about insurance coverage. When I said that art, jewelery, cash & guns were only covered to a minimum amount, I was trying to get your attention so you would go and look at your policy to see just what amount your collection is insured for. In most states, you will need an extra-cost rider or (in Texas Rifleman's case) an EXTRA insurance policy from the NRA, also at extra cost. My collection, under most coverages that I've gotten quote from, would only be insured to $500-$1000 (UNLESS I added a rider) and that's a pretty paultry amount for most of you. Heck, one AR-15 with some added features and optics can run $1500-$2200. After looking at the pics some of you have posted of your gorgeous collections, I'd bet that some of you have collections running into the $50m-$100m stratosphere. I'd also bet that those guys have huge riders tacked onto their policies.

 

[Zedo]

I keep a folder file in the file cabinet with gun receipts. This is the same file where I keep the deed to the ranch, bank statements, auto titles, and warranties/instructions for electronics, power equipment.

I also scan the receipt and take a photo, keep this data on the computer in a file folder -- and on a backup disk which isn't stored with the computer and the file cabinet.

DON'T STORE YOUR RECORDS IN THE SAME SAFE WHERE YOUR GUNS ARE STORED! What are you thinking!

Safe deposit boxes at the bank are really cool, and not very expensive. Premium bank accts -- typically provided to you at no charge when you have a mortgage, equity line, checking, certs of deposit, etc. often offer a safe deposit box. Grab it!

For those whom this sounds like lots of bother -- Start the file now, today, and don't try to put it all together in one sitting.

Insurance company covers firearms as a separate item from homeowner's policy. "Guns" are limited on the homeowner's policy to $2,500 one item / $5,000 total.

Additional coverage runs at a "cost per thousand [dollars in value]," and the guns need to be itemized, recorded and appraised. Probably more trouble than it's worth.

BUT, you should note too that NRA membership provides some gun insurance.

Yeah, sure -- I have way more than $5,000 in firearms. And I'm mostly banking on the strategy that I won't lose all of them in one event.

If I DO lose all of them in one event, I've got a bigger loss on my hands than just a claim for firearms.

ANY insurance agent worth having will review your policy and coverages anually and be happy to meet with you and update your coverage.

"It can't happen to me" -- Winter storm on the coast last December, and I'm still "digging out" . . . Loss is running at about $6 K right now. I still have barn repairs and fences to fix.

 

[jakemccoy]

Jakemccoy....Hackers don't get in through the frontline million-bit passwords.....once when we threatened to send our son to military school, he responded in about 5 minutes, providing me with a list of names and SS#'s of the PARENTS of students enrolled in the school and asking me if I really wanted to provide this information to the school.....yeah maybe that information wasn't secure on the school's systems...and before you say it, it was only a couple of years ago.

Luckily the kid has never done anything else that I can confirm as illegal...but there was that one time I came home to find him smashing several CD's with a hammer...asked him if there was anything I need to be aware of...he said no...but the next day a bigtime teenage hacker was arrested in Germany.

Where were the CIA recruiters when I needed them? He would have worked for pennies if they stuck him in a dark cellar with all the newest toys and the Al Jazerra network wouldn't have been able to maintain a website for more than 2 hours for the past 7 years The country is overlooking a major American resource.

If the factors here are security, accessibility and reliability after a massive disaster, then online backup wins easily.

Hackers tend to exploit human errors. Eliminating human error in a homemade backup system is more difficult because there are many more human weak points. As one of many examples, houses and backup computers are regularly burglarized. In contrast, eliminating human error with an online backup is relatively easy. For example, have your private encryption key be random and in your head only. Meanwhile, skilled hackers are unlikely to risk prison time just to steal data that's highly valuable to you only.

If some freak natural disaster (e.g., flood) suddenly wipes out everything within a 500 mile radius of my home, the data on the online backup remains readily accessible anywhere I can find an Internet connection. If I want to go more extreme, I can get online backup with mirror servers in other continents. Also, a typical online backup system uses a RAID system that is millions of times more reliable than a single hard drive (no exaggeration).

There's really no fair comparison between a professional online backup system and a homemade backup system. Here's a pretty good article about security of online backup:
http://www.perfectbackup.co.uk/news/195