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Hodinkee Insurance

Evitzee
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JPE.88305 JPE.88305
I pulled the trigger just about 5 min ago; was about $350/yr for $40k worth of coverage.
Perhaps there are better deals out there but the appreciation “rider”, significant convenience, zero deductible, significant convenience, legitimate underwriter and significant convenience sold me.
Also prompted by the inability of my insurance guy to insure for anything other than purchase price...even with a private appraisal, it’s a static price unless i get recurring appraisals.

Perhaps there are slightly better rates elsewhere, but compared to the $400/mos on disability, $2500/mos on health, $350/mos on auto, $250/mos on home, and $200/mos on life insurances... $30/mos is reasonable.
Wow, your insurance load is extreme, $3700/mo. I'd be looking to see if anything can be repriced or adjusted in those areas.
 
JPE.88305
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Evitzee Evitzee
Wow, your insurance load is extreme, $3700/mo. I'd be looking to see if anything can be repriced or adjusted in those areas.
no...health ins through the group [tax deduction], disability is income specific, life is income replacement specific, home has wife's jewelry/purses, car is for 2 new SUVs...just the way it is.
 
Evitzee
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JPE.88305 JPE.88305
no...health ins through the group [tax deduction], disability is income specific, life is income replacement specific, home has wife's jewelry/purses, car is for 2 new SUVs...just the way it is.
Fair enough. The $30 for Chubb is not much then.
 
john_coburg
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Can you 'underinsure' with them? I strongly prefer a policy that lets me insure X% of my portfolio, rather than the whole lot. Essentially i want to a sum assured value of X. I.e. I want to ensure i receive a cash value of X if i have a loss up to the value of X, where X < full portfolio value.
Some insurers let you do this, others vehemently refuse to.
 
Traveler
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john_coburg john_coburg
Can you 'underinsure' with them? I strongly prefer a policy that lets me insure X% of my portfolio, rather than the whole lot. Essentially i want to a sum assured value of X. I.e. I want to ensure i receive a cash value of X if i have a loss up to the value of X, where X < full portfolio value.
Some insurers let you do this, others vehemently refuse to.
Good question - I may have done this by default ... it ‘asks’ you for the value of the watch to generate the quote. I didn’t deliberately low ball any of mine, but one of them might be hard to replace for the cost I input. I was reassured by the fact that they will go up to 150% of the insured value if that’s warranted to replace it on payout ... so I thought, even if I am on the low side, no worries. I’m not sure what would happen if you put a much lower % Value in though - I might give it a try on one.
 
Traveler
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Yep - just added one with my input value at 50% of the market value. Seems to have accepted it without a problem - the final confirmation of the update to the policy is ‘pending’ though, so I’ll report back when I get that
 
rkman11
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Just ran a quote, and it was about 1.75% of the insured value, big difference from the 1% they advertise. Still ever so slightly better than my current stand alone policy, but don’t think it’s enough for me to want to give Hodinkee even a few of my dollars!
 
arkman
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I think the price is reasonable for the convenience, quality underwriter, and flexibility as pieces go in and out of a collection.
 
john_coburg
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Do pieces above a certain value need to be kept in a locked safe? If so, how particular are they about the safe (e.g. cash value, physically attached to the floor/wall etc) ?
 
arkman
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For Hodinkee, it does not appear to be required or affect the premium. For other insurers, additional protections can affect both the premium and the coverage (at least for larger value policies).
 
Scarecrow Boat
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john_coburg john_coburg
Do pieces above a certain value need to be kept in a locked safe? If so, how particular are they about the safe (e.g. cash value, physically attached to the floor/wall etc) ?
They, along with others, would be more interested in a working fire alarm that is monitored by third party than a safe.
 
Evitzee
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Since the underwriting process, and seeming lack of requirements for storage and security, are so streamlined it will be interesting to see if this program is a long term success as the inevitable claims roll in.
 
subregister
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Some for those that have missed:
- When comparing polices, look at what your needs are. Chubb (and others) provide coverage such as: during shipping to/from a watch service, damage that occurs during a watch service, during shipping to you upon purchase, during shipping to a buyer when you are selling (yes, all confirmed by H), among others. The benefit of these may well be worth whatever extra % you are quoted (if any).
- There are quality underwriters today who simply require something as basic as an email to update your policy (add/remove). Nothing else. Very simple. Chubb isn't the only one. Insurance can be easy to get and manage...honest! 👍
 
OmegaP99
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I have Chubb for my classic car insurance and they are absolutely top notch and have incredible customer service. It's difficult to insure with them generally as you have to meet their value minimums, which is why I only have cars with them and not homes, etc. When I had a break down in the Benz a couple of summers back they sent a supervisor out in a truck to sit with me in air conditioning while I waited for the flat bed to arrive. He made sure it was loaded properly with correct ramps, and followed the tow rig to the shop where I wanted it dropped off to be sure everything went ok. This wasn't anything special I requested, just the way they do business. If their watch insurance is anything like their other products it's a win. Chubb is about the best you can get, period.
The only down side I'm seeing is the premiums are a *bit* higher than scheduling agreed value through my homeowner's insurance, but still reasonably close and probably a better option.
 
CoDiffe
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imagwai imagwai
That's a definite "no" then. I pay less than that for my entire watch collection through home insurance.
rcs914 rcs914
Yeah looks like I pay $156 annually through USAA for $4800 of jewelry coverage and $3500 for specifically my Speedy. This is probably higher or right about the same that I would pay through the Hodinkee plan if I dropped my watch off of that.

Insurance agent here. Are you guys sure you're comparing apples to apples? It doesn't sound like you have each jewelry item individually scheduled which gives it open peril coverage (covered no matter what - no matter where) with $0 deductible. The coverage you have currently sounds like a rider where the coverage isn't as broad and you would have your homeowner's deductible to contend with. It may be cheap coverage for a reason.
 
CoDiffe
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rcs914 rcs914
Here's the thing - if you do have a loss and have to make a claim, that counts against all your claims, and can raise your rates overall. So if it's less to insure elsewhere, it may be worth it.

bingo
 
rcs914
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CoDiffe CoDiffe
Insurance agent here. Are you guys sure you're comparing apples to apples? It doesn't sound like you have each jewelry item individually scheduled which gives it open peril coverage (covered no matter what - no matter where) with $0 deductible. The coverage you have currently sounds like a rider where the coverage isn't as broad and you would have your homeowner's deductible to contend with. It may be cheap coverage for a reason.

I checked the VPP policy for USAA and it has this to say:

A VPP policy provides coverage with no deductible for higher-ticket items such as jewelry, guns and silverware. ... The VPP policy also provides coverage for accidental damage and loss, which are not covered under your homeowners or renters policy.

VPP coverage.JPG
 
abrod520
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Well my valuable articles policy has gone up to more than the Hodinkee insurance, so I'll now be exploring using them for any part of my collection worth more than $10k (which is not many, thankfully)
 
Glederz
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Was also interested in this as circa $50 on a $6,000 watch is a good deal (using the Speedmaster example). However, because this is not yet available in the UK can't pursue this. Just had a quote of circa £140 here. Does anyone know of a comparable stand-alone, credible watch insurer in the UK offering similar levels?

Hello all also (first post after much lurking).
 
Hands90
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Bought it for a Big Pilot.
Then changed it to a Speedy and they refunded me money.
So yea, they are really great.
 
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