03-31-2004, 09:49 AM
Appraisals are a pain. But insurers do not know who is qualified or not so you can get almost anyone to do it. Mine wanted me to use the same person who did the rest of our valuable home contents - i.e some old woman who might know her Ming from her Meissen but would have no clue how to value anything Soviet.
I got a felow forum member (who is a dealer) to do it and I actually sent a list already filled in. He just changed the odd entry if he had a better idea than mine and signed it.
The main thing is to get a list showing exactly what you have and get photos or videos to prove it. In most policies you are not locked into the appraised valuation anyway. If the value for something has changed greatly you can often fight it. Not if you were getting a lump sum for a large list of lost goods, but if you had one or a few items taken you can try to get actual replacement value.
After all, if they steal your 1999 computer which you paid $2000 for the insurance company would say sorry bud it is only worth $200 now!
Shawn
I got a felow forum member (who is a dealer) to do it and I actually sent a list already filled in. He just changed the odd entry if he had a better idea than mine and signed it.
The main thing is to get a list showing exactly what you have and get photos or videos to prove it. In most policies you are not locked into the appraised valuation anyway. If the value for something has changed greatly you can often fight it. Not if you were getting a lump sum for a large list of lost goods, but if you had one or a few items taken you can try to get actual replacement value.
After all, if they steal your 1999 computer which you paid $2000 for the insurance company would say sorry bud it is only worth $200 now!
Shawn
