Insurance - Are your cigars covered under your home insurance policy?

[nicwing]

A little while ago I was the subject of a burglary and my humidor and a lot of cigars were stolen. I have been looking into whether my cigars were insured.
I decided to do a poll to check what my friends and a major UK collector did.
Read my article, it may make you think... http://joom.ag/ihTp/p30#.ViVifBzUoHM.mailto

[cj121]

Looking forward to November's edition already.

[akyprianou]

Sorry to here your bad news Nic, thieves are amongst some of the most rotten humans in existence (if you could call them human!) and i hope they get caught!

Excellent work with your magazine also I'm really enjoying it!

Cheers

[smokey joe]

Interesting reading, the subject has come up on UKCF before.

I have a modest collection, collectively they're the most valuable things I possess & uninsured.

A ?200k collection is mind blowing!


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[nplymouth]

I had the very debate at Barclays a few months ago and made the very helpful manager ring the underwriters in the branch.

It was agreed that A) the collection was valued at under ?10k as a total and no more than B) ?5k would be taken off site at any one time.

So, on the basis that I met those two conditions, I was covered.

For those interested the 100% increase (?20k / ?10k) was an extra ?4.50 per month.

I should add that with my legal experience and interpretation of their policy documentation, I am covered... Well and truly!!


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[ValeTudoGuy]

Interesting. My Mrs is in insurance and we havev discussed this issue before.

And while it will be different for every insurer so best to check. For me im covered for theft from the house as the "collection" is well under my required decloration limits.

Bugs and other means of distruction is a messy ground and a tipping point where the company does not really see much benefit of insuring as its not their area of expertise. So they want to assess as a bespoke policy, have running stock counts at regular intervals and charge a fair whack.

For me or them not really worth it. Obviously if i was sitting on 10's of thousands or more then it could be a different matter.

[Rich B]

I really should check with M&S that mine are covered. I made the mistake of valuing them last month, and now wish I hadn't.

[nicwing]

In part two of our article on cigar insurance we met up with a cigar expert who told us exactly how to organise cover and how to be prepared if you need to make a claim. Our friends at the Cuban Cigar website have also modified their online collection system to cover all our experts requirements for recording your cigar collection: bit.ly/Novins

[butternutsquashpie]

A little while ago I was the subject of a burglary and my humidor and a lot of cigars were stolen. I have been looking into whether my cigars were insured.

Ouch, geez. Sorry to hear, Niccy! I've had a few stories of Canadian BotL getting their smokes nabbed. One just had a 100ct stolen with some non-cubans which was a blow to this budget but was nothing compared to the TVs, gaming devices, jewelery, and everything else that was stolen.
The absolute worst case I know of had an estimated $15 000 worth of cigars stolen which the Insurance Company gave out a small bit but not the full sum due to verification, pricing, and lack of sponsoring. The fact that he even got SOME funds out was good since it was just a part of his home insurance in general. But that was probably due to the fact that he had something above a "basic" plan.

When it comes to my cigars, we have a "basic" insurance plan that covers hefty theft, fire, and all that stuff. But I make sure I keep photos along with inventory spreadsheets that are updated monthly just to make sure that the people know it. (I have a "what I smoked spreadsheet" that can be used to subtract the "what I bought/given" spreadsheet).

One thing that is worthy of note is that they would rarely take into consideration the aged value of the cigars. My box of Montecristo Reserva No. 4s will still be worth $600 or $700 from when and what I bought it. I don't think the insurance company will pay out what it is fully worth, unfortunately.
Let this be a full lesson to you to ALWAYS smoke your good cigars. You might die one day or more likely - your cigars might get stolen!

Addendum: I think you Brits have it a bit better with insurance choices. When looking for life insurance, only 2 insurance companies (and they're both British) would consider giving me a discounted smoker rate despite me NEVER touching a cigarette in my life. Once-a-week cigar smoker counts as "smoker" along with those people who smoke two packs day. I also got turned down for free life insurance policies from my job and bank because I fell under the "smoker" policy.

[butternutsquashpie]

Ouch, geez. Sorry to hear, Niccy!

I hope nothing was taken that was too much of value. Were most just replaceables?
Or better yet, did they find the culprits!?

[nicwing]

I prefer not to think about what I lost.

I have some great buddies and the Mods on here had a run round (organised by Monkey I believe) and they gave me a fantastic zippy bag full of Cuban lovelies.

Someone, who shall remain nameless, also sent me 6 gold band Fundadores, so it did one thing, it showed me that Cigar people are great people.

[james.uk]

This spurred me onto to actually list my collection and get some idea of value... Was quite a shock. I could only list at 'new' cigar prices but I have some very old stuff ( plus 20 years ) so I'm guessing I'm still under a true valuation. I have no idea what I paid for most of them!

[Golden Hands]

It is rather difficult issue, insured or not insured, when stolen its gone, some of the sticks you won't be able to find any way, at least got money value back... I do not know to be honest. The most difficult is the psychological shock of insecurity and exposure, that no insurance can restore. Enjoy your cigars while you have them