Question about High Dollar Collections

[JLC]

While reading the thread regarding the legal dispositions of pet snakes in the event of their owner's death...Jotay mentioned that it wasn't likely that anyone would contest it if they were quietly taken care of outside of the probate system. Probably true...unless extended family members were aware of the value of some of these morphs we all love. Which led me to the question that popped into my head:

For those of you with a collection of high dollar morphs...do you have any insurance policies on them? Is there an insurance company that would even take on such a thing? If so, at what point do you decide the value of your collection warrents this sort of protection?

Just curious....

[elevatethis]

Unfortunately, the standard homeowners policy has many exclusions- livestock and other animals are one of these exclusions.

You can, however, buy a rider for any homeowners or renters insurance policy that would provide a set limit in coverage for live animals. Your premium would be based on factors like risk and the value of the animals.

[daniel1983]

The best insurance policy that I have heard of is.... fire alarms, sprinkler systems, security cameras, and keeping some duplicates of morphs and some adult females at another location.

Even if you lost $1,000,000 in ball pythons and were given $1,000,000 by an insurance company....what would you do? I doubt that even with that much money, a well known breeder could obtain enough quality adult females and male breeders to 'pick up where they left off'. When snakes are lost, the time put into the collection is lost. A breeder would basically have to start from scratch.....there is no insurance or amount of money that can replace the time put into the lost animals.

[JLC]

The best insurance policy that I have heard of is.... fire alarms, sprinkler systems, security cameras, and keeping some duplicates of morphs and some adult females at another location.

Certainly excellent ideas!

Even if you lost $1,000,000 in ball pythons and were given $1,000,000 by an insurance company....what would you do? I doubt that even with that much money, a well known breeder could obtain enough quality adult females and male breeders to 'pick up where they left off'. When snakes are lost, the time put into the collection is lost. A breeder would basically have to start from scratch.....there is no insurance or amount of money that can replace the time put into the lost animals.

That's true of course, about the extensive time it would take to rebuild a fully producing collection like the one you had before....but wouldn't you rather be starting from square one again with that $1,000,000 from the insurance company, rather than nothing? If my house were to burn down, the money from the insurance would not mean an instant place to live identical to the one I had before. Any tragedy takes a great deal of time to recover from. I think having some sort of monetary back-up in case the unthinkable happened would be a good idea.

[elevatethis]

1,000,000 is CERTAINLY better than NOTHING though, right? One thing I've learned about the world of insurance is that more often than not its not meant to completely indemnify your loss- but to at least get you back on the right track

[ddbjdealer]

From everything I've heard, Home Owner's insurance doesn't cover snakes...... is there some kind of binder or extra coverage that I'm not aware of?

[sirhissball]

You absolutely can get insurance for animals. We currently own upwards of 50 thouroughbred racehorses. The top 10-15 are insured for either what we have paid for them (upwards of 250,000 for a couple) or what they are worth (how much they stand to win in their careers, stud fees etc.). Many everyday agencies can start an insurance program for animals, especially if they are a main part of your legitimate home run business; they are indeed assets, and are responsible for your well being in that case. If your company doesn't offer such programs, or your snakes do not constitute a business for you, then there are specialized insurance programs out there....you can insure anything, but it's not always cheap.

[elevatethis]

From everything I've heard, Home Owner's insurance doesn't cover snakes...... is there some kind of binder or extra coverage that I'm not aware of?

Yeah, just contact your agent and tell him whats up. You'd ask for a Rider to cover live animals. Make sure you tell him that they are just pets though, because if you say they are a business asset which generates revenue, your regular homeowners premium is going to spike because you are technically running a business out of your home. Then they'll ask to see the IRS info from that business. So yeah, just tell them they are valuable pets.

[tcarter]

I don't have any high dollar animals anymore, but if I did, I would get some insurance on them. These days, you can buy insurance on anything or anyone, and in the case of valuable animals, it's a smart thing to do. The trick, I think, is going to be convincing an adjuster that a snake can actually cost thousands of dollars. I'm not sure how you would do that.