Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/04/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]joe b, I might have been the one posting this thread. Jack Hamilton has posted some excellent information concerning this - thanks, Jack! - and I'd add that maybe this is too much of a perspective we have to take on "this side of the pond" but.....in the heat of trying to fill out a report to law enforcement officials, they live for details. That's how they catch crooks in many instances - but spotting little details. EVERYONE: Your life isn't in order unless you have a rather accurate accounting and record of your household possessions. Be it fire, theft or act of natural disaster such as a hurricane or something, getting your due amount is based on how accurately and how much detail you can provide your insurance company with what was lost. In the case of fire or natural disaster, almost total loss; in the case of theft, what ever the bastard(s) can carry off in your pillow cases. Yes, they don't bring THEIR own baggies - they use YOUR pillow cases in a majority of situations. Receipts: People, you must be packrats about receipts. If it's something you want to replace such as cameras, stereos and so on, having a receipt for it makes things go a LOT smoother with the insurance companies! For these receipts and small articles of jewelry, a small fire-proof safe isn't a bad idea. Actually bolted to the floor of the house or hidden where it can't readily be taken, it keeps papers safe until you can retrieve them. If you keep a safe-deposit box at your local bank, use it for V.I.P.!....very important papers. Wherever you keep your income tax receipts? Papers of your personal household goods should be right in there with them. Do all of you have a list of all of your credit card numbers written down? Probably not! The computer you're using right now????? Use it to list your stuff. Copy it to a floppy and be done with it! There are 10 dollar inventory programs out there that will set everything up for you room-by-room! Next time you're by the computer store, look for one! I've seen them as cheap as 6 bucks all the way up to close to 50 - that allow you to use a scanner to put photos and receipts into file. Pictures - of cameras, your home entertainment unit with everything pretty clearly in view, a place setting of your fine china and silver service if you have it, your golf club heads, your computer set-up, just general "snap-shots" of your home in a rather neat condition (rare for me) - go miles (or kilometers) to convince insurance companies and police you know what you're talking about when you make a claim and are simply MORE proof to an insurance company in lieu of a lot of paperwork that you actually had the articles you say you do/did. Sadly, making a claim nowdays is almost "your word" against "theirs". Every little detail you can remember - with a list, receipts and serial numbers, pictures....might make it easier to catch the crook in a theft case. He (they're normally men - I'm not being chauvinistic!) wants to sell off the hot stuff for money. As he spreads the stuff around and it floats to more people, the easier it is to back-track where it came from. If something has a serial number, it's a great way to keep track - OR TRACE - a personal article. You can use the information or ignore it - your choice! Security "experts" keep warning "us", the general public, it's almost impossible to keep a thief out of your house. Well then, you must do the next best thing and make sure you get back either the goods or insurance money for what was lost. Hey------it's your stuff. If you don't want to take care of replacing it, it's your business but why have insurance in the first place if you aren't going to make it pay off to your benefit whan you have to? And folks, let's not get STUPID, either, and make false insurance claims! It's called "fraud" and you'll be in jail faster and longer than Mr. Thief! Plus it drives up the rates for everyone else. Just keep good records and play it straight if you ever have to. Keeping an inventory, keeping records and receipts, and having pictures - or a video tape - are real proof you know your stuff! The few articles you might overlook and claim after you've calmed down a day or two later and remember have much more credibility in the eyes of an adjuster when he or she sees what an outstanding effort you put forth to keep track of the big items. This isn't meant for everyone to panic and start snapping photos tomorrow - but better to pay a little pro-active attention now than total panic later. Call me paranoid - I call it protective and prepared. Regards, Tom Hodge On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, joe b. wrote: > In a recent thread about security and insurance and such, someone > suggested taking pictures of one's own equipment. I'm just wondering > now- why? If there's a good reason for doing this, I'll do it. (Hell, > I've got macro lenses, I'll even do it well!). But what exactly is the > reason? Might it be that in the event of a theft, the police will have > no good idea what they're looking for from the specification, and need > to know what it actually looks like as well? > -- > joe b. >