Insurance value of homemad jigs/carts - Woodworking Talk

daxinarian · 09-11-2008, 12:51 PM

Had a pipe break at my house and as a result, some of my homemade jigs and my miter-saw/planer cart were ruined. I am trying to figure out their value for insurance purposes. Anyone have any advice?

firehawkmph · 09-11-2008, 01:09 PM

Sorry to hear about your burst pipe. No fun. I guess I would look at how much it was going to cost me to replace each item, both in materials and assigning some time to each one and a reasonable hourly rate to that time. Look at it from the standpoint as if you had to go out and buy a replacement, either by hiring someone to make one like you had, or if something of similar quality were available already made.

Mike Hawkins

georgewoodie · 11-03-2009, 08:09 PM

daxinarian:

I think that you will find that most [if not all] insurers might pay you for the cost of materials. I doubt very much that you will get paid for the work required to make those jigs. And i expect that the asigned adjuster will seekout the cheapest material available.

Woodie

GeorgeC · 11-04-2009, 07:32 AM

I would price them at the cost of commercial replacement.

G

frankp · 11-04-2009, 12:25 PM

This is why I have a special "addendum" to my insurance clause for my tools. Even though I'm a cheap bastard with my tools, I couldn't replace them quickly without a fair outlay of cash. I am covered for some $3k worth of tools, which is more than I need to replace most, if not all, of my tools and accessories, as well as some of the wood I keep around.

Tony B · 11-04-2009, 02:47 PM

Find a local custom woodworking shop and pay them for a written estimate.
I charge $60/hr for the estimate + travel time if out of my local area.
It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes including introductions and check writing although you will still pay for the full hour.
With a proper receipt the insured can get his estimate money back from his insurance company.

daxinarian · 11-04-2009, 05:08 PM

Well, I stuck out my thumb and made a real rough estimate of how much I thought it was worth, I must not have estimated high enough because the adjuster didn't even blink an eye.

Tony B · 11-04-2009, 05:49 PM

Makes one wonder if you really saved 60 bucks or not.

daxinarian · 11-04-2009, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony B

Makes one wonder if you really saved 60 bucks or not.

I hadn't thought of getting estimates to have them remade at the time (this happened over a year ago), but I will keep it in mind for the future, and maybe it will help someone else. Thanks for the suggestion.

Tony B · 11-04-2009, 09:25 PM

Generally, as hobbyists, we tend to not put too much emphasis on our labor. However, as a professional, we charge for our labor. If something were custom made, such as a jig, I would estimate how long it would take me to replace it at my rate and still give it some kind of 'universal' value. I try to be fair to both partys.
Lets say for instance you made/lost a homade dovetail jig. A real value of the jig may only be $70 because I could get a better one store bought for $100. I would then not even consider a 'remake' price because it would exceed the $70 value. It works both ways. Therefore, I would value it at $70. That would be a fair value for both you and the insurance company.
The difficulty in valuing is when you have something that is not readily available and can only be hand made with no standard manufacturing to compare it to.
When you put in a claim, the insurance companies do not expect you to have to remake it yourself for free. Everyones time has a value.