Reloading and home insurance

Smoothbore

Smoothbore

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I was reading an article from the Canadian Shooting Sports website and the author (a lawyer) mentions making sure your home owners insurance is ok with you reloading and having reloading components such as powder in the house.

Did you guys check with your insurance company? Any troubles?

Thanks.
 
Well it's this simple here in Alberta.
You can get a group insurance discount through a perticular insurance broker, if you are a member of the Alberta Fish and Game Association.
They refer to it as their sprotsemns package, it has enhanced coverage for sporting related items, and when I querried about reloading components, they said as long as no violation of any existing storage provisions exists your covered to the hilt.
 
I don't think there are special provisions for reloading. The paint and thinner in one's house would be more of a concern than the few pounds of powder in a non-metallic container.

As far as they are concerned, it is a legal activity, no more liable to cause a fire than lighing scented candles.
 
Hmmmm, 2000 rds of ammo, 2 lbs of powder and 6 scuba tanks in the basement....I'm more concerned for the safety of the firefighters who come to my place to put out a fire!!
 
As far as they are concerned, it is a legal activity, no more liable to cause a fire than lighing scented candles.
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Candles are much more likely to cause a fire cause they start out being on fire. There is no flame or heat associated with reloading. Only one of the components is somewhat flammable but as others mentioned no more so than more common household chemicals.
 
scottshotz said:
Hmmmm, 2000 rds of ammo, 2 lbs of powder and 6 scuba tanks in the basement....I'm more concerned for the safety of the firefighters who come to my place to put out a fire!!
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There are storage requirements for powder that should be followed for this very reason.
 
I have cans of gasoline in the garage, along with newspaper, stacks of corrugated cardboard, three cans of propane for various applications, and a tank of it for my barbecue.

Those together would probably yield quite a potent blast compared to modern smokeless gunpowder, which would probably smoulder and fizzle if it was left in its original packaging.

- Dave.
 
Working in the Insurance industry since '92 I will give you my 2 cents worth of advice. First off, if everything is stored correctly, then there is no problem. I am sure if you have a excessive amounts of black power (of any type of explosive agent, gasoline, propane etc.), and it is the reason for a loss (fire, explosion etc..) there might be some raised eyebrows at your insurer, and again depending on the situation, it may be the reason to deny a claim.

The best advice I can give you, is to fully disclose to your broker/agent what you are doing. Do it is writing. I am sure your broker/agent will just file the info in your file. But that you cover you in case there is any sort of loss. And for any reason, by disclosing that you have ammo reloading equipment causing your insurer not to renew your home owners policy, then that is a indication that would not have covered a loss anyways - you ae better off finding another insurer. A good agent/broker will always look after your interest.

/cl
 
clang said:
The best advice I can give you, is to fully disclose to your broker/agent what you are doing. Do it is writing.

/cl
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The LAST thing I want is that people know that I reload and have firearms in my house. If there are no specific exclusions clauses relating to explosive materials ( smokeless powders are propellants ) in my insurance policy, then there's no way I'll tell them. I live in Qc. and here it's the Civil Code which rules..can't speak for English Common Law provinces
 
Full disclosure is the only way to go. If you have loss and the reloading equiptment and materials are determined to be the cause, I would expect that your insurer would try to get off risk and look to deny your claim. Thats just the way things go. Why take the risk?
If you review your policy, non-disclosure is a reason to cancel the policy and cancellation because of non-disclosure will make it hard to find a new insurer.
What is the hesitation to let your insurer you reload? People list all sorts of valuable items for their home insurance - typically so that they are insurered separately on a scheduled basis.

If you don't trust your broker/agent/insurer then look for someone else that your can trust.

/cl
 
"...quite a potent blast..." Not with propane. Propane is really boring stuff. Poke a hole in the tank, even with a rifle bullet, nothing happens except for the nice, fluffy, white cloud that spreads out over the ground. Trave does nothing either. It takes an incendiary to light it. Then you get a nice fireball, but no explosion. The Night Tracer Festival at Second Chance, long ago was really dull until Dickie Davis fired the .50 BMG APTI. There was gasoline, fireworks, a fridge and a bunch of 100 and 25 pound propane tanks. Not one of the tanks moved an inch after the great big fireball died out in a matter of minutes.
If you're concerned about your insurance, like clang says, call your agent. Your agent isn't the evil, blood sucking, rat, son of unmarried parents. The self-regulating, meddling, lying, rat, misbegotten insurance companies are.
 
clang said:
Full disclosure is the only way to go. If you have loss and the reloading equiptment and materials are determined to be the cause, I would expect that your insurer would try to get off risk and look to deny your claim. Thats just the way things go. Why take the risk?
If you review your policy, non-disclosure is a reason to cancel the policy and cancellation because of non-disclosure will make it hard to find a new insurer.
What is the hesitation to let your insurer you reload? People list all sorts of valuable items for their home insurance - typically so that they are insurered separately on a scheduled basis.

If you don't trust your broker/agent/insurer then look for someone else that your can trust.

/cl
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Non disclosure of WHAT..exactly. Smoking is an exemple in Quebec, because you get a discount if you're a non-smoker. If you say you don't smoke to get a better price and you DO smoke, you can bet your last dollar the insurance company won't pay if a fire destroys your house and the direct cause is a smoker's accessory (cig, match, lighter). Fireplaces are another, because if you have one, you must declare it and pay more for the fire protection. If you don't, to save money..HA HA caught again, we no pay !

I looked at my homeowners insurance and found nothing to indicate I should declare reloading or firearms for that matter. If I want specific protection for my "guns" then yes, I have to specify them, pictures, make and caliber. Same for specific protection of jewelry. Otherwise, I'm automatically covered by a blanket amount ( varies from company to company) for the firearms and the jewelry.
 
clang said:
Full disclosure is the only way to go. If you have loss and the reloading equiptment and materials are determined to be the cause, I would expect that your insurer would try to get off risk and look to deny your claim. Thats just the way things go. Why take the risk?
If you review your policy, non-disclosure is a reason to cancel the policy and cancellation because of non-disclosure will make it hard to find a new insurer.
What is the hesitation to let your insurer you reload? People list all sorts of valuable items for their home insurance - typically so that they are insurered separately on a scheduled basis./cl
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Why do Insurance Companies sell 'Comprehensive' coverage? Are you saying there are caveats?
 
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