Bearing Arms May Leave You Uninsured

http://www.insightmag.com ^ | Posted Sept. 16, 2002 | By Kelly Patricia O'Meara

[petuniasevan]

I already stay away from State Farm Insurance. Family and friends have had policies dropped or premiums skyrocket for first-time claims way too many times for my liking.

If they're showing anti-gun bigotry, they've made a lot more ex-customers.

[goodieD]

Luckily we are with another insurance group.. but frankly, I don't go around admitting gun ownership to anyone in authority, if I can avoid it.

[SteveH]

bang

[Imal]

This issue affects both my voting and choice of vendors. I'll act accordingly.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[BlackbirdSST]

Insurance, a racket that's only there when you DON'T need it! Blackbird.

[Paul C. Jesup]

This shows the socailists lack of intelligence.

It is unwise to piss-off someone who owns a gun, much less piss-off tens of millions of people who own guns.

[JCG]

Now I'm covered by another insurance company at much lower rates.

I was insured by the "Good Neighbor" for twenty years. Then one of their insureds knocked me off my bicycle with his pickup truck. When I got out of the hospital I went to collect thinking this would be easy because I had been a State Farm customer all these years. Surprise! I was beaten up worse by the S.F. claims adjuster than I had been by the pickup truck.

At the time I had two homeowner policies, two car policies, two life policies and a boat policy -- all with State Farm.

Disgusted, I switched companies. And, to my surprise, I got the exact same -- or better -- coverage for less money; in every case!

After two years of haggling I finally got a settlement check on my accident.

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[Jaxter]

My wife and I have become dissatisfied with State Farm for a number of reasons. Can anybody suggest a good, solid, gun friendly alternative?

[Trust but Verify]

The title is very misleading, and I realize you didn't make it up. The article makes it clear you can own most guns and insure them with any of the insurers mentioned. The problem arose with the shooting range, which, if you are being honest, does increase the liability on the property.

I think the home owner was stupid for ever bringing it to the attention of the insurer, Why not just say you have dogs that are trained to kill, too?

[dpa5923]

I have taught my children, 15, 12 and 5 to reply to any inquiry about their fathers guns with the following:

"None of your damn business."

[GeekDejure]

Looks like I'll need to keep my sleeves rolled all the way down . . . no bare arms, eh??? ;-))

[SR71A]

The problem arose with the shooting range, which, if you are being honest, does increase the liability on the property.

A private outdoor shooting range on your property will also greatly diminish the value of that property. The lead contamination of the land will force you to clean up the contamination before you can sell. No one will knowingly buy contaminated land. Be very, very careful about using your property for a shooting range. Take it from someone who knows.

I'm not talking about small scale use, but a "public" range that involves thousands of rounds per year. The amount of lead on your land will be astounding after several years, and will have to be cleaned up.

[glc1173@aol.com]

Here in North Carolina, who has a CCW permit is public record. So are pistol purchase permits. But nobody from State Farm Insurance has ever asked me about what guns I own or carry - though they have my homeowner's and auto.

I seriously think that this was a flake agent. If any insurer just didn't insure "ranges," it would lose the entire homeowner's insurance market in every semirural and rural area in this state where everyone shoots in his backyard!

GUN REVIEWS free from ad-money bias - emphasizing woman-friendliness of tested guns!

[Hammerhead]

Absolutely hands-down the WORST insurance agency is Travelers (Geico) Home Owners policy.

Let's see:

If more than one claim in 5 years your dropped.

If it's a rental and your home was built say, before 1975, you must be tested for lead based paint. Of course MOST homes built before 1960 have lead based paint in one of the under coats. If you have lead based paint in one of the undercoats, your dropped.

They will drop you for having certain types of dogs.

Plus the total cluster F of dealing with one company processing the policies on behalf of another company.

Basically this company wants all your money without taking any risks.

Travelers/Geico sucks. Company is a total pain in the ass.

I dropped THEM and went with another more expensive company.

[AAABEST]

After I closed on my house last month, my homeowners insurance company sent me a questionaire. Most questions were about flood zones and fire alarms ... standard stuff.

Then I came to one question that stated "is there a firearm in the house?"

I didn't check the box, I wrote in my answer. My verbatim response was "None of you f***ing business, if that's a problem I'll find another company to insure my home".

I haven't heard a peep from them on the issue and my policy is still in place.

[jjm2111]

I like (and use) USAA. Polite, competent, and gun friendly.

[jjm2111]

Hey maybe they were going to give you a discout. W/ a firearm there would be less of a chance of stuff being stolen. ;)

[jjm2111]

You flew those???? Wow.

[JCG]

I don't know about gun-friendly but I would look for a reputable independent agent instead of a company critter.