Question on insurance for a hobby.

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I am in the process of gathering all the information to lease a 1,000 sqft workshop unit. It would only be for my hobby machinist and welding activities as I have outgrown the garage and my dad has his wood shop in there. The problem I'm having is finding someone who knows how to insure property and liability for a hobby with an equipment replacement value of around $50,000. Called all the usual places State farm, I.O.A., Allstate and they don't have a clue. I saw Donegal insurance mentioned in other posts, I wonder if they cover hobby activities? Called a local private insurance company and for property only they said around $700-800/year. Does that sound right?Any suggestions?TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:I'd probably talk to my commercial insurance broker. I know a lot of my metal working hobby tools could go under my inland marine coverage for my business if my home owners policy wanted to deny them.When I talked to my home owners insurance agent he was sort of vague about whether my stuff was or wasn't covered. Not his fault. He was upfront that in the event of a loss, it would be a crap shoot as to whether the adjuster would be willing to cover stuff like I have or want to claim it was " business related" ( even if that's not the work I do for a living) and deny coverage in the event of a loss. Basically he said the only way to be sure was to specifically list those items on the policy. Expensive items they wanted itemized  to cover them. The more expensive they were, the more they were jacking my rates though. Just a few medium expensive tools and my rates started to get pretty unreasonable. On the other hand adding a reasonable amount of generic coverage to my inland marine policy attached to my commercial policy didn't hike the rate all that much at all. Really expensive items I'd still have to itemize, but the value was higher and very few of my basic stuff ended up on the list that way. Even itemized stuff didn't hike the rates very much. They basically wanted an idea up front what they were covering that was big ticket.It might pay to talk to a commercial broker and see what they say. Even though it's a hobby, you might be able to get decent coverage if you pick up a very basic liability policy and tack the inland marine policy to it for the real coverage you are looking for.All the commercial brokers I've dealt with have a much better clue about things than the regular insurance agents do..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Chris - you will need liablity coverage too. And probably the utility will charge you commercial rates which are higher, so check that out also.I'm interested in what you discover.Burt _____________________Miller Syncrowave 250Millermatic 211Miller 375 Plasma Cutter Hobart Handler 12010FtDrillBit.com
Reply:What about an umbrella policy to cover stuff that is not covered by your other policies?Sent from my SCH-I545 using TapatalkTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Going to have to look into what DSW said. The property manager does not require insurance in the lease and the building owner has the building insured. The company I talked to yesturday said they could provide property insurance for my tools but I would also need the liability insurance if my torch or sparks burnt the entire building down (about 10 units attached). This insurance stuff is really confusing As for utilities, the unit has 100amps of 3phase power so my welder, lathe, compressor and other future purchases can run off it to save some money. There is a machine shop in the same complex that only has about a $100/month electric bill. He is the only one that works there but has 2 big cnc machines so I'm sure if I was only up there after work and on weekends the bill should not be that bad.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE
Reply:What is inland marine? J. R. Bauer
Reply:Call travelers insurance, they do both personal and business.
Reply:i had my shop in town run in under my farm blanket policy as just extension to the farm buildings with the equipment and tools included. i had to itemize the contents and i took pics of all the tools with the serial numbers in the pics and submitted the pics to go in the file. liability was also included. i had it all covered by State Farm. there was no increase in policy cost either. sad to say after 2 years of doing good in that shop i had to shut it down and move everything back to the farm because i now have very little time to weld because i take care of 90 yr old mom with dementia full time 24-7.225NT bobcatAEAD200LEScott 125mm175, mm252 w 30A, PT225mm211, TA 181iHyper Therm 380, cut master 529100X & XX, Digital Elite6 Victor setssmith little torch, meco midget kalamazoo band sawsteel max saw evoulution circular saw
Reply:Originally Posted by johnrbauerWhat is inland marine? J. R. Bauer
Reply:Originally Posted by kkustomzCall travelers insurance, they do both personal and business.
Reply:Just make sure your covered , if you have a policy that is considered non commercial and your taking in paid jobs you could have your policy voided and not be paid for a claim and hobby type stuff won't be covered under a commercial plan. My neighbors barn was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, his farm insurance paid for the tractor, grain cart ,tools and building. The adjoining garage housed  his race car shop which also was lost in the fire the two race ready sprint cars with pro built 35k motors and tons of spares were listed as hobby by the adjuster and he didn't get a dime for that. 100k plus gone in a flashSent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
Reply:glad to see someone asked bout insurance. I'm gettin ready to offer my services to the public on a part time basis. Wanna make sure I CMA if i'm working on farmer browns equipment an something goes wrong.93 Bobcat 225GMillerMatic 135HF Tig 91811
Reply:If it helps, we're in the midst of taking pics and noting serial numbers for everything because what was stolen from us a couple of months back wasn't covered. Now we're having to come out-of-pocket for everything and it hurts. My first-person advice is to get with your agent or, as was said, preferably broker and make sure of your coverage.
Reply:As of right now everything is just a hobby. Most of the insurance people I've called get quiet when I tell them the value of my equipment and after a long pause I get the "that's just for personal use" question. I work full time but wonder if I wanted to turn my hobby into a side business how much the rates would go up. If it was not much, the income would probably offset it. If everything works out I will take pictures and serial #'s of everything that would go in the building. Thankfully most of the stuff is either too heavy to move or in a big Vidmar cabinet that is also impossible to move. I have been dealing with a local broker that is working on the same type of policy I would require for someone else who had to get a 3,000 sqft shop after he outgrew the garage for his "hobby". I will see what he has to say in a couple of days.Last edited by Chris T.; 02-20-2014 at 10:55 AM.TOO MANY TOOLS & NO MORE SPACE