I’ve spent about $35,000 over the years on tools. I’ve always been under the impression that, as a professional mechanic, insuring one’s tools was impractical due to the prohibitively high premiums. Recently I came across this outfit, Pro-tec, which seems to good to be true:
http://www…for-tools/
Anyone heard of this company? Is there a way to check out this outfit to see if it’s a good, reputable enterprise?
If they’re on the level, I’m signing up right away!
Your probably half as likely to lose your tools (at least for a while) when the business goes belly-up and the doors get locked and you can’t get your tools,any protection against a business closing its doors with your tools inside?
Oldschool, Do You Have Experience With Having One’s Tools Being Locked Up, Your’s Or An Acquaintance, When A Shop Went Belly-Up ? That Could Be Finacially Catastrophic.
CSA
I don’t know about mechanics…but it happened to my brother who at the time owned a construction company…He was building an addition for a business…the company went bankrupt and they closed the doors…took my brother almost 2 months to get his equipment out…and of course he didn’t get everything back…
I don’t know about the company, but buyer beware. And your question sounds a lot like a sales pitch…just sayin’
A lot of answers were posted a month ago to a similar question.
A savings account will garner more useable money than insurance. Yes, you can insure anything you want if you have the money.
I was advised years ago, - by my insurance agent - , to NOT insure my ‘tools’ ( the tools of my trade in this case guitars, amps, lights, pa systems, mics, wires and other music performance gear. ) but to save their replacement cost instead. Sure enough , over the course of time, it proved out that saving totaled at least four times as much as replacement cost insurance AND the money is still all mine.
If the business closes your tools are NOT theirs. They are yours. It may take some time and communications with the entities involved in the legal matters of the closing, but you’ll get them back.
( case in point ; I had a bass guitar and concert amp ( $1500.00 worth ) on consignment at a music store which was closed for money owed by both the landlord and state tax people. It took a good deal of time and once I proved they did not belong to the store but to me by proving ownership of them , I got them back. )
If they’re burned or stolen while at the business they’re covered by the establishment’s insurance.
The biggest key here is PROOF of ownership. ie; just which tools you have. ( in all cases, closed business, loss from theft, fire, flood. )
If filing a claim you’ll need to be specific about, and proove which tools are yours.
You might have PAID $35,000 for those tools off the Snap-On truck, but today they are worth .10-.20 cents on the dollar…2/3rds of them obsolete…Why buy a product you don’t need??
“Your probably half as likely…”
[i]You’re[/i] probably half as likely…
Yes , there is a vast difference in
replacement cost.
-vs-
current value
whether it be your tools, home & contents, car, etc.
I realize it’s possible to get in a tangle if the company locks up its doors, etc, but if you do finally get your tools back, that’s not the same thing as them being stolen w/o insurance.
Caddyman is partially right about my tools in a sense being worth 10 cents on a dollar that I’ve paid over time, because, that’s about what I’d get for them if I retired tomorrow & decided to sell them. Insuring them is different, though, since the insurance doesn’t replace exactly what I had; they give me a check & I spend it the way I please.
Also, maybe 20% of my tools are obsolete, but no way 2/3! I know what I have. Timing light & distributor wrench, yeah.
Thanks for everyone’s responses. I was just hoping someone had a heads up regarding this company.
No experience with this company for the reasons stated.
Advised not to spend good money after bad buying separate insurance.
- Home owner’s insurance can pay.
- Buisiness insurance can pay.
And you can absolutely bet that this ‘company’ you mention WILL HAVE co-insurance loopholes and proof of ownership fine print.
They will not double pay those dollars already paid by another insurance.
And the biggest glich of all for those of us buying tools a little at a time over thirty years, proof of purchase.
“And the biggest glich of all for those of us buying tools a little at a time over thirty years, proof of purchase.”
Sad but true.
Many of the speciality tools (primairly 1/4 drive stuff with odd tips and such)that I own go unused and unsaleable. I will let them sit in a box before I let the go for pennies on the dollar. We had a Dealer a bit south of Tucson that got his doors closed by the bank, the guys were out of their tools for about a week.
We were told flat out at a mechanics meeting one month that if the Dealership is broken into and our boxes get stolen the owner does not have our property insured.
And the biggest glich of all for those of us buying tools a little at a time over thirty years, proof of purchase.
Yeah, I agree! I ended up moving halfway across the country about 10 years ago. Needless to say, I was very concerned about my tools that were left at the old house while I transitioned and then again during the move. I have many tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools for mechanical, electrical, metalworking, woodworking and so on.
I started logging everything but gave that up pretty quickly and instead decided to video-tape everything. It took several days but I eventually had laid everything out on the floor and took video while describing certain tools that were not obvious or were specialty items. I keep a DVD of that in my fire safe. Still not absolute PROOF of ownership but at least something I can use to argue my case if they go away.