Flood damaged collection. Is that you Lawrence?

[phreak97]

I just saw some very upsetting photos of slot of very muddy very collectable games on kotaku.. They had the nfg watermark, and Lawrence lives in qld..

it was lawrence:(
I found this:
http://nfgphoto.com/grafx/index.php?path=Events/GameFlood

theres the full story on nfgworld.com

[NFG]

Yup, that's all my gear.

[TJ_Kat]

wow. my condolences to you collection.

i can sort of relate; last spring, at work we wound up with 3 feet of sewage in the basement. luckily i didn't lose anything (my locker was 3 1/2 feet off the floor), but for the first time in something like 35 years that place had to close the doors to the public.

and to make this nfg/gamesx related, we had an arcade in the basement. all wrecked.

[albino_vulpix]

Good to hear you made it out of the floods alright, but damn, they're hard photos to look at. I consider myself lucky the Victorian floods didn't get as far as where I am. Sure I have a lot less to lose collection-wise, but I don't know if I'd be motivated to replace anything. Hope things get better for you.

[imparanoic]

has the insurance paid up?

[imparanoic]

what i mean is that , building a huge collection over the years will have a lot of sentimental value and disasters like the floods are very devastating the owners who has incurred losses.

I presume you have insurance, my point is how do you determine value of a vintage collections to insurers ( have no knowlegde of this) and avoid potential conflicts ( i had this problem  10 years ago when i was burgled), photo are always a good  references for proof of ownership, but to insurance people, they can not understand that - satun radiant silvergun will cost around US$200 -300 and offer derisory replacment values.

[NFG]

It was actually very interesting, they first approved our entire claim for the full value after we submitted a list that totaled 30% more than that.  Then they sent out an assessor who reduced the value of my video game 'collection' (that word is very important here) to a mere $2,000, as per the policy.  And yet, the countless stacks of game-related paraphernalia didn't count as part of the collection (!?).  All those magazines, controllers, wires, posters, joysticks and other stuff listed separately from the consoles themselves were not considered (nor should they have been, IMO - this was not a collection of commemorative plates, this was a life's work!).  So the total effect on the payout was zero: we were still claiming a loss greater than the policy value.

But yeah, it seems that they're not too fussed about what, exactly, it was.  We asked for $xx,xxx coverage and they charged us a premium that reflected this amount.  So, we paid for what we asked for, right?  I didn't start a housefire, I didn't arrange a little accident.  After a flood there's not really much chance we're submitting a fraudulent claim, it's not like the stuff's just hidden and we're claiming theft, here's my mud covered shit, piled across most of my fucking back yard (sob sob).

Also, we didn't jack up any of the prices.  I'd wager that if anyone were to replace all of this stuff on ebay they'd probably be paying more than what we claimed for.  I think when someone lists a bunch of games and doesn't claim a hundred dollar value for each and every one that it probably lends a little credibility to the proceedings.

TBH I'd be pretty surprised if they did try and claim a lesser value on this stuff.  I'm actually kind of stunned they agreed to pay me out and then sent an assessor anyway who could do little more than look at the shiny new shit we bought and tell us that they're reducing the total claim but not the total payout so thanks for your time but now nothing has changed.

I should point out that we are with the best insurance company in the country by most accounts, one with a reputation for being honest and agreeable, and one with a reputation for the most expensive premiums as well.  My car insurance with them is twice what most other companies ask, but while some people complain about their insurance when they try to make a claim, these guys just get shit done and I think my money is well spent here.  The horror stories I hear from Americans (and many others) seem to illustrate a stark, adversarial system that makes me sad.  

[imparanoic]

if you have not agreed nor sent the subrogation form, do the following.

contest your settlement proposal with valuation from a video gamer importer/ebay/online quotations ( if best in writing) as proof of value for your damaged items.

if necessary, last resort would be a counter claim from a claims recovery agent (though they charge a premium).

if your electronic coverage is only limited AU$2,000, then you have no way of contesting, but if it is not, please check your terms and conditions as well as your valued inventory ( i believe that you need to items high value items)

I was offered a paltry GBP800 for my stolen games  initailly, but eventually went up to 1,600Gbp as i submitted price quotations from my local games importer ( online quotation was not common then) 12 years ago.

[NFG]

Like I said, their reduced valuation of the 'collection' did not affect the amount they have already agreed to pay me, so I'm not going to be taking any further action at this time.  =)

[phreak97]

I've had a few chats with my insurance company but  still not completely confident my games are covered. I told my insurance company I have approximately $25,000 (market value) of games, consoles, and accessories, and they said they would note it on our policy and increase our contents coverage to accommodate the extra stuff, and now we pay a little bit more.
However I'm still afraid of what could potentially happen if it all gets destroyed.

[imparanoic]

if you have chatted to a broker, they will confirm what you want to hear, not what is listed on the policy.
if directly to the insurers, then it will be different.

ps, i work in insurance industry, specialising in personal possessions for expats in asia

check your policy, check the terms, esp eemd, electronic, electricial machanic derangement and it's limitation, ie, over 6 years if it malfunctioned with no physical damages, then not covered, also ,other limitations

if you have radant silvergun, gingi fukei saphire, pce lt  & game and watches,  please declare separately all high value items, proportional value is always used for group declaration, ie, ur US$5 and ur US$200 will divided individually.

[NFG]

All sorted, the money hit the bank last night, for the full value of the policy.

I may not re-buy that box of ten neo geo consoles, but I might get myself a Net City cab.  =D

[imparanoic]

just wondering?

were any of the items salvagable?, i note that I have recovered/reconditioned used/heavy soiled controllers? and minor parts such as rare cables, schp1050, etc

would be bothered to proceed with this or has the insurance salvage this as they declared a total loss (dun worry, they have re-insurers to cover their arses for big claims such as this)

[NFG]

A lot of it might have been salvageable, but at way too much cost (time and effort) for me.    Probably all of the consoles could have been saved, but it's just not worth it to keep messing about with that toxic sludge just to play Aldynes, you know?

I seem to have saved my handful of SCPH-1050 cables, but I did lose a dozen NIB SNES RGB cables, which is annoying.

[imparanoic]

would you consider a sale of soiled items such as avenue 6 pads, hori multi fighting sticks, etc for nfgamer here?

obviously, no guarantee if they work.

it seems you had a very impressive completist collection, i suspect you may have even so rare prototype items as well.

[NFG]

Sorry, they're long gone.  Copper thieves hacked off all the cables the first night, and whatever the vultures didn't get over the next few days was picked up by city council and taken to the landfill.  =/