I plan to take these guns on my next moose hunt. If anything happens to them on the trip, their replacement cost is covered under my home insurance. If the rest of my firearms were lost through theft or fire, however, I would not have full coverage without an added personal property rider.
Here is what I have learned about insuring, appraising, and photographing firearms.
Firearms insurance needs
Rest assured that firearms are seldom lost, stolen, or destroyed by fire in Canada. To assess your gun’s current value, use the internet to find comparators at recent auctions, like Kidd’s, Landsborough, or Switzer’s. Then, contact your home insurance provider to see if you have coverage. As Brokerlink Insurance Group Relationship Specialist Richard Ambler points out, “only then can you weigh the risks, the value of the coverage needed, and the cost.”
Property insurance
Your OFAH membership provides you with $5 million in third person liability insurance. Members can also get discounts on their home, auto, ATV or boat insurance from Brokerlink. Firearms are included under their property insurance policies subject to the personal property limit and the policy deductible. For enhanced coverage, Ambler encourages owners to add a scheduled property rider at a rate of $1.25 per $100 of value.
Scheduled coverage provides a specific amount of insurance per item and in the event of a loss, no deductible is applied.
Such riders need detailed descriptions, bills of sale, or appraisals for insurance purposes by qualified appraisers. Owners also need to report how the guns are stored.
Wes Winkel, owner of Ellwood Epps Sporting Goods, warns “Don’t assume coverage.” Check with your insurance provider to see if you are covered, what is included, and what is not. Winkel also encourages gun owners to have valuable guns appraised “to avoid having a $2,000 collectible Model 94 Winchester replaced with a new $900 one.”
Stand-alone coverage
Most firearm insurance is provided through home insurance policies based on “before loss” documentation. Recently, however, the Canadian Shooting Sports Association (CSSA) in partnership with Capri Insurance, launched GunGuard, a standalone “after loss” insurance program. GunGuard does not need an inventory or appraisal (except for high value firearms) for coverage. Its online registration is quick, simple, and inexpensive starting at $60 per year for $25,000 in coverage.
If you experience a loss, the GunGuard system relies on the details from the police report generated from your records. According to Tony Bernardo, the CSSA’s executive director, “the better your documentation, the easier the process.”
Guns bought in the past five years are eligible for full replacement coverage. An approved firearms dealer will assess claims for older firearms to decide cash value.
Appraisals
Jim Snider, president of the Canadian Personal Property Appraisers Group, encourages appraisals for insurance purposes. He notes that appraisers must consider current fair market value, taxes, travel, research time, shipping, and other variables to determine replacement costs. Snider warns that “replacement values are constantly changing” and that “it is hard to find an exact replacement so appraisers must often go for the best similar item.”
Paul Switzer, owner of Switzer’s Auctions, has seen an increased demand for estate appraisals. Both Switzer and David Landsborough, president of Landsborough Auctions, are doing more opinions of value for estates instead. They provide a brief list of the firearms and their fair market value, based on their respective company sales records. This is cheaper and faster than a full appraisal.
Winkel has experienced more demand for divorce appraisals. Appraisals are also required to offer guns as charitable donations to museums or to determine fair market value for resale. Appraisers must be experienced and knowledgeable. Ideally, they should physically examine each firearm. They should document features, modifications, condition, accessories, history, and provenance. Most importantly, they should provide several recent sale comparators and a rationale for their valuation. Depending on volume and rarity, appraisers may charge $25 to $75 per firearm or an hourly rate, plus travel.
Take good photos
Adding photographs takes your records to the next level. Landsborough stresses that, “guns must look as good as possible—clean them!” Switzer recommends taking “a full length shot of each gun, left and right, and then close-ups of any identification markings and accessories.” Winkel encourages capturing “any evidence of original condition, flaws or touch ups”
Now you can add valuations and detailed photographs to your records.
Do:
- Shoot outdoors. Use natural light to highlight true colours.
- Take pics on an overcast day to minimize shadows and reflections.
- Take a photo of the entire gun. Including the muzzle and the butt end. Then focus on the details.
- A cheap and easy background is white, or grey bristol board.
- Keep all stamps and other detail in your frame on the same plane as the camera lens for best focus.
Don’t:
- Take photos inside under a bulb. Most indoor lighting adds a colour cast.
- Take photos in bright sunlight. Harsh shadows and highlights kill a photo.
- Crop out the barrel or buttstock.
- Lay the gun on your kitchen floor. Avoid coloured or patterned backgrounds.
- Photograph the gun at steep angles looking down its length (like a used car). Most of it will be out of focus.
Handgun factor
In the new reality of Canada’s ever-changing gun laws, are handguns worth insuring and appraising?
As a hunting magazine, hunting firearms are our focus. We recognize, however, that some of our readers may also have restricted/prohibited handguns and will be affected by a surprise announcement from Public Safety Canada last fall. The national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns by individuals within Canada, and bringing newly acquired handguns into Canada came into force last fall.
Individuals can continue to possess and use their registered handguns and can sell or transfer their registered handguns under extremely limited exemptions.
Deputy director of the Chief Firearms Office Chantal Trahan confirms that current licensed owners of restricted handguns cannot buy or sell restricted/prohibited handguns, even if they are lost, stolen, or destroyed by fire, unless they belong to one of the exempted groups.
For legal restricted/prohibited handguns in estates, Trahan explains: “They can be deactivated, taken to local law enforcement agency for disposal, exported, sold to a business that can lawfully acquire them, or sold to an individual from one of the exempted groups who has a valid PAL for the classification (handgun) they wish to acquire.”
Big impact
Legal firearm owners now have handguns of little value. They can still sell to a narrow market of exempted buyers or export to the US. Switzer’s Auction and Appraisal Services warns, however, that “this is a time consuming and expensive process, with costs up to $400 per gun.”
This boils down to the fact that you can have your handgun appraised, but in all practical purposes it’s meaningless if you can’t sell it.
Solution?
Perhaps legal handgun owners should freeze their response too. Let’s not rush into bargain basement sales, disposal, or deactivation. Regulations could change.
Originally published in the August 2023 issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS
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