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Dear Distressed:
If you carry both comprehensive insurance on your automobile policy, and home insurance, you can whistle a happy tune.
Comprehensive insurance covers "factory installed equipment" -- electronic accessories and equipment that were included in the original new purchase price of the car. That means that your stereo system, as well as any CD that happened to be in the player at the time of the theft, is covered up to a value of $25.
The rest of your stolen CDs, however, would be covered under your homeowners or tenants insurance.
So far, so good. But there is one provision -- you will have to pay the deductible on both policies. Depending on how high that amount is, it may not make sense to claim for everything that was stolen.
You also say that your stereo equipment is "expensive." If it is special after-market equipment that was not installed at the factory, there are limits on what your insurance will pay for loss or damage to your stereo. The same goes for fax machines, televisions, telephones, speakers, navigation equipment, or any of the other electronic bells and whistles that people install in their cars. If you have any non-factory-installed electronic equipment worth more than $1500, you can customize your insurance to cover it, through an endorsement, or "add-on," to your auto policy. In Alberta, endorsement #37 or #38 is used in establishing values of after-market equipment and is added on by your broker when you purchase a policy. Contact your insurance representative for more information.
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