Burglary claim on renter's insurance: receipts needed for CDs & DVDs?

[Mugwump]

While I was at work today, my apartment was burglarized. The police have already been here and done their report. About 500 cds and a hundred or so DVDs were taken, and a couple of six packs of beer from the fridge. It looks like they tried to take the TV (the power cord and cable had been disconnected) but decided against it. I guess they didn't bother with the TV and the computer because they're both old.

I have no receipts for any of the DVDs or CDs, and I never made a catalog or checklist for them. Will I have to produce a list with every separate item on it? The CDs were collected over twenty years, and there is no hope of getting receipts for all of them or any substantial number of them. I bought a few from Amazon.com, so I might be able to produce some documentation for those. The situation with the DVDs is the same.

How much hassle am I going to get from my insurer? I've heard ugly stories of companies lowballing claims filed on their policies and using delaying tactics to discourage the filers.

I feel kind of dazed right now. I think I'm not going to go to work tomorrow. The lock on the back door is broken, and I need to speak to the landlord about that.

Any advice offered is greatly appreciated.

 

[briandz]

That sucks..... Maybe look into old photos or videos to show that you had a collection in the background and hopefully you'll get an adjuster with a heart....who knows..... Unfortunately insurance companies rely on the fact that most people overlook saving such trivial thing like receipts for somewhat inexpensive items like movie and music collections. although they do add up.
In the future layout all of your stuff and video tape it and save it to your hard drive and then burn a copy or two to keep with friends or family just in case the receipts get burnt, or lost or whatever.. you never know.... good luck!

 

[insuranceman]

The insurance company I work for asks for the covers of cds if they are available. You should ask the company what the limit is on the policy. Renter's policies have limits on certain items, and unless you requested them to be increased, they usually aren't. How much are you wanting for your collection? While all my music is now digital, I know the 100 something dvds I have were expensive when I first bought them (I'm big on buying movies I like when they first come out), but if I had to replace them, it would probably be half of what I paid. Ebay is a great place for used DVDs and CDs.