Reporting stolen phones and collecting insurance

[paul-f]

This post in another thread prompts numerous questions regarding the safety of our collections and the aftermath of losing part or all of our collectiions through theft or damage (fire, flood, etc.)

I do not have enough room to display them, I might cycle them to use a different one on line. I had more telephones but they were stolen. The police want serial numbers. Know what antique dealer had some of them but The police do not care ,even if you can describe damage etc they called it hearsay and not proof.
Robby

e.g. How do they handle theft of other items without serial numbers -- jewelry, etc.?

What does an average homeowner's/renter's insurance policy cover?

Does anyone have any experience to share?  Comments from law enforcement and insurance professionals are welcome.

[HarrySmith]

Bella protects mine

[Greg G.]

Good question.  I photograph all mine in detail.  I've never had to deal with homeowners/renters insurance, but assumed that the photos and an amount paid would suffice.  Even then, I haven't kept track of what I paid for my phones.

[Dennis Markham]

I don't have a lot of advice from a law enforcement stand point.  But when I read rdelius' comment earlier today about the police telling him they couldn't follow-up or prosecute due to lack of serial numbers it caused me to raise my eyebrows a bit.  I don't doubt they told him that but I don't believe it's true.  There are many collectibles out there, and property in general that do not carry serial numbers.  It is difficult to enter an item in the national criminal data base without numbers but if certain identifiable property is recovered and they have a suspect in the theft, prosecution should be possible.  It's very unlikely with common items like an iPod or something like that, but with unique items, with proof of ownership, I would think it would be easier to get a conviction.   I'm sure there's no serial numbers on the Mona Lisa.   That just sounded like lazy police work to me.

I think photographic proof of our telephones is the best way to document what one has.  I purchased insurance for my tiny collection and my Insurance Agent urged me to itemize everything and record a value.  More than likely what I have exceeds what I've insured my phones for in the event of fire or theft.  I have partially documented each but it is time consuming.  Probably the best thing to do once all the stuff is photographed and described is to put it on some type of memory device, CD or whatever and store it in a safety deposit box or at the least with a friend in case the place burns to the ground.  I suppose once one catches up, it's easier to keep up.

Back to my first paragraph, it seems to me that if a phone with a certain dial card for instance is stolen, you have documented proof that you owned it and then you see it at the local pawn shop there can be recovery and prosecution.  Perhaps a chip in a certain place, a scratch, etc.  Take good photos.  Especially if there is documentation of who the person was that sold the item to the pawn shop, antique shop, etc.  Here in Michigan with jewelry sellers must sign a book and leave a thumb print.  Now they do not have to do that with other items.  Maybe at a pawn shop, but I'm not sure about that.  Just my 2 cents worth on the subject......

[bingster]

Back to my first paragraph, it seems to me that if a phone with a certain dial card for instance is stolen, you have documented proof that you owned it and then you see it at the local pawn shop there can be recovery and prosecution.  Perhaps a chip in a certain place, a scratch, etc.  Take good photos. 

I think that's excellent advice.  Phones look alike at a glance only.  When you look more closely, each one has unique, identifiable marks of some kind.  Chips and scratches, as Dennis mentions, or even a tiny patch of rust or oxidation inside the phone somewhere.  These will positively identify a particular phone, and create a unique "fingerprint" that will be different from any other phone on the planet.

[Kenny C]

i can tell all of my phones apart on my 1952 302 i have  a dial card that says
EMerson
1133
Party Code 2

[Dennis Markham]

I do have one Model 500 that has a serial number inside.  However the number is not etched inside.  Those that have been around the forum a while will remember this serial number I found inside a 1955 Model 500.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1265.msg16017#msg16017

[Dennis Markham]

Oops, Sorry Stub.  I'll make the correction.

[Jester]

This is thought provoking thread.  I don't know if it will help, but I'm going to start putting a loose label in a less-than-obvious spot inside all my phones with my signature, drivers license number & date accquired.  this, along with pictures & detailed description, should be enough to ensure the property is returned if found.

[bingster]

I just thought of something.  What kind of burglar is going to steal a 202?  Or a 500?  They'll probably be the only things left behind!  Still, better to be safe than sorry, I guess.

[rdelius]

The police would not listen to me about marks on the telephones I could identify. I even had a photo of a radio that was stolen. To the police they all look the same . It did not help that the antique dealer was the former police chief .I did get some of the telephones back but I lost most of them including a split shaft Sumter stick.
Robby

[gpo706]

This is thought provoking thread.  I don't know if it will help, but I'm going to start putting a loose label in a less-than-obvious spot inside all my phones with my signature, drivers license number & date accquired.  this, along with pictures & detailed description, should be enough to ensure the property is returned if found.

Perfect solution, just what I was thinking, or just write on the inside of the case or inside a handset cap with surname, house number and postcode/phone number with an ultra violet pen, thats what the cops here recommend.

[Tribune]

Exactly what I was thinking GPO706, as I read down through this post. Photo-document all your phones and UV pen them. Really don't relish the though of discovering your own stolen phone on sale in an antique store or on eBay.

[McHeath]

I once worked as a CSO for a police dept, about a hundred years ago it seems, and we did a lot of the property cataloging and identifying of found and recovered objects.  It really depends on the local PD methinks of what kind of attitude you will get when you try to recover stolen objects, some chiefs are going to do the right thing and try, and some will not.  It also probably depends on how big your town is, I worked in a town of 12,000 and we were much friendlier to deal with than a large city.  Even my current town of around 60k is not very friendly, they have a pretty good wall up where you can't really get in to see anyone. 

My insurance claims that all household property is covered under a section of my policy and I simply have to declare the loss value.  They have not even asked that I inventory the items, though that is a good idea and I should do it. 

[Kenny C]

ha our population was 2,452 in 2000