A week last Friday (remember the day... the rain came) my 'Cellar Of Soul' was flooded with about 6" of water.

I was up all night (until 11.00am Sat morning) trying to rescue whatever was on the floor (my play boxes full of 45's, piles af albums, 1,500 CD's) cardboard boxes full of magazines going back to early B&S, Record Lists, my complete works of Richard Allen etc.

Man that I am, I never shed a tear, for fear of raising the water level, but it's been a torrid 10 days or so, trying to extract each piece of vinyl from the sleeve, dry each label with soft tissue, hanging LP covers all over the house on makeshift washing lines trying to dry them out.

We're talking about 2-3,000 45's and LP's under water!

I contacted my Insurance Co (where the records are well covered within the contents insurance) and they advised me to leave well alone (not to rescue anymore) and wait until they could get the Loss Adjuster out to assess the damage and potential loss.

A further few thousand 45's and a couple of thousand LP's were left down there (above water level) and eventually the water subsided.

They told me they couldn't get out until... this coming Thursday (because of the volume of such tragedies) and despite the fact I told em that this was no ordinary cellar full of crap......... (it was MY cellar full of crap)............ they still couldn't prioritise the visit.

Well, if you saw the news or live near me (S. Yorks / N. Derbyshire), you know what happened last night.

Sho' nuff it came again... deeper than before (or deep as you like and then some!!!)

I've just spent the last 6 hours trying to salvage the balance.

Soul Destroying...

Well, the guy from the Insurance Co is due on Thursday.

Now, I've saved most of my Soul records by spending the week cleaning and drying them (and on the upside, found loads of stuff I didn't know I had ) but I've still several boxes that I've just not been able to get to and a few thousand 60's & 70's Pop records, most on UK demos, that are just sitting in the middle of the floor in 6" of water.

Main question is, anyone out there work in Home Insurance can explain (since I've rescued most of my rarer Soul records) would there be any loss attached to these since a few of them have spent a few hours under water and how could this be valued (de-valued)?

Secondly, anyone out there work in Home Insurance can explain how I would go about valuing all the stuff that's still down there with all the labels floating about around them... or is the onus on them to do that?

Thirdly... any other advice from anyone with similar experience, in particular regarding Records & CD's, very much appreciated.

Got an hour to do at Shane's new gig in Sheffield this Friday night.

Expect 60 minutes of whatever I've been able to salvage.

Oh, and any requests for "Wade in The Water" on the night will be treated with absolute contempt!

Mods... anyone... if this is in the wrong place please move it.

Many thanks

Sean

hi sean

just a thought but idf you are paid out for the lets say full value of ruined singles or lp's does the insurance company then own these so will they take them away from you. obviously the value paid for devalued records will just be the difference you would lose if selling.

does this mean you can buy back the damaged ones cheaply off the insurance company

mark

hi sean

just a thought but idf you are paid out for the lets say full value of ruined singles or lp's does the insurance company then own these so will they take them away from you. obviously the value paid for devalued records will just be the difference you would lose if selling.

does this mean you can buy back the damaged ones cheaply off the insurance company

mark

Good thought Mark, but now they've seen them they've just told me to dispose of them.

They'll all be in the skip before the weekend (well some of them will)

They should also pay out a percentage on the devalued 'damaged' stuff (as opposed to destroyed) that I'll be hanging onto.

The good thing is that I was carrying a huge premium on contents insurance that should cover most of the true, current, value.

The not so good thing is that I did the original valuation when I took out the policy 5 years ago and as you well know, Record values have increased massively since that time, so I'll probably only get 2002 prices.

Still, to be fair, a lot of them were purchased at 1973 prices... but the purpose of the Insurance is to give you the current value.

Recommend everyone with a half decent collection gets them insured properly. If not, you won't get full value in the event of disaster and you just never know what's around the corner. A pretty scary thought for a lot of people on here.

Just found a box of tapes going back to the early 70's, about 2-300 of them. All completely soaked.

Anyone know if they'll dry out and be playable again, ever, or are they ruined too?

Sean

Good thought Mark, but now they've seen them they've just told me to dispose of them.

They'll all be in the skip before the weekend (well some of them will)

They should also pay out a percentage on the devalued 'damaged' stuff (as opposed to destroyed) that I'll be hanging onto.

The good thing is that I was carrying a huge premium on contents insurance that should cover most of the true, current, value.

The not so good thing is that I did the original valuation when I took out the policy 5 years ago and as you well know, Record values have increased massively since that time, so I'll probably only get 2002 prices.

Still, to be fair, a lot of them were purchased at 1973 prices... but the purpose of the Insurance is to give you the current value.

Recommend everyone with a half decent collection gets them insured properly. If not, you won't get full value in the event of disaster and you just never know what's around the corner. A pretty scary thought for a lot of people on here.

Just found a box of tapes going back to the early 70's, about 2-300 of them. All completely soaked.

Anyone know if they'll dry out and be playable again, ever, or are they ruined too?

Sean

A friendly word of advice old bean - keep the records safe until you are satisfied with what the insurance company is paying you. My concern is that you don't get what you claim, and by then the records will be in some landfill. They should also pay out on replacement value, not a value declared five years ago. I suspect your contents insurance has had an inflationary increase each year.

Thanks guys.

Well the Loss Adjuster came, he saw and (I think) he understood the gravity of the situation.

He's gone back to base to type up the report and has asked me to complete a form evaluating the potential loss.

He wants me to estimate all records completely destroyed and all records devalued.

Where to start???

In addition, I've a Gym down there, a Wine Cellar and loads of PC's and IT and Sound equipment... all wrecked. These will also need to go on the valuation.

The exercise should take about a week.

Along with that I've got to immediately dispose of all the 'written off' stock as he's arranging for a team to come in and gut the place.

That'll be when the tears start.

On top of this, the Mrs is about to have our Baby any second.

Just hope she can hang on until after the weekend... when we can get back to some assemblence of order.

Thanks for all your messages of support. It's been a useful exercise and a pretty hard lesson for all of us I guess. A mate suggested moving everything up onto the top floor, but with the changing weather the Roof could blow off this winter! Think I'll be converting one of the Bedrooms, in the middle of the house, which seems the safest option.

Anyhow, must press on.

Wellies back on and down we go!

Look forward to catching up with a few of you tomorrow night at Qube (don't worry Shane and Co, I've still got plenty of biscuit dry goodies in the playbox). You'll be treated to a load of stuff that's never been played out in public before. Amazing what a good collection clear out does for your playlist!

Sean

Sean, that bloke you kept in that box down there, the one in the rubber suit and gimp mask. Don't tell me he was still down there throughout all this ? Did you have him insured ?

Seriously, hope it all comes good or you.

We'll have a drink tomorrow . I'll pay

Steve

Sean, that bloke you kept in that box down there, the one in the rubber suit and gimp mask. Don't tell me he was still down there throughout all this ? Did you have him insured ?

Seriously, hope it all comes good or you.

I'll buy everyone a drink tomorrow . I'll pay

Steve

Well if he'd got a rubber suit on all he needed was a snorkel and he'd have been fully equipped for the conditions.

Well if he'd got a rubber suit on all he needed was a snorkel and he'd have been fully equipped for the conditions.

You're right Dave.

He is fully equipped.

Steve knows that only too well, as I've let him stay down there with him for a couple of hours on more than one occasion...

...and if he thinks buying me a pint or two is gonna silence me he's another thing coming!

You're right Dave.

He is fully equipped.

Steve knows that only too well, as I've let him stay down there with him for a couple of hours on more than one occasion...

...and if he thinks buying me a pint or two is gonna silence me he's another thing coming!

Sean

It's good to see you have retained your sense of humour after the devastating couple of weeks you've had. Make him pay for the beer all night...that'll really hurt him

You're right Dave.

He is fully equipped.

Steve knows that only too well, as I've let him stay down there with him for a couple of hours on more than one occasion...

...and if he thinks buying me a pint or two is gonna silence me he's another thing coming!

It is Bill Ward isn't it Sean ?

It is Bill Ward isn't it Sean ?

You mean you've taken advantage of him... and didn't even ask his name?

Shocking!

Hi Sean.

Here in Grimsby/ Cleethorpes many years ago until the sea defence wall was built up we used to get a lot of flooding. If you go along the sea front these days a lot of the private homes still have there houses set out so they live upstairs and sleep down stairs. All the valuables are upstairs. Just a thought for the future mate.

Trev

Edited June 29, 200717 yr by Coxy

Jeez ! just been reading through this thread Really must be soul destroying ! pardon the pun it wasn't intended & was going to rub it out, but it seems like you have managed to hang on to your sense of humour in this horrible situation anyway

I think you have given me, & others, a valuable life lesson in how you have reacted to this !

Hope the insurance goes ok & you manage to replace what you can, which i guess is going to be very difficult.

All best

Jeez ! just been reading through this thread Really must be soul destroying ! pardon the pun it wasn't intended & was going to rub it out, but it seems like you have managed to hang on to your sense of humour in this horrible situation anyway

I think you have given me, & others, a valuable life lesson in how you have reacted to this !

Hope the insurance goes ok & you manage to replace what you can, which i guess is going to be very difficult.

All best

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

Without trying to be too philosophical, I guess it's not what happens in life but how you react to it that determines the outcome.

Many years ago I used to be a partner in a firm (Modern Dynamic Training) where we did management training and PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) seminars. I've read hundreds of books on the subject and this was a real test for some of the principles. And so far, its worked, but who knows, by the end of the year I might be a bottle of whiskey a day quivering mess... but, somehow, I doubt it!

As for replacing what's gone, it's a funny thing, I was only speaking to Tats Taylor and Cliff Steele a couple of days before this happened and was saying that my wants list is now down to less than a half dozen tracks. I guess this will revitalise my 'chase' instinct... and put the fun back into collecting again, but we'll have to wait and see.

Am still wading through the soggy mess that was once my pride and joy, trying to salvage whatever I can, but the sheer quantity is making it impossible to rescue them all and for the past few days I've been literally shovelling them into bin liners and dumping them.

As I type, it's stopped raining and the sun's just come out.

So there must be something to this 'Positivity' stuff after all!

Apologies... that bottle of whiskey is taking effect!

Hellish news Sean. I had to fight with a loss-adjustor over a few records that were lost in a fire in an out-house. The best one's were indoors safe but thought I'd claim anyway. They wriggle and say you can't claim unless you've previosuly itemised the value, which is virtually impossible for a big collection. One thing they asked me to do was to get affidavits from other collectors validating prices based on guide-book prices. If you need the same let me know.

stuart cosgrove