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Insuring and Protecting Your Longarm


What every longarmer should know about insuring and protecting their longarm machine (actually, what every quilter should know about protecting your supplies and equipment)

 

We chatted with a young woman this past weekend that experienced a nightmare with her sewing and quilting supplies.  She moved, and everything related to sewing magically disappeared off the truck -  her longarm, domestic machine, fabrics, rulers, all of it.  Sounds like the movers set up a studio for a family member.  We’ve also had customer machines hit by lightening strikes to the homes they are in, fires that consumed entire homes, floods, etc.  Disclaimer - I'm not in the insurance industry, so discuss this with your agent.  Here are twelve things I believe every quilter should consider:

 

•   Every few months, walk around and video your sewing studio.  Show what is in drawers, closets, your machines, fabric stash, books, rulers, etc.  The gal mentioned above was asked to provide this kind of proof.  Who ever photographs their ruler collection?  This is actually good idea for your entire house.

•  Keep your purchases in a spreadsheet or accounting program.  Make sure this information is backed up off site.

•  Scan all receipts and also store in a cloud account.

•  Back up all digital patterns in a cloud account.  If you purchase encrypted patterns, keep your receipts in the cloud.  The company that provided the patterns may require proof of your purchases and that the machine was destroyed and not sold in order to reissue them.  You’d think they’d have records, but if they have changed accounting or point of sales systems it might mean it would be difficult for them to track everything down.

•  Document, photograph and get appraisals on your quilts.  This is a whole other topic to discuss with your insurance agent.

•  The second you decide to purchase a longarm, call your insurance rep.  If you plan on using it only for your own quilts, a rider may not be necessary, but the value of the machine might change that.  

•  The second you make any money on quilting, whether it’s a $15 prize at the county fair or doing customer quilts, you’re no longer a hobbyist.  We’ve known CA quilters who learned this the hard way after wildfires destroyed their home.  If the insurance company finds that you have a “business,” you might find all of your quilting supplies are no longer covered under your homeowner’s policy.  That small fair prize bit a lot of folks, an internet search showed it, and they were left high and dry on pricey quilt supplies and machines.

•  Insure your longarm for replacement value, if possible.  We’ve worked on three machines affected by lightening.  One was unfixable.  Fortunately the owner had it fully insured and we were able to retrofit it to a computerized model.

•  Be safe.  We’ve had customers pack up their machine head and customer quilts prior to losing their homes to a fire.  Please, machines are replaceable (especially if properly insured), never put yourself at risk.  There are probably more important and irreplaceable things to pack in your car if you have time.

•  If you only take one thing away from this bit of information, let it be that you should UNPLUG your machine when it is not in use, if you are away from home, or if a storm is predicted.  Do not think that a surge protector or battery backup system will protect it from lightning - they won’t.  A nearby strike will potentially damage items left plugged in.  We had a strike that came in through our cable, blew out our router and a cable box.  It spared my machines, but was a valuable lesson.

•  Speaking of uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) - speak with your dealer or the machine manufacturer about using these.  Generally, they are recommended for your computer, but not for the controller (robotic system/motion control). If you have an outage, save your project on your computer, close everything down and unplug your equipment.  This will prevent damage if there is a surge when things come back on.  UPS systems are not meant to be used so you can continue sewing.  They also fail over time.  If you unplug, turn the unit off or it will continue to beep.

•  The second you set up a new project, name and save it.  Some programs won’t auto save unless you’ve done this.  We’ve learned this the hard way for the second time this last weekend at a show.  Someone, who will remain nameless, unplugged the booth lights and the power strip to the machine in the middle of a edge to edge.  There are ways to recover, but it was rather annoying, and believe me, he heard about it!

•  Finally, make sure you have the right insurance coverage if you have customers coming into your home to drop off or pick up.  A trip and fall could be devastating.  Most insurance companies can provide an inexpensive policy to protect you from this - similar to a policy that is used by home piano teachers, etc.

 

We welcome your questions and comments.  Please let us know if you have another topic you’d like us to cover.