Are you covered?

Have you checked if your fishing tackle is insured?
Theft of fishing tackle is sadly becoming more and more common. That is why it is important to know that you are properly covered by insurance. You may be covered by your home contents insurance but that is not guaranteed and is why it is wise to take out a specific policy. Insurance companies now offer some very good deals on fishing tackle insurance that will cover you for most eventualities.

It is a sad fact that anglers are being targeted more and more often by thieves. With some small tackle items costing hundreds of pounds they know they can walk away with a good haul in moments. It has recently been reported that thieves are now stealing to order by staking out commercial fisheries and following anglers back to their homes where they can then steal the specific items they have spotted.

A friend of mine was unfortunate enough to be the victim of such a theft recently. He was fishing on a private syndicate water and was at the end of a three day session. He had hardly seen anyone during those three days and thought he would be safe to leave his rods unattended while he nipped to the nearby toilets to relieve himself. When he returned not five minutes later he found his rods lying on the ground with all three of his bait-runners missing, they had also removed the bank stick which housed his three delkim alarms. He quickly scanned the area but could not see or hear anyone. The lake in question is quite remote and supposedly private property but this didn't deter the thief, In moments they had walked off with a good haul with no care to the feelings of their victim who unfortunately was never to see his prize delkims or bait-runners again. He reported the theft to the police and was told it was just one of a spate of similar thefts in the area. They took all the details but said there was little chance of making an arrest or retrieving his tackle.

After reporting the theft to the police my friend looked into his insurance and found that he was not covered for this eventuality, infact he was only covered by his home insurance if his fishing tackle had been stolen from his home while stored in a locked shed or garage and then there was a maximum he could claim for any one item. He then looked into his car insurance to see what cover that gave him and found that his insurance only covered a fraction of what his tackle actually cost if his car was to be broken into and his tackle was stolen. This was a real eye opener as he was sure he was totally covered. The good news is that he was covered under the syndicates insurance and through them he did indeed receive the full amount of what the reels and alarms cost to replace, but it was more by luck than design that he was covered for his loss. If you are a member of a syndicate or club you may be covered by their insurance while you are fishing at their waters but then again you may not! That is why it is so important to check if you are insured and what you are actually covered for?

When my friend told me about the theft I also looked into my insurance and found that my tackle was not properly covered. My fishing tackle not only cost me thousands of pounds, it is also my pride and joy. It gives me hours of pleasure and has taken me years to attain. If it was stolen I would be distraught. I know that there is no way that I could just go out and replace it all myself, I just don't have that sort of free cash at my disposal. Being a family man with children to support my hobby has to come after their needs. The only way I could hope to replace all of my tackle if it was stolen would be to claim on insurance. I decided that the only way I could have piece of mind would be to insure my fishing tackle on a separate policy that would cover me for any eventuality. I looked into what insurance is available and found a great deal with a company that specialises in insuring fishing tackle. It costs a small monthly premium to insure my tackle against theft and against accidental damage.

I don't want to go into the various policies that are available. I am not trying to sell you insurance. What I am trying to do is open your eyes to what could happen and advise you to check that you are properly covered in case of the worst! We can reduce the risk of theft by storing our tackle in a securely locked shed or garage and by ensuring that we never leave our gear unattended while its in the car or on the bank. I definitely do all of these but I am glad I have the extra protection of my insurance policy .