Hi Friends, Today I want to share a little story that involves caring for my embroidery machine and the question of should our embroidery machines be insured.
Last night, a big storm came through our area. We had a power surge due to a close lightening strike. (Just this past week my husband made the comment that perhaps we should invest in a heavy duty whole house surge protector). Y’all know I live out in the country and we have lots of tall trees surrounding our home. Lightening magnets.
About 30 minutes before, I told my husband I was going down the basement to unplug my embroidery machines. Both are plugged into surge protectors, but I know that if it is a direct lightening strike, even that won’t protect our electronics.
And then comes the storm
So the lightening strike was near our house and the power surge took out our air conditioner. Now before you feel bad for me, please don’t. Our air conditioner had made it 27 years and that is an unusually long time for the life of an air conditioner. In fact a couple of years ago we thought of replacing it but just ended up having it repaired. It was on its last leg and has served us well and we have known a replacement was in the near future. The lightening strike did no other damage.
So what this leads me to talk about is the value of our embroidery and sewing machines and things we need to consider. That lightening strike could have fried the electronics in my embroidery machines. I’ve been known to wake up in the middle of the night to thunder and make my way downstairs to unplug my embroidery machines, and unplug the computer too. When we leave home on an overnight trip, I try to remember and unplug my machines. However, sometimes I forget.
When I look about my house, my 10 needle is the single most expensive ‘home’ item we own. I know for a fact it is covered on our home insurance policy should something happen. But not all insurance policies are the same for high dollar items. It is possible you might need a rider policy for your embroidery machine. If you are using your embroidery machine for your business, is it still covered? That is another question you need to ask your insurance company. Home business items are sometimes covered differently. How is it covered? Does it include acts of God, vandalism, theft, fire, flood?
If you are renting, have you checked your renter’s insurance policy? Renter’s policies often ask for more specific details about your personal belongings in order for them to be covered.
Another story
At a sewing class I took, a lady was talking about her top-of-the-line sewing/embroidery machine. It was in her car while she was on her way to a previous sewing class. She had been in an auto accident and although she came out fine, her car and embroidery machine didn’t. Then, she couldn’t get either her home or auto insurance to cover the replacement of it. That was a heartbreaking loss for her.
Now I’m not saying this to scare any of you, but I am saying it to give you something to think about. Just make you truly know what is and isn’t included in your insurance policy. You don’t want something to happen to your machine and then find out it won’t be covered after all.  Our machines are our babies and they bring us lots of joy as we stitch. And they are too dang expensive to let one crazy incident take them away from us.
Now, I’m enjoying my time down in the basement, where it is cool, even without air conditioning. And my embroidery machines are happily stitching as I type this. Also, hubby has ordered a super-duper whole house surge protector. We should have it in a few days.
If any of you have a related story to share, please do so in the comments. We can all learn from one another’s experiences.
Blessings everyone,
Nancy
be creative daily and live life beautifully
Update 9/5/18
I’ve had several of you ask specifically what we are using for our whole home surge protector. Here is what my husband ordered.
Please know, in no way am I affiliated with this company or with Amazon. Also, I hesitate to give any recommendation as to how well it will work because I’m certainly not an expert in this area. What I can say is that my husband did his research and felt this one was best for our home and I trust his judgement with items of this nature. He is an electrical engineer and was able to install it for us this past weekend.
Also as a side note, I got a new air conditioner yesterday. 🙂
We just had lightening strike the tree next doir yo us. We lost 2 televisions, a doorbell and 3 cable boxes. Luckily for me by the grace of God i had my machines unplugged. I dont trust small surge protectors so i make a habit of unplugging all of my machines whennia am finished
Hi Janet,
Oh I’m sorry for your loss. Glad you didn’t lose your machines though.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Blessings,
Nancy
I always unplug my machines when I am done emb.–I insured mine when I traveled across country to my friend home. Didn’t cost that much and bith machines are on it–rather be safe than sorry.
Yes, yes, Yes!!!
Always better to be safe than sorry.
Thanks for writing JoAnn,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the food for thought! Insurance is not something that I have thought about for my machines and I hate to admit that I have never unplugged them. One is one a surge protector but not the other! We have had quite the storms the last few nights! I think you mentioned that you are in Grand Rapids Mich. Would love to meet you some time. I am from Sparta, Mich. Please e-mail me. I will be going on vacation in a couple of weeks so anytime after the middle of Sept. would work!
Hi Deborah,
We are practically neighbors!! I’m south of Grand Rapids but still we aren’t far apart. I’d love to get together. 🙂
Have a great rest of your week,
Nancy
what type of whole-house surge protector did you decide to purchase. I think we need one also
Hi Ann,
I will have to ask Mike and I’ll mention it in next week’s newsletter. I know he ordered it from Amazon and it was just under $100. He is installing it himself.
Blessings,
Nancy
Thank you for bringing this to our attention Nancy. I think we all need to look at our insurance policy a little closer. We also need to look at how much they will pay out on a sewing machine of any kind if it is not specifically listed on the policy. It could fall well short of the actual value of the machine.
I understand your quiet house… My son has joined the Air force and is stationed south of Melbourne. We live on the Gold Coast. Australia is as big as the USA and the distance is from Washington to New Orleans away. It seems he was the ‘Noisy kid” as the house is empty without him. We call on Skype or Face time with our kids and they don’t seem so far away 🙂
Hi Lesley,
Thanks for sharing because for some of us, our machines are more than a refrigerator or other major appliance. To lose one and not be able to replace it is a huge loss. Also, thank you for your son’s service.
Blessings,
Nancy
Nancy, We have had so many power outages here at our house this summer, that we finally after one outage began to notice the AC not coming back on like it should. Well, it was not in good shape, got the AC guy out 2 days later, it could be fixed, but it would take 3 – 4 days to get the part, as it was so old. We decided to just give it a good rest and get a new one as it has been going strong for 33 years. We now are enjoying the cool air, but glad it happened in a cool spell, not in the temperatures we are having now.
Hi Dianne,
We repaired our AC a couple years ago, but the new one comes on Tuesday 🙂
I too am thankful that we now are having a few cooler days. Last week it felt like we were in Florida with the heat and humidity.
Blessings,
Nancy
Hi Nancy. In South Africa, were we lived, the lightening was quite bad. We have lost many electronic items like computers, electric gate motors, tv’s, entertainment systems and much more even one time a hit to my organ. We had a super super protector built in at the electric input in the house by an electrical engineer, but that also did not prohibit the surges. It made it less, but did not take it away. We have learned to always plug a device out if you don’t use it and when we are away. Rather safe than sorry. All the best for the kids at school. My youngest is almost finished with her 7th degree, We hope that she will get a sponsor so that she can start working.
Thanks for sharing Antionette, Yes for a direct hit, even surge protectors can fail, but they certainly do help.
I hope your daughter gets a sponsor soon!!!
Thanks for sharing,
Nancy
Thank you Nancy! God bless.
You are so welcome!!
These stories are very true. I have taken mine sewing protection one level higher. We have the whole house surge protector and even though the cost is minimal, the burden of proof is on you to get the items lost reimbursed. Your electric company will install it and if your have a problem they come and remove it, send it to a party that can verify damage; then and only then do they cover the cost of the items damaged… in our case they wouldn’t cover the cost of the replacement item. Not a happy camper. Thus for my sewing machines I now have a UPS ( uninterrupted power source ) that my sewing machines are plugged into. If I am stitching and a storm crops up I at least have time to go to the sewing room and safely bring the items to a safe point for restarting.
Mike just got a whole house surge protector ordered. We should have it in a couple days and he plans to install it this weekend. He’s an electrical engineer 🙂
Thanks for sharing Barb!!
Nancy
Just found out if traveling my machines are covered by my home owners policy. I just need to take in correct info they require and will be noted on policy. Thanks helping correct this. Have a lovely Labor Day Weekend.
Great for checking on the Barb!!
Nancy
Quite a few years back we were engulfed in a electrical storm and I shut off all the electrical items at the surge protector. I was sitting in my living room when a bolt of lightning thundered above the house and even though everything was shut off, a surge went through our electrical and I saw the surge protector light up. Even though it was shut off the surge of lightning was strong enough to bypass the off and it turned it on momentarily and I saw it light up – for just a moment. Just strong enough to cause damage. However, we were very thankful that it did not cause any damage, however since then I unplug all my electronics, including my sewing/embroidery machine and serger. Everything that would cause a hardship was unplugged, thus giving me a restful sleep. Yes, unplug everything that is expensive to replace.
Thanks for sharing Violette. Unplugging is a quick way to save lots of damage.
Blessings,
Nancy
I’ve never heard of a whole house surge protector. Where do you buy them? Cost? But you’ve given me food for thought and making a call to my insurance company tomorrow. We had a fire about 9 years ago – barn burned completely to the ground and we lost everything inside. Plus we lost our camper that was parked next to it—found out the hard way that the camper WAS NOT covered in our house insurance policy!
Hi Cindy, Mike just ordered it off of Amazon. It was just under $100. Thankfully he is an electrical engineer and can install it for us and i think he is installing it just before the circut breaker pannel.
Also, so sorry about the loss of your barn and camper. Yes, we often do find out things too late.
Blessings,
Nancy
Right after I bought my embroidery machine (Viking Designer SE), we had a storm and my machine was near a window. The storm killed my Circuit Board. Thank God it was under warranty and replaced free. I now unplug my machine and computer and my printer. ( Why is this comment so light, I can hardly read it!
So glad your machine was still under warranty. What a blessing.
Nancy
Shortly after I purchased my embroidery machine we had lighting strike our house. Lots of damage, no fire. My machine was under warranty and my dealer graciously honored it. But our homeowners policy would have covered it. I learned two valuable lessons always always unplug your machine, and inform your insurance company whenever you purchase a high dollar item.
Oh Cynthia,
First let me say I’m sorry for all you lost and YES, it only takes a moment to let our insurance companies know about our expensive items.
Thank you for sharing!!
Blessings,
Nancy