Hi,

I am just about to take delivery of a fixed base sim, purely for home use. It had long been an ambition to build one myself, but mobility issues now make that impossible, so I am having to go "turnkey". As you might imagine, this isn't cheap and I am thinking about how best to insure it against, for example fire. The sim will consist of a fully enclosed cockpit, with emulated hardware and a three projector 220 degree screen, installed in a large, detached, garage.

I am in the UK and would appreciate any feedback from folks who have an expensive flight sim setup, particularly in the UK, and how you have insured it.

The value will be well above any single article limit on a Home Contents policy and I envisage a very difficult conversation with an insurance broker when I try to explain what it is!

How have others approached this?

Are there specialist brokers who would be familiar with this type of hardware?

regards

Dave

 

You may want to contact your insurance company about a "Floater" on your current house coverage.

Scheduled Personal Property Coverage (Floater):

• What it is: This is an add-on policy (also known as an endorsement or rider) to your standard homeowners or renters insurance that provides increased coverage for specific valuable items.
• Items often covered: Jewelry, art, collectibles, musical instruments, fine china, and other high-value possessions.

@stevendt, oh, that's a can of worms to open. I'm not familiar with what you have in the UK. I can share with you what I went through for two SIMs in my garage. I use State Farm even though there are Allstate, Chubb, Nationwide, and the reason was that they came to my house and evaluated each piece of equipment I used based on my receipts, not an estimate. Very important, do not go for an estimate, that's how they will try to trick you into believing that you are fully covered. Even if they mention "fully covered," please itemize each small component and labor.

In the US, as @charliearon mentioned, Scheduled Personal Property, so I added my SIM, approximately $65K each, as a scheduled item to my homeowner's policy to ensure full replacement cost coverage and protection against accidental damage or theft.

You will probably have to fight with them, but don't give up. Also, see what kind of warranty the SIM manufacturer will provide you; again, based on parts and labor. Believe me, it's not an easy one.

Good luck, and enjoy your big investment. 

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies.

Yes, it’s definitely “a can of worms”!

Some good advice there, but still struggling to see the best way forward and still looking into it

regards

Dave

On 6/29/2025 at 3:06 AM, stevendt said:

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies.

Yes, it’s definitely “a can of worms”!

Some good advice there, but still struggling to see the best way forward and still looking into it

regards

Dave

Lloyd's of London