Fire, Vandalism, and Theft Coverage     As you probably already know our AMA coverage for fire, theft, and vandalism will pay you $1000 dollars for such a loss with a $100 deductible. This is paid in excess to any other coverage. There is no coverage if theft was from a member's unlocked vehicle or home. So be sure to keep your doors and windows locked.      You would think that an organization such as AMA, with over 160,000 members, could come up with better coverage for our models that this. Most modelers that stay in the hobby for one year or longer will certainly have a lot more than $1000 invested in his or her models. Now I will be the first to agree that our liability coverage is the best in the world, with a maximum per occurrence being $2,500,000 and an overall limit of $15,000,000. I guess you would have to have six different occurrences to collect the 15 big ones. Or does this mean that if you injure six people during the same accident, each could get up to 2.5 million? At any rate, the $1000 seems mighty low in comparison. For this ratio to exist there must be a large amount of fire and theft claims as compared to injury claims. It would be interesting to know how many and what types of claims are filed each year with AMA. I think I will check it out.      I have checked with AMA as to the number of claims filed each year and I was surprised at how few there were. I was even more surprised that they didn't keep records that they could lay their hands on at any time someone needed some information such as I needed. I ask if the per occurrence was in reference to per accident or per person that was injured, and also how many claims they have had over the years. Here is what they had to say about it: Dear Mr. Goss:      Per occurrence means per incident, not per person. Therefore $2,500,000 is the maximum amount per incident and would have to be shared between the individuals that would be entitled to it. Regarding your inquiry about claims being filed we don't have any statistics at this point in time that provide more detailed information. However, I reviewed our 2000 files and we received a number of 68 incidents. This does not mean that all the claims were paid. Some of them were merely just an incident report and the damage so minor that this was resolved without involving and/or needing the AMA insurance coverage. Out of a total claims of 68, there were 9 claims for Bodily Injury, 14 claims for Fire, and 45 claims for Theft reported in 2000. Again, these are incidents that were reported but not all of them required a payment. Sincerely, Ilona Maine      With over 160,000 AMA members in our organization, I thought there would have been many more claims than 9 bodily injury claims. It looks like theft is the most popular of the three. Did you know that homeowners insurance would not cover fire and theft loss of your model planes, unless they are specifically stated in your policy? This means that they can be covered, but at a higher cost to you. A few years back I increased my homeowner's policy so it would cover everything I owned and in any building that I owned and at the items current value. It doesn't cost very much more to do this. I got to thinking the other day about all my planes and if they were covered against fire ant theft so I called my insurance company so they could reassure me that my most valued property, my planes, were indeed covered. I ask the agent and he said no, my jaw hit the floor and my face turned red hot. We reminded him that they told us everything will now be covered and at face value. The agent replied that he would have to check with the main office and the big people in Montgomery. Two weeks later he had still not called me so I called him again. This time he said sure they were covered and he thought he had already called me back with the good news. Two weeks without sleep is a long time! If you are not sure about your insurance coverage, call your agent and discuss it so you can sleep at night.