Theft/vandalism. Need advice

[soonermajic]

Had a $6k damage + $2500 income loss 3 mos ago paid out.
Last night had vandalism/ theft to 2 washes. 2 bill changers (all cash/qrtrs) pry barred open, ruined 4 vending machines, broke into 2 vacs, stole fragrances, ruined a steel door + locks & stole my surveillance system.
I still owe $400k, (80% of loan),to bank. What happens if I lose insurance for a month or 2 ( as a result of a 2nd claim in 4 mos)?
I got My 2 bill changers working, but they're mangled all to hel. surveillance system ($1800) + $900 qrtrs/cash, ruined steel door & locks $200 & fragrances $70. So over $13k + labor. Should I turn it ALL in, or leave out bill changers & Laurel vendors, or bite bullet & turn in nothing? Save it for a big insurance claim (as I'm installing a new SoftGloss)?

 

[chaz]

Ouch! Don’t have any advice on the claim. But you may want to consider a cloud based video system as a replacement...or at least set your system to send stills to your email when the E/R door is open. I get 9 still from three cameras so at least I have a photo of someone (typically me) as soon as the door is open....even if the system is taken,

 

[JGinther]

No advice either... Depends on your personal situation and your insurance relationships.

A suggestion of something that's worked for us:. Hide the video computer up and out of reach. Put an old computer on the desk/ counter with some cables wrapped up beside it, and label it clearly:. "Camera surveillance system". Works really well!
And leave bait keys that you find on the ground and label them "vault keys".

 

[pgrzes]

If you Loose your insurance, it want be for a couple months! I went thru this and it took several years before I was able to get re written! Insurance co.'s dont like SS washes to begin with, when you have problems and get dropped they like you even less! Good luck. Maybe think about going cashless, If vandalism is that bad.

 

[kentadel]

About 10 years ago I had a 40k+insurance claim at a wash. The same week they paid me they dropped me, citing that loss, along with a couple smaller losses, as the reason, effecting my insurance at all washes. I paid higher premiums for 2 years and then found better rates with no short term loss history. Although I would never advise someone to eat a loss, I did do that on a couple smaller losses while looking ahead long term. With 400k owed and a new unit coming in I would not want to be without insurance, nor would my banker. Good luck with your decision.

 

[mac]

I like the way Ginther thinks. I replaced a big water softener and charcoal system for a customer, and he then asked me how we would get rid of the old units. Simple I told him. Just sat them outside with a sign that said, "good water softener system. $500 or best offer." It was gone in the morning.

 

[OurTown]

I like the way Ginther thinks. I replaced a big water softener and charcoal system for a customer, and he then asked me how we would get rid of the old units. Simple I told him. Just sat them outside with a sign that said, "good water softener system. $500 or best offer." It was gone in the morning.

That's a good one and might try that sometime.

 

[OurTown]

If you Loose your insurance, it want be for a couple months! I went thru this and it took several years before I was able to get re written!

I can guarantee that a mortgage company will find you some quicker than that if they know it has been dropped. The premiums might be highway robbery but you will have insurance.

 

[bighead]

Commercial insurance is "use it and lose it"... even if they don't drop you, they will raise your rates enough to pay themselves back for your claim.

My advice is only use your insurance for "catastrophic" claims that would bankrupt you otherwise, or at least would feel like it. If you can afford it, pay it out of pocket. If you can't afford it, do a claim, and save for the next time, because it'll happen.

Never do a claim on the small stuff, its not worth it. (same sort of goes for homeowners insurance BTW)

 

[DiamondWash]

More and more when we have an incident happen at the wash the person who did the damage doesn't want to involve their insurance co. and pays out of pocket, mostly business owners who damages something of mine and have the same story about being dropped for a claim but we always get a police report to keep a record of them, does anybody here have ADT for a alarm company?.

 

[Greg Pack]

Just installed a ring alarm system. I think I pad $225 for the system with a motion detector and four door contacts. When I open a door, it sends a notification to my phone in about ten seconds. When thieves get it and the alarm goes off they know the clock will be ticking. They might grab a few items and go, but won't stick around for long. That should help mitigate the damages to change machines.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I think I read here a few years back that an owner actually put a siren inside the equipment room. That should keep them from hanging around long.

 

[washnvac]

Yea, I agree with siren inside. I have them, and they are unbearable.

 

[JustClean]

I've got a siren inside my office that's pretty noisy but what is much better: I installed two smoke systems.
As soon as somebody gets inside the office it sends out smoke (similar to a nightclub).
You cannot see your own hand in front of your eyes. Good luck stealing something.
Drawback: You can't see anything on the video either...

 

[MEP001]

I've got a siren inside my office that's pretty noisy but what is much better: I installed two smoke systems.
As soon as somebody gets inside the office it sends out smoke (similar to a nightclub).
You cannot see your own hand in front of your eyes. Good luck stealing something.
Drawback: You can't see anything on the video either...

There used to be a pepper spray system you could set off with your alarm.

 

[soapy]

I had a big loss this year that required a complete replacement of a IBA at 150K. We had good video and caught the guy but was still worried about my insurance renewal. Renewal came up and my insurance stayed the same. It was my first claim in over 10 years though.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I had a big loss this year that required a complete replacement of a IBA at 150K. We had good video and caught the guy but was still worried about my insurance renewal. Renewal came up and my insurance stayed the same. It was my first claim in over 10 years though.

I had one as well in late '17. Got back up and running in early '18. Mine came in at about 120K. Mine had some gray area regarding fault and is in subrogation, but was renewed as usual. I think this was my second claim in 15 years with this company.

 

[Earl Weiss]

On a couple of occasions I had the thief set off the alarm, go hide outside somewhere for 15 minutes and see if there was a response. Then he would come in again if there was no response. So, it's important to have a system that re sets. The second thief got sentenced to 5 years. He was caught by the cops coming out. He was talking on his cell phone the whole time so he must have had a lookout outside. Never found out who the lookout was.

 

[mjwalsh]

I had one as well in late '17. Got back up and running in early '18. Mine came in at about 120K. Mine had some gray area regarding fault and is in subrogation, but was renewed as usual. I think this was my second claim in 15 years with this company.

I got talked into $5K deductible by an insurance broker several years ago. I changed it back to $1K deductible as I felt a tough multiple claim year could be a problem ... many $5K incidents could add up to be a serious consideration. I was told by my most recent broker that I could switch in the middle of the year if I did not prepay .... I just wonder if the some underwriters could drop me or us like a hot cake in the middle of the year .... whether prepaid or not????

 

[Randy]

Over the years I’ve been into countless car wash equipment rooms and most of them have little or no security. As a minimum you should have an alarm system with a siren inside and outside the equipment room, you want to make it absolutely unbearable for anyone to be inside the equipment room when the alarm goes off. A blinding white strobe light is also a nice touch, the blinding white flashes tend to confuse an intruder. We also have a motion sensor in the attic in case they try to cut a hole in the roof. Don’t lock your bill changer, the cabinet costs more than the money that’s inside the changer, a Hamilton RNS cabinet is $1812.00, we don’t keep anywhere near that amount of money in the bill changers. We pull the cash every day from the bill changer and take it off site every day, we only leave a minimum amount of money on site. Keys, we don’t leave any keys on site, ever, if you do your asking for trouble. Go with a good 1080 camera system, we can just about tell what brand cigarettes someone is smoking. Our video surveillance system DVR is up in the attic so it can’t be seen. Our next video system will be a cloud based system. One the best additions we made was installing a security gate on the outside door of the equipment room. This security gate is also alarmed, you have just enough time to unlock the gate and disarm the alarm system. I tried to upload a picture but it was too cumbersome, if anyone wants to see the gate send me a PM. We also pull the coins from the coin vaults and vending 4 times a week and vacuums daily.