I have an Insured who had a fire loss. In the house were old hardback books that belonged to their parents that were worth over 800.00 a piece, according to the internet when I looked them up. I would imagine that they were new when purchased 50 years ago. Some of them no longer have the jackets to them. The adjuster is wanting me to find a book appraiser to see what their worth is according to the condition that they are in now. That would mean the homeowner driving to Chicago, IL from South Bend, Indiana to do so. There is also a book by Erma Bombeck (hardback) that isn't in production anymore, but Amazon has it for sale new at $400.00. What is the protocol for book replacements? Again, this is the only insurance company that has made us do this. They normally take the replacement cost price, depreciate it by the years of age and give us the ACV.
Indiana Subscriber
The policy doesn't outline such procedures, and different carriers can have different procedures as long as they apply them consistently. The duties after a loss include: "Prepare an inventory of damaged personal property showing the quantity, description, actual cash value and amount of loss. Attach all bills, receipts and related documents that justify the figures in the inventory;"
The trip for the insured is roughly an hour and a half, while a distance, certainly doable. There are also many book dealers in Indiana (http://www.hydebros.com/indianabooksellers.htm); why the trip to Chicago, is the adjuster requiring the insured to use a particular book appraiser? With several options in Indiana available, the insured has grounds to push for using someone local.
Books, like any item, vary in value depending on popularity and quality. While someone on Amazon wants $400 for an Erma Bombeck book I highly doubt that a reputable bookseller will quote it at that price. What someone on Amazon wants for a book isn't necessarily it's true value; see here: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=Erma+Bombeck&bi=0&bsi=30&bx=off&ds=30&fe=on&pics=on&recentlyadded=all&sortby=17&x=0&y=0&prevpage=1
If the books were first editions they may be very valuable but condition is everything, as well as title. I would think that a bookseller could give a ballpark estimate on title alone, and then adjust for condition from even a list of books. This really all depends on the books and the authors; are these great works by classic authors, or more standard books.