Perhaps you have a baseball signed by Babe Ruth or you’ve spent your life collecting Cuban cigars, Hummel figurines or fine jewelry and you’re worried how you can protect them. A special glass case or a plastic temperature-controlled box can save your memorabilia from dust, but how can you protect the value in the long term. If you want to protect the valuables for their full value, then you need collectibles insurance.
It helps protect your collectibles in the same way your homeowner’s insurance protects your home. You love your collectibles and want them protected, so learn why collectibles insurance coverage is necessary.
Homeowners Insurance Doesn’t Protect Everything
You pay for homeowners’ insurance with the impression that it covers you in case something happens to your home or anything inside of it. It might be able to help if a branch comes through your window, but not if the glass case protecting your Hummel figurines collapses.
Homeowners insurance helps cover the common losses such as weather-related or fire related damages. However, if the dog knocks over your Babe Ruth baseball and chews it to shreds, homeowner’s insurance is not going to reimburse the full apprased value of your collectible. Homeowner’s insurance will limit or exclude the damages to your collectibles.
Collectibles insurance is designed to protect the precious and valuable items and heirlooms you’ve collected through the years. It will protect the item, so it doesn’t matter how the damage occurred — as long as it was accidental.
With proper coverage, everything from your jewelry collection to art collection is covered. It covers a wide range of accidental issues that homeowner’s insurance may not, such as, losing a piece of jewelry on the beach or experiencing a mysterious disappearance.
What is a Collectible?
The question that many people have is what is a collectible? Basically, it’s anything that you collect that has value. This can range from figurines to comic books, or cuban cigars to your cellar full of aging wine or bourbon. You can collect rare books, specialty cars, antique furniture and art — just to name a few.
If you have a question about whether what you collect is a collectible, contact your insurance company and ask them specifically. If for some reason your collection isn’t covered under collectibles insurance, then it may be covered somewhere else.
Things that have value to you, or are related to a part of history or major event (like ticket stubs to the World Series) may also be covered under collectibles insurance.
How Much Does Collectibles Insurance Cost?
Collectibles insurance isn’t that expensive, but the costs to cover collectibles depends on value of the items.
You may only pay $50 to cover a collection of comic books valued at $5000, but a first edition “Tom Sawyer” book autographed by Mark Twain could cost significantly more to insure because the value is significantly higher.
Also, keep in mind that value can change over time. A rare wine valued at $15,000 in 1995 could be worth $50,000 in 2019. Collectors know the value of their collectibles, but to verify it for insurance purposes, you’ll need to have the items professionally appraised.
The more valuable the item, the more imperative it is to get an official appraisal. Also, keep in mind that while you may think something is tremendously valuable, and it may be to you, there’s a chance that it may not be that valuable financially according to an apprasier or insurance provider.
They determine the value based on how much it would cost to replace the item. If you think it’s worth $15,000, but the insurer’s research shows they can buy it for $5,000, then you’ll likely be reimbursed $5,000 unless you have the right insurance provider and a broad private client collectibles policy.
Many times, if an item isn’t valued more than $50,000, the insurance company won’t require an appraisal. Instead, they’ll ask you for the estiamted value or a bill of sale.
The Importance of Documenting Your Collection
If you have an extensive collection, especially something that appreciates or depreciates because of condition, then you need to write down and document every item in your collection. For example, if you have an extensive selection of valuable baseball cards, then you should photograph them and show how you protect them.
This gives the insurers examples of their current condition and how you take care of them. If your items have serial numbers, they should be photographed as well.
Collections are ever-expanding, so when you add to your collectibles, make sure to document your new items as well. Too many collectors will document their whole collection at home one time and then forget to document new items.
Failure to Insure Can Be Devastating
Many people don’t think of insuring their collectibles. It could be because they don’t see the value in them or don’t want to pay for it. This could be devastating if something should ever happen to them considering it’s relatively inexpensive to cover valuable collectibles.
If your home is hit by a tornado or fire and everything is lost, then your collection is gone. If you insured your collection, then you could have received fair compensation to replace or buy new collectibles. It may not be the exact collection you had, but you can replace some or all the pieces.
Collectible insurance gives you peace of mind. You know that no matter what happens to your jewelry, wine, art, antiques or other valuable items you can rest assured, knowing that it’s fully covered.
Don’t risk Your Collection — Get Collection Insurance Today!
You’ve spent years and potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars on your collectibles and don’t want anything to happen to your valuable items. Collectibles insurance can’t protect your items from being damaged or destroyed, but it can provide the funds to rebuild your collection after a disaster or simply misplacing an expensive ad precious item.
Collectibles insurance will cover items not traditionally covered or not fully covered by homeowners insurance. If you document the items and their condition, then you’ll be compensated the proper amount of money determined by their appraised or current value.
If you want to learn more about insurance for collectibles and how much it costs, then please explore our site.