Insuring your collection

[cjy152]

For a few weeks now I have been pondering on how to keep my collection safe from any kind of danger. I decided to search online for insurance companies that can insure my steelbook collection. I actually found a company that I will pass on to my fellow Ninjas! I am not sure if they do business outside of the United States or not, but it's worth a shot to contact them.

The very nice lady said that her company can insure my collection. Now what really caught me off guard was the pricing that I was offered. For a minimum $3,000.00 policy I would be paying around $30-$35 a year. Has anyone else delt with an insurance company that would help protect your collection, if so what is your story? Or if you would like to give us other companies that would insure our collection, please share!

Company here

 

[blurayhunter]

You probably be better off with house or flat content insurance

 

[HUBMUSWELL]

Don't you have to provide the receipts of the good in case of a claim?

 

[blurayhunter]

Its done on a estimated total value of all your stuff tv sofa etc

 

[blumaster]

Homeowners or Renters Insurance will cover everything in your home, including steelbooks. Receipts make it easier for the insurance company, pictures should work too. If you have high value art or a steel like John Rambo or Iron Man, you may want to specifically name it in your policy.

 

[snooloui]

This is something i've thought about myself. I know contents insurance is supposed to cover this kind of thing, but i'm worried that my valuation of my collection wouldn't match an insurance company's valuation.

 

[blumaster]

the insured would probably have to cite recent sales in order to get close to full value for their collection. So while, yes, everything in your home is insured by Homeowners/Renters, taking out an additional policy specifically for your steelbook collection would be a smart thing to do considering our value of them compared to what the insurance co. would value them as.

OP has a smart idea and I'd consider doing it if you have multiple grails in your collection. Documenting with high quality pictures, each steel you're insuring for both your records and theirs.

 

[vläd]

I asked my insurance company about my steelbooks, they indicated that it would be considered like a baseball card collection. To obtain a market value of rare collectible items, (say the Futureshop Iron Man), you would need to indicate the value and insure it for that price as well as provide documentation supporting the value, say like an eBay auction listing.

All said and done, my insurance agent recommended a safe deposit box at a bank.

But that takes all of the fun out of being able to display them!

 

[ben6212]

This is something i've thought about myself. I know contents insurance is supposed to cover this kind of thing, but i'm worried that my valuation of my collection wouldn't match an insurance company's valuation.

right? like what about there valuation for taiwan steels etc? probably wouldn't be great.

 

[psychoscot]

This is something i've thought about myself. I know contents insurance is supposed to cover this kind of thing, but i'm worried that my valuation of my collection wouldn't match an insurance company's valuation.

Having worked for a time at Direct Line in management, I will probably increase those worries. Most household contents insurance packages in the UK will cover things like large film/cd collections, but they won't give you the prices back that they can go for on places like eBay. You will however get back what you paid for them. Valuation to any good insurance company = retail price. That has always been the problem with collectable markets. For a collectable to actually be insured at the value it goes for within that market then you are looking at very specialist insurance and that's going to seriously cost you, as they don't really deal with collections less than 100K in value.

They will look at each case individually if something bad happens, so my advise is stick with good contents insurance and keep a good photo journal of your collections. If you can prove you owned them and have images to prove it, then most likely you will get the full retail value back. You won't get "collectors prices" as this market isn't in most banks/insurers eyes viewed as established enough. Only things like early Beatles albums and collectables that places like Christies can put a value on ever get back high prices.

---------- Post added at 02:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:29 AM ----------

right? like what about there valuation for taiwan steels etc? probably wouldn't be great.

The valuation would be the retail price you paid, not what they go for on eBay.

If you want that kind of thing, then you will need to look at a specialist company who will send someone out who will value every individual steel and put a price on them for you. For that type of service you will be looking at paying several thousand a year.

 

[digitalbabe]

Renters and Homeowner's Policies have 2 kinds of 'clauses' if you will (at least in US), where you either have a policy that will pay for current value or 'replacement value'. The latter is higher, but lets say you purchased a Steelbook 3 years ago and then it appreciated to 3 x the cost or whatever, technically they are supposed to pay the 'actual' cost it would be to have it replaced. However, from what I know they require you to keep things in a database and definitely with receipts and examples of what the 'current' value is, otherwise you'll be completely out of luck. I have not yet filed a claim, but given the 'current vs. replacement' difference in policies, you may want to look closer into what their individual requirements are before you have a situation where your collection is damaged,stolen, etc and then have to backtrack. Good luck, all.