Whopping 30% Increase by Collectibles insurance agency

[Mr. Zipper]

collectibles insurance agency welcomes its new underwriter Lloyds of London to the fold with a mind blowing 30% INCREASE in polocy premium according to the math on my new polocy.

 

Man, not a good day at all.Just got my 22% increase in my Con edison[electric bill and my 20% increase in my water bill.

 

According to the letter I received last month, they switched to Lloyds to avoid a massive rate increase from the previous carrier (Hartford if I recall correctly).

 

(I guess we all end up paying for wildfires, hurricanes, floods, insurance fraud, etc. The insurance company sure as hell isn't going to let it affect the bottom line for shareholders.)

 

If it's too much, I'll just reduce the amount of coverage. I'd prefer to keep 100% of my collection insured... but If I have to I'll reduce coverage to just cover the key stuff that it would really hurt to lose.

 

Everything is going up like crazy except my salary and benefits.... welcome to working class poor. Make just enough to get by with a few extras on occasion... never enough to really get ahead.

[musicmeta]

A typical "all-risk" homeowners policy covers everything that is not specifically excluded. Many homeowners policies exclude comics, many don't. If you're not sure, check with your agent/broker. If he says they are covered, ask him to confirm it in writing. If he doesn't, send him a confirming letter.

 

We have AllState insurance and I just called them and they list Comics under the "Fine Art" category and it is included in the Homeowners policy. They are going to call me back on how much is covered. Whatever is not covered will cost approximetly around $100.00 per $5,000.00 worth coverage...Yikes!

 

I have to get my books appraised. I may start a separate thread on this. Anybody know of reputable dealer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can appraise your comic book collection?

[Stronguy]

We have AllState insurance and I just called them and they list Comics under the "Fine Art" category and it is included in the Homeowners policy. They are going to call me back on how much is covered. Whatever is not covered will cost approximetly around $100.00 per $5,000.00 worth coverage...Yikes!

 

I have to get my books appraised. I may start a separate thread on this. Anybody know of reputable dealer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can appraise your comic book collection?

 

Jeremy at Titan can do it. He has access to GPA and has a good handle on raw pricing. Call him and ask if he would be willing.

[NewWorldOrder]

JUST TO GIVE YOU GUYS A HEADS UP "STATE FARM" INSURANCE UNDER THEIR COVERAGE GUIDELINES FOR THEIR RENTER'S POLICY ACTUALLY HAS THE WORDING "COMIC BOOKS" UNDER PERSONAL EFFECTS!

 

THERE HOMEOWNERS I ASSUME IS THE SAME, PLEASE IF YOU HAVE STATE FARM NOW CALL AND ASK FOR VERIFICATION!

 

I hope this a help,

 

John

[NewWorldOrder]

Guys I work as a commercial insurance underwriter so basically its better if you can get your comic books added as rider or incorporated into your HOMEOWNERS OR RENTERS INSURANCE POLICY THAN TO BE WITH COLLECTIBLES INSURANCE AGENCY.

 

AS LONG AS THE INSURANCE COMPANY GUIDELINES PHYSICALLY SAYS "COMIC BOOKS" IN THE PROPERTY COVERED THEN YOU ARE OK, but just in case I would suggest this.

 

1) make a detailed list of the comic you have

2) back it up on a software program or video camera

3) call your agent and tell them what collectibles you have and tell them you want an AGREED VALUE on them or if its not included in the already established policy then ask to have a RIDER put on the policy so that you have documentation that your comics are insured up to the desired property coverage. A lot of people will have their wedding rings added as rider on the policy for example.

 

4) If your company cant do that then go to a speciality agency like collectibles insurance agency and get it there.

 

Insurance 101= insurance is a big pool of shared money with many insured so the more insureds the bigger the pool, hence why rates will go up faster with Coll. Insurance agency because to my knowledge they are not a big company,

Less inusreds means any claims you run the risk of higher money being taken out of that insurance pool.

 

Usually when your insurance rates go up on a policy that you yourself had no claims (and u are pi ssed off) it mainly because your insurance company paid out from other insureds too many claims and now needs to make that money up by raises rates so they can stay in your area and keep insuring you.

 

Most insurance companies lose money from claims and only make a profit through investiments like a bank.

 

I hope this helps!

 

John

[trmoore54]

What if your collection is constantly in flux? Let's say your selling off 10-20 books each month and acquiring roughly the same...do you have to constantly (weekly? monthly?) update the insurance company? If so, seems like a lot of maintenance...

[NewWorldOrder]

U can do that or just over insure your value of the books.

 

 

Basically call your agent and just be truthful and tell them what u need to make sure if you lose your comics to a fire or other peril you can be made whole again.

 

[Mr. Zipper]

Usually when your insurance rates go up on a policy that you yourself had no claims (and u are pi ssed off) it mainly because your insurance company paid out from other insureds too many claims and now needs to make that money up by raises rates so they can stay in your area and keep insuring you.

 

I certainly understand this...

 

That said, there have been numerous threads here asking if anyone has ever filed a claim with this broker...

 

So far, NOT ONE person has stepped forward saying they filed a claim. Granted, this isn't the whole universe. But if their claims experience was that bad, you'd think one or two here would have filed a claim.

[lizards2]

15% increase for me

 

Smith & Wesson, Ruger and the ol' Rottweiler's for me :thumbsup:

 

They even keep those creepy insurance salesman away from my house

Your rotties can get your comics out in a fire?

 

Surely, you've seen Lassie. Just like that, only better.

[musicmeta]

We have AllState insurance and I just called them and they list Comics under the "Fine Art" category and it is included in the Homeowners policy. They are going to call me back on how much is covered. Whatever is not covered will cost approximetly around $100.00 per $5,000.00 worth coverage...Yikes!

 

I have to get my books appraised. I may start a separate thread on this. Anybody know of reputable dealer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who can appraise your comic book collection?

 

Jeremy at Titan can do it. He has access to GPA and has a good handle on raw pricing. Call him and ask if he would be willing.

 

Sounds great! I'll give him a call in a few days or so and see what he can do.

 

 

 

 

[feltonfitz-migration]

collectibles insurance agency welcomes its new underwriter Lloyds of London to the fold with a mind blowing 30% INCREASE in polocy premium according to the math on my new polocy.

 

Man, not a good day at all.Just got my 22% increase in my Con edison[electric bill and my 20% increase in my water bill.

 

I would like to provide more information regarding Collectibles Insurance Services carrier change and perceived rate increase. A rate increase of 10% was taken in February of 2008 prior to the carrier change. The carrier at that time was requesting a 30% rate increase and was going to make additional changes to restrict coverage. The agency changed to Lloyds of London effective June 2008 with no rate increase. The policy does include (if elected) an automatic monthly increase which increases your coverage by 12% each year. This could have resulted in what looked like a rate increase but in fact the customer's policy limit has increased. This can be removed at any time and coverage decreased at any time.

 

I would suggest contacting the company directly with any questions - (888)837-9537

[Ares]

wow only 5 months to chime in

[Ringfinger]

Heh heh.

[jordanscott]

wow only 5 months to chime in

 

Must have been a lot of collectibles people burning up the phone lines.

 

I'm sure they just now managed to get all the questions addressed and came here to continue cleaning up the confusion.

 

[dekeuk]

Otherwise, they go with $3 a comic book I was told.

 

Hmmmmm

 

Step 1: Buy a truckload of modern drek from Neatstuff

 

Step 2: Light match

 

Step 3: Collect $3 per book

 

 

[50 Cent #II (1st)]

15% increase for me

 

Smith & Wesson, Ruger and the ol' Rottweiler's for me :thumbsup:

 

They even keep those creepy insurance salesman away from my house

Your rotties can get your comics out in a fire?

 

No need, they can simply p i s s on the comics to put the fire out.

 

[marvelcollector]

collectibles insurance agency welcomes its new underwriter Lloyds of London to the fold with a mind blowing 30% INCREASE in polocy premium according to the math on my new polocy.

 

Man, not a good day at all.Just got my 22% increase in my Con edison[electric bill and my 20% increase in my water bill.

 

I would like to provide more information regarding Collectibles Insurance Services carrier change and perceived rate increase. A rate increase of 10% was taken in February of 2008 prior to the carrier change. The carrier at that time was requesting a 30% rate increase and was going to make additional changes to restrict coverage. The agency changed to Lloyds of London effective June 2008 with no rate increase. The policy does include (if elected) an automatic monthly increase which increases your coverage by 12% each year. This could have resulted in what looked like a rate increase but in fact the customer's policy limit has increased. This can be removed at any time and coverage decreased at any time.

 

I would suggest contacting the company directly with any questions - (888)837-9537

 

But, they have in fact, excluded the "mysterious disappearance" coverage.

[Tomega]

I've been looking at their web site for insurance and it is significantly higher than it was a few years ago. I have one of their quote sheets from a few years ago somewhere but I can honestly say their rates look nearly 40 to 50 % higher then 5 or 6 years ago. Regardless whether my numbers are off, for $300000 coverage - the quote is $783. That is ridiculous. Before any says it is not, think about how more it costs to go from $100,000 to $500,000 liability for car insurance - no where near $783 and a car accident is FAR more likely than something happening to a collection. Granted there are more variables but their pricing seems to be off the mark.

[Mr. Zipper]

I've been looking at their web site for insurance and it is significantly higher than it was a few years ago. I have one of their quote sheets from a few years ago somewhere but I can honestly say their rates look nearly 40 to 50 % higher then 5 or 6 years ago. Regardless whether my numbers are off, for $300000 coverage - the quote is $783. That is ridiculous. Before any says it is not, think about how more it costs to go from $100,000 to $500,000 liability for car insurance - no where near $783 and a car accident is FAR more likely than something happening to a collection. Granted there are more variables but their pricing seems to be off the mark.

 

But, $783 is consistent with what you'd expect to see on a $300,000 homeowners policy. And that is a closer comparison than car insurance which has components like the no-fault pool.

 

I suspect their claims experience is quite high, and this is why rates have increased substantially.

[bronze_rules]

Hey look at it on the bright side... Health Insurance increases are right around the corner for the new year. Whoever said the sky was the limit never heard of insurance polices.