Insurance (Artwork / Comics)

[wurstisart]

Hello Everyone,

Would like to hear your experience regarding insurance.

Has anybody dealt with an insurance company that mainly focuses on collectables ?

 

By dealt I don't mean to have filed a claim, I am just curious about the whole process and the coverage and expense of this.

 

Would like to get your experience or just to hear everyones opinion.

 

I know I need to do this, but would like to hear a "fellow" collectors opinion first.

Thanks !!!

 

Andy

 

PS : Happy Holidays to everyone !!

[Loki]

I think you're going to find a wide range in responses, as I expect different insurance companies will handle collectables differently...

 

My insurance company, when asked, told me that my collection would be covered under my home insurance policy. No special rider, I was just told to increase the coverage for my household contents to include the value of my collection. I have to admit that this surprised me, since various other high-value items (e.g. my wife's jewelry) have all been handled as specific riders attached to the general policy. Just be sure to document your collection thoroughly. I suspect this will be critical if you ever need to file a claim...

 

As far as shipping coverage for high-value items, I've used G4SI a few times. It's a bit pricy, though.

 

In either case, I've been fortunate enough to never have to file a claim. I can't offer any insights into that aspect of collectable insurance.

 

Hope this helps...

[ShaneTurgeon]

Most of my American collecting friends use Collectibles Insurance Agency for their (generally high end) collections. From what i understand, they are the best option for collectibles insurance in the US. I'm not sure what their rates are.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

Unfortunately they don't insure collections outside of the US. If you're in Canada, i've found that State Farm is the only company that offers specific collectibles insurance. All others will only offer riders to your existing homeowners or renters policies which are BAD news. State Farm will require an independent appraisal report and significant documentation before issuing the policy. A $100,000 policy will run you around $60-70/month with them.

[comicartcom]

CIA is a great insurance company that I have filed claims and they were handled expertly & perfectly.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

[comix4fun]

CIA is a great insurance company that I have filed claims and they were handled expertly & perfectly.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

 

The added bonus is their shipping coverage. Anything shipped TO or FROM a policy holder with signature required is covered to $60,000 (as long as it's not shipped UPS).

 

If you ship or get shipments of comics or comic art of any quantity over a year's time the policy might just pay for itself in the cost of shipping insurance you didn't have to buy.

[artcollector9]

Chubb has a great "fine arts" policy that costs around 1/10 of 1% of insured value, e.g. $1000 for $1 MIL on coverage!!

 

This does NOT include shipping however.

 

They want an itemized list with name of piece, size, medium, and value...I provided pictures too.

[ShaneTurgeon]

 

Unfortunately they don't insure collections outside of the US.

 

I just contacted CIA again to see if their policies have changed on this and they stated that they may start offering insurance for Canadians after the new year and to contact them again after the 15th of Jan. This would be VERY good news.

[Kevin76]

I have CIA, I got insurance for 60K but it's $400 a year. That's about as much as my car insurance,but of course, my car isn't worth as much as my comics/art.

[Bronty]

 

Unfortunately they don't insure collections outside of the US.

 

I just contacted CIA again to see if their policies have changed on this and they stated that they may start offering insurance for Canadians after the new year and to contact them again after the 15th of Jan. This would be VERY good news.

 

oh wow, awesome

[Monsterhoodoo]

I had CIA for some time, but then found out that there was a limit on theft... a certain maximum amount covered per incident. So even though I had coverage for quite a bit more, if there was a theft, and it exceed the one time limit, it all wouldn't be covered. I immediately moved my insurance to Firemens. They have a high end art insurance policy much like Chubb does, the catch with both is they want your homeowners as well. And yes, you have to itemize everything with a value. Its been awhile and the details are foggy, possibly CIA haschanged this part of their policy, (it was over 5 years ago) But I'd read the fine print carefully with them.

[comicartcom]

CIA does have a limit.. but you can raise that limit signifigantly if you have a burgler alarm from 50k to 350k (or whatever your policy calls for)

[BrianHoward]

I use CIA, have used them for many years....

 

I've filed a claim before and although it wasn't what I would call a speedy resolution, it was resolved professionally and fairly. That's all I could ask for.

 

Make sure you understand their shipping guidelines if that is going to be an issue for you. Also, getting additional riders are very easy too!

 

I'm sure all of us want our collections protected, but would really prefer to have our items rather than the insurance payout so I'd suggest that you look into a good fire/gun safe as a first line of defense.

[comicartcom]

one of the things I always felt was funny about the theft limits was that before I had a burgler alarm, my on site theft limit was $50k.. but when I was exhibiting at SDCC, my coverage went to $500k (on a $1mil policy)

 

This surprised me as my own warehouse with a locked vault room is far more secure than SDCC ever was, day or night.

 

One thing to consider if you a dealer, is that the shipping coverage essentially means you can save money during the year that might pay for the policy. Insurance for a $100 package at the post office is $2.25 I think. I send out more than 1000 packages a year and that savings of $2.25 per is almost my policy cost.

 

so as an overall cost, my policy's true cost to me is far less than the check I write to CIA

 

 

[AKA Rick]

Aside from INSURANCE, collectors (and dealers) should invest in ASSURANCE... in that, the artwork should be protected from day-to-day aging, handling, wear, and the more possible occurances in life like water / moisture damages, vermin (rats) and pests (silverfish).

 

It costs as little as less than $0.25 and as much as $5-10 to properly protect a single piece of artwork.

 

www.bagsunlimited.com and www.bcemylar.com sells the supplies and also in bulk for those with large collections (I know it's a hard pill to swollow when suddenly forking over lots of money to protect a massive collection, but it's well worth it, and once you have 'em all protected, the maintenance of protecting future purchases one at a time is very economically digestible and convenient)

 

At minimum, artwork should be protected in a right sized 3 mil plastic bag and sealed with simple tape. This at least helps protect the artwork from handling, pests, vermin and elements.

 

At maximum, or taking it up a notch, Mylars cost less than $3 for standard sizes and maybe $5-10 for Golden Age or oversizes. Acid Free backing boards more to add a stiff sturdy support can be added for another $5-10. BTW - - when mylaring art, you should still wrap/cover the mylared piece in a poly bag to help avoid the elements entering the large top entry, so you seal it to keep anything out that would crawl or fall into the mylar, plus the mylar will always remain shiny and scratch free too.

 

To protect a piece of artwork that costs $25 or $25,000, it's worthwhile. The $300 piece in your collection can be tomorrow's $30,000 piece of the future.

 

So many times, I've gone to conventions and seen various dealers not really respect their artwork and in any given portfolio, artwork that's $100 is right next to something priced at $10,000 and with little protection (both physical protection of the piece as mentioned above - - and protection from shoplifters - - it's amazing that there's not much more theft ocurring at conventions).

 

For dealers, by putting 'em in poly bags and/or mylars to protect them, it protects their inventory from accidental damages as well as allows them to price the pieces without writing prices on the actual pieces (which is a pet peeve of mine, whether on the front, back or penciled in the margins), and allows the consumer/buyer, when purchasing a piece to instantly have a protected piece to take with them that's already in an archival quality bag "to go".

 

...then for more assurance... there's the "Fire Safe" which can store your artwork in the home or office that'll at minimum provide a major inconvenience for thieves, and at its best, also help reduce the risk of damage during a fire, tornado, or earthquake as a sturdy storage locker.

 

I think adding the considerations above may help a lot of collectors sleep a lot easier than an insurance policy and it's a fixed cost you own, not recurring fee with lots of red tape.

 

 

[brandolsn]

CIA is a great insurance company that I have filed claims and they were handled expertly & perfectly.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

 

The added bonus is their shipping coverage. Anything shipped TO or FROM a policy holder with signature required is covered to $60,000 (as long as it's not shipped UPS).

 

If you ship or get shipments of comics or comic art of any quantity over a year's time the policy might just pay for itself in the cost of shipping insurance you didn't have to buy.

 

! So if I'm shipping to a collector with a CIA policy then it's a waste of money paying for insurance on my end? (signature still required, no UPS). Not that insurance for artwork really does much good anyway shipping from Canada to the US...

[comix4fun]

CIA is a great insurance company that I have filed claims and they were handled expertly & perfectly.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

 

The added bonus is their shipping coverage. Anything shipped TO or FROM a policy holder with signature required is covered to $60,000 (as long as it's not shipped UPS).

 

If you ship or get shipments of comics or comic art of any quantity over a year's time the policy might just pay for itself in the cost of shipping insurance you didn't have to buy.

 

! So if I'm shipping to a collector with a CIA policy then it's a waste of money paying for insurance on my end? (signature still required, no UPS). Not that insurance for artwork really does much good anyway shipping from Canada to the US...

 

 

Not sure how it works shipping from Canada coming to a US policy holder. I can call them and find out.

 

 

[comicartcom]

CIA is a great insurance company that I have filed claims and they were handled expertly & perfectly.

 

http://www.collectinsure.com/

 

 

The added bonus is their shipping coverage. Anything shipped TO or FROM a policy holder with signature required is covered to $60,000 (as long as it's not shipped UPS).

 

If you ship or get shipments of comics or comic art of any quantity over a year's time the policy might just pay for itself in the cost of shipping insurance you didn't have to buy.

 

! So if I'm shipping to a collector with a CIA policy then it's a waste of money paying for insurance on my end? (signature still required, no UPS). Not that insurance for artwork really does much good anyway shipping from Canada to the US...

 

it depends on your package and your policy

under $100 or $200 there is no need to pay (read the policy, it varies)

on packages over $100 (I think that's my policy) I must insure for $100

 

so if I send a $5000 item, I insure for $100 and if lost CIA picks it up

 

the savings can be pretty substantial if like me you ship more than 1000 packages a year

 

each policy is different, so you need to check your limits

 

Rich

[jgallo]

Well I have some good input here.

 

I did a claim for a Chub policy that had a nice collection of comics including a high grade Spidey #1 all get destroyed in a flood. They were really easy to deal with and they really only wanted an independent person to look over the items to get a fair estimate of the pre-damage value. My understanding is that there coverage is very good, but I don't know the details.

 

As for CIA, I have had a dealer policy with them for years. It isn't cheap, but they have handled all my claims quick and easy. A word of caution is that if you have too many larger dollar claims in a short period they will drop you and quickly. They were going to drop me but have extended my a policy with a higher deductible and a nominal increase in premium.

 

I had $7000+ worth of stuff damaged in a flood and a show theft of $1200+ within a year. Basically they paid me back all of the premiums I paid them and that is not good insurance business.

 

That being said I have never had a problem getting paid or with anyone in the company. I would say if your under $500K CIA should be fine, if you have that much more in value then I would pay up for a better policy.

 

One thing with CIA is that you don't have to list items that are valued under $5000, unless that has changed recently.

 

They have paid out on a paypal charge back, Show theft, and flood damage.

 

Hope that helps.

 

James G

[wurstisart]

Thanks to everyone that contributed.

Got all the information that I asked for.

Thanks....

[ShaneTurgeon]

 

Unfortunately they don't insure collections outside of the US.

 

I just contacted CIA again to see if their policies have changed on this and they stated that they may start offering insurance for Canadians after the new year and to contact them again after the 15th of Jan. This would be VERY good news.

 

I just heard back from CIA and unfortunately they won't be extending their coverage into Canada. So, it looks like we're all stuck with State Farm. The contact there did, however, recommend checking with AXA Art in New York.

 

Does anyone have experience with them?

 

They have a Canadian arm which is on their site here:

 

http://www.axa-art-usa.com/Content.asp?IDAREA=2&IDCAT=37&TIPO=C