Collector / Collectible / Memorabilia Insurance

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Posted By: Dan Mathewson

I have to share this with y'all. I have been looking for memorabilia insurance for my collection for several months now. It hasn't actually taken that long to do the research, but over that time, I stopped and restarted searching becasue I was occasionally getting bummed-out at some of the costs/fees I was encountering.

Several places were coming at me with costs of around $1000.00 per year for $65K in collectible coverage (a few places charged even more than that), with lots of caveats and extra fees for off-site moving of items, displaying things in your office, etc., and for high deductibles, some as high as a thousand dollars per occurrence. I was like "holey moley, you have got to be kidding me!!"

Well, today I got great news. I connected with a group called The National Association of Collectors. They have a great program for insuring collections. I am able to obtain $65K in coverage, no matter where the collection is kept (at home, the office, or both) for only $208.00 per year. As my collection grows as I buy new items, they are automatically covered and I need to report them within 30 days as new items. And, it is "all-risk" coverage, which includes the natural disasters (fire, lightning, wind, earthquake, hail, flood) as well as accidental breakage, shipping loss/damage, vehicle overturn, theft, vandalism, and other perils...only a standard $250 deductible applies.

With what I have run into, I think this is an extremely good program, and I wanted to share it with all of you. They are reached at 1-800-618-1787, and they're out of Huntersville, NC. Tell them Christy's long-lost nephew Dan sent you!

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Posted By: john(z28jd)

thanks alot dan! ive been looking for a good place for awhile also

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Posted By: Jeff Obermeyer

I'd be very curious to see that policy. I am not familiar with any carrier that provides a true "all-risk" policy for personal property - it is usually on a named peril basis.

There are some major carriers (Farmers, for instance) whose policies do not limit collectibles or trading cards, and you can purchase additional coverage which is just added on to your regular homeowners policy. Other carriers (like State Farm) have limits on the maximum that they will pay out on certain type of property (like trading cards) and will require you to purchase additional coverage specific to this class of property... they may also make you provide documentation for each item.

I recommend that every collector have a detailed inventory of their collection, with special emphasis on higher valued items. Not only should you have a list, but photographing and/or videotaped evidence is STRONGLY recommended. By documenting what you have you can make things a lot easier for you should you ever have a claim.

Insurance adjusters are not the most trusting people in the world - I know, it's what I do for a living. We get lied to on a daily basis. But I love it when an insured can provide me documentation that allows me to pay for their loss - makes my job that much easier.

If you have ANY questions as to whether or not your policy of insurance has limits on collectibles, you should contact your agent ASAP and let them know the situation. It's better to find out before you have a loss...

Jeff

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Posted By: Dan Mathewson

Totally agree, there.

1. All my collection is logged on an excel spdsht.
2. It includes the grade and value.
3. All are scanned.
4. All are graded by PSA, MINT, or SCG.
5. The policy app asks for specific itemization of each item over $2500
6. My own homeowners carrier (Nat'l Merit) doesn't have coverage for this.

So, I have no choice but to give this a shot. So far, on their app, it looks very good. Thier website is very geared to the Collector Niche, and if they have really done their homework and gotten volume business, it's quite possible that they can offer good coverage at a good rate. I'm hoping this is the case...

-dan

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Posted By: warshawlaw

has a pretty solid all risk policy for personal articles including cards. I have my cards with them. Annualy runs me about $0.14 per $1,000 in value. All are spreadsheeted with Excel; All high value cards are PSA or SGC slabbed. One nice aspect is that they will insure without an appraisal, which would be cost-prohibitive for me to perform.

Dan's policy contact sounds a lot cheaper (it remains to be seen if it is better). Who underwrites it and what is their rating? Do they have a web site?

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Posted By: Craig

Not sure if I follow the math. $.14 per $1000 of coverage works out to $9.10 per year at $65K of coverage. Dan said his would be $208.00 per year for $65K of coverage. Both decent deals, but is there a typo in there somewhere, Adam?

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Posted By: warshawlaw

$1.40 per $100. Dropped a zero somewhere.

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Posted By: Robert

I searched Google for the National Association of Collectors and then searched for insurance on the site -- here is the link:

http://collectors.org/General/Insurance.asp

I'm assuming I have the right Web address. Please let us know if this is the same outfit.

By the way, does State Farm have a Web site for their collectibles policies?

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Posted By: Dan Mathewson

Yeah, Robert, that's the one!

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Posted By: Jeff Obermeyer

...and ordered a sample policy of the collectors policy. When it arrives, I'll review it and post some info on it here.

Jeff

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Posted By: Dan Mathewson

Cool, that'll be good to see, Jeff. My approval is pending, so I should have a policy on its way for review, too, before I send payment. Shoudl be interesting to see what the stipulations are, but up front, it looks pretty good.

See you ont he Sixth. Have we heard from Dave confirming that date? -dan