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Insuring your collection?
djspann
Posts: 541 ✭
Does anyone insure their collection? I've just started looking into it -- through my ordinary insurance company seems costly, in addition to being a hassle. For one thing, they want appraisals for items worth over $500. Also, an itemized checklist with an estimated price for each item seems pretty ridiculous too. Is there a better way to protect your cards?
Doug
Doug
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Joe
Mark Mulder rookies
Chipper Jones rookies
Orlando Cabrera rookies
Lawrence Taylor
Sam Huff
Lavar Arrington
NY Giants
NY Yankees
NJ Nets
NJ Devils
1950s-1960s Topps NY Giants Team cards
Looking for Topps rookies as well.
References:
GregM13
VintageJeff
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
Mark Mulder rookies
Chipper Jones rookies
Orlando Cabrera rookies
Lawrence Taylor
Sam Huff
Lavar Arrington
NY Giants
NY Yankees
NJ Nets
NJ Devils
1950s-1960s Topps NY Giants Team cards
Looking for Topps rookies as well.
References:
GregM13
VintageJeff
<< <i>Collectibles Insurance Agency has received very good reviews. I have not had to file a claim, but their rates are great and their terms are ideal.
Joe >>
I am an insurance adjuster and have been curious about how the policies would be written to avoid moral and morale issues. I have few questions that you maybe able to answer:
How often are you required to report to the insurer, is it monthly, quarterly, annual or when there is a probable signifcant change in value of the collection?
Is theft a covered peril? If theft is covered are there any exclusions to the theft such as if it is stolen off-site at a cardshow for example? Is there exclusions or issues if you sell cards?
Thanks for the info, everyone -- I'll look into the Collectibles Insurance Agency, as well as a safe deposit box. I plan on keeping at least some cards in my house, but a lot could probably go to a safe deposit box.
Doug
For coverage on my homeowners policy, my agent initally asked if I had any single item valued over $500, then wanted specifics of all items to sum up to determine coverage.
Doug
Rich
<< <i>I have my collection insured with State Farm. All they require me to do is list each item along with the dollar amount I want to insure each item at (regardless of price). What is the point of storing cards in a saftey deposit box? I want to look at each item anytime i want to.
Rich >>
I agree, the LAST thing I will do is put any of my cards in a safe deposit box. I realize it is the cost effective thing to do to ensure the safety of your collection ..... but ...... come on man. Why the hell are people who are spending crazy money on card board going cheap on insuring them? PLUS, I can imagine the hassle of taking a trip to the bank to gawk at your cards
No offense to anybody man, just a little rant
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I informed my homeowners insurance Allstate of the loss. They let me know how bad they felt for me, but they would not pay. They gave me $1000 on the jewelry and $500 on the cards. They told me without a rider policy, that was the limits. A rider policy costs approx. $10 per $1000. I learned a very hard lesson that day.
The worst part of the break in was for my wife. The person decided have a little fun with her bra and panty drawer. He decided to enjoy himself on our bed just a little too much. I had to invest in a new bedspread and new under garments for her, along with an alarm and monitoring for my house.
One of the drawbacks of living in Los Angeles.
1- i can't believe people are going to go to the bank every time they want to see a card, or drop off a card.
2- i have a rider to my State Farm Homeowners that covers any cards that I want to submit to them. As previously stated, the rider is relatively cheap. All I had to do was take a picture of the item and attach a recent price guide to it. simple as that....
Robeson:
You bring up a good point that many people don't realize which is homeowners insurance won't cover a card collection. You need to have an extra policy specifically for a collection. Plus, I hear you with regard to protection......I'm loaded in that department (gate blocking access to my property, watchdog, alarm system, etc...).
MJ:
My state farm agent doesn't even require me to have pictures of all the items (just an updated list with costs I want each item insured at). It may cost me a little more with State Farm, but since I have all my insurance policies thru them, I feel that I have more leverege if I would ever need to put in a claim.
Rich
However, I think it's still better to go with an additional company, for piece of mind - my fiancee recently lost her engagement ring, and the same ins. company (SF, who she has had homeowners with for 5+ years) gave us absolutly nothing. She made the mistake of admitting it's loss, as opposed to telling a lie about theft... Mysterious disappearence = no compensation. Another 5 grand later (for me) she has her ring back, and we have an additional policy covering jewelry lost no matter what.
Call your company, find out their policy, if it's at all vague about collectibles purchase an additional policy - -if you can afford it, things you love can never be "too insured"..
<< <i>
<< <i>Collectibles Insurance Agency has received very good reviews. I have not had to file a claim, but their rates are great and their terms are ideal.
Joe >>
I am an insurance adjuster and have been curious about how the policies would be written to avoid moral and morale issues. I have few questions that you maybe able to answer:
How often are you required to report to the insurer, is it monthly, quarterly, annual or when there is a probable signifcant change in value of the collection?
Is theft a covered peril? If theft is covered are there any exclusions to the theft such as if it is stolen off-site at a cardshow for example? Is there exclusions or issues if you sell cards? >>
They have all of this information on their web site, but I'll answer your questions from memory the best I can.
There is no requirement to updaet the value of your collection. They automatically add 1% of coverage, non-compounding, per month. If the value of your collection is rising faster, or you make a significant purchase, contact them to increase your coverage.
Theft is covered. The cards are covered in transit if you are moving, and there is some coverage for card shows and the like, but it's limited to like $60,000. If you sell some cards and the value of your collection decreases, I don't see why they'd care. You could contact them to downgrade your coverage.
One other note: they are backed by a big insurance company... the Hartford, I think.
Joe
I have thought of the Gun/Large Safe also, but with the home invasion type robberies taking place these days, I couldn’t deal with a home intruder holding a gun to my wife or daughters head screaming “open the safe or they die!!!”.
"If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
<< <i>I have a few safety deposit boxes. They cost a bit over $200 each per year, and are about the size of a filing cabinet drawer. My bank always has a waiting list for the small ones, but the largest always seems to be available. They get a bit curious when you have more than one though. >>
That is a bit curious Anthony.
Kind of reminds me of Crazy in Alabama.
But she carried "it" around with her.
now the card is gone and all you have at best is your money back.
i don't need to touch or look at my cards every day. my bank is open plenty enough for me to look at my high value cards. for $80 a year it is a lot cheaper and MUCH safer than stroring them at home.
are you insurance lovers telling us that each time you get an expensive card you photo it and jack around with some insurance agent to up the value of your collection? are you trying to make us believe that is easier than going to a bank 5 minutes away?
If you are building or pland on building a house pick the safe you want and have it hidden behind a bookcase or other panel of sorts to prevent a home invasion scenario. If you are currently in a home and do not plan to build or install a safe then do what I did. Order a time capsule and burry it on your property. Keep a map in a locked place and wear a key around your neck. When everyone else is looking at their favorite cards and trading, just jingle your key and say "Argh me mattey ain't no one a gettin' my treasure" and then teach your parrot to reapeat it.
Val
1)If I was to keep my collection in a bank, I would need a vault instead of a saftey deposit box. Half of my collection contains autograph baseballs, bats, and framed photos that I enjoy looking at on a daily basis.
2)I said it many of times, sooner or later your collection will be sold anyway. If not by you, than by your children or their children. If my house burns down, I'll collect the insurance money and buy a cottage on a lake. However, it would be foolish for me to go to the bank just to look at a card!
3)Eveytime I acquire a new card, I'll add it to my inventory and every couple of months I'll give my insurance agent an updated copy. The worst thing that can happen is that my house burns down right before I was going to get the updated copy to my agent which means I might be out a couple thousand dollars at the most.
4)I shake my head everytime I here someone say that they store thei collection in the bank! However, to each his own.
Rich
Insurance or safe deposit box?
You pay your money...
take your choice.
I've got mine buried under a rock in the backyard.
<< <i>2)I said it many of times, sooner or later your collection will be sold anyway. If not by you, than by your children or their children. If my house burns down, I'll collect the insurance money and buy a cottage on a lake. However, it would be foolish for me to go to the bank just to look at a card! >>
Not me.
I wanna be buried under that rock with my collection.
Better than a silk lined casket!
mike
I would say the bet is getting the cards insured and buying a fireproof safe for the house. A mistake people make with safes is not bolting them down securely to the floor. There is a show on cable that features ex-burglars staging "real" burglaries with the owner's consent and the owners sitting down the road in a van watching over CCTV. After the burglary, the ex-cons take the owners through the house and show them all of the weaknesses. Then they hook them up with all the latest and greatest security hardware. I have seen them take safes that weren't bolted down and carry them out of the house like a microwave.
Am very pleased with it. The shelves are completely configurable and even comes with an additional, keyed lock box on the inside. It can be bolted to both the floor and the wall for added security. I've already started stuffing all most expensive slabs in it.
<< <i>Not to resurrect an old post, but I'm 99% done with my home renovations. This was delivered to my house yesterday (mine is actually grey color) and man, was it ever heavy.
Am very pleased with it. The shelves are completely configurable and even comes with an additional, keyed lock box on the inside. It can be bolted to both the floor and the wall for added security. I've already started stuffing all most expensive slabs in it. >>
Brian,
Are you having this bolted right into the floor, or is the weight enough of a theft deterrant? If you don't mind me asking, how much did this set you back? Also, is this the type of thing that needs to be on the lowest floor of the house (with the weight factor)?
Mark
<< <i>The weight is about 360+lb empty and where it's situated in my basement, it's extremely difficult to manuever. Even so, I had it bolted onto the studs in the wall. I doubt I needed it, but since it was there, I took advantaged of it. I also have my pistols and ammunition stored there as well. I'd say the weight is well over 400+ lbs at this point. I got it based primarily on the excellent reviews and good fire protection offered. It set me back $427 plus tax at Lowes. Every other place seems to have this at about $600 or so. >>
What is the fire rating? My main concern would be that heat or smoke could get in there in the unfortunate event of a severe fire loss.
My ebay listings
<< <i>I have a few safety deposit boxes. They cost a bit over $200 each per year, and are about the size of a filing cabinet drawer. >>
Sounds like a $hitload of cards there.
My ebay listings