Collector’s Insurance Vs. Traditional Homeowner’s Insurance: What You Need to Know

If you’re a serious collector, then you should take protecting your collection seriously. We’re not just talking about storage and maintenance, either. One of the best investments you can make is properly insuring your collection if you are truly passionate about your collectible, whether they are cars or comic books.

To help you make the most informed decision about whether or not you should have a separate policy for your collection and/or collectibles, we put together this list. We hope you find it useful.

Payouts

Traditional insurance policies are typically good for offering actual cash value on damaged property. However, policies for collectibles offer the full value of every item in a collection. In the event of a loss, the contrast between payouts is often dramatically different because homeowner’s policies base their payouts on the documented purchase price of an item. However, a given item could have been purchased years ago; it could have been inherited; or, it could have greatly appreciated in value. Items like these that are lost need to be properly insured.

Natural Disaster Coverage

Your homeowner’s policy may not cover losses brought on as a result of a natural disaster like an earthquake or a flood, and some policies may not even cover burglary and theft! However, a collector’s policy ensures hassle-free compensation in the event of such a loss.

Increases in Premiums

If you file a homeowner’s policy claim for a loss on a collectible, you leave yourself open to potential premium hikes. These price increases can be quite costly. However, if you have a separate policy for your collectibles, you needn’t worry about any jarring increases in homeowner’s policy premiums.

Deductibles and Limits

Zero-dollar deductibles are standard in the world of collector’s insurance but homeowner’s insurance policies typically do not. Furthermore, homeowner’s insurance policies have limits. For example, a piece of fine art may only be covered up to $1,500, whereas the same piece of art may be covered up to $1 million with a collector’s insurance policy.

The purpose of insurance is to provide adequate coverage in the event of a loss. Sadly, many homeowner’s policies fall quite short of meeting that expectation. If you keep collectibles in your home, make sure you have them adequately covered with a proper collector’s insurance policy. Give us a call today or take a look around our website for more information about how we can help you.