How to Insure Your Collectibles
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Today, we’re talking about the risk that your collectibles could be damaged, destroyed or stolen. In these cases, you could be left with thousands of dollars’ worth of your property simply gone with nothing to show for all of your hard work as a collector. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be your story. Instead, you should insure your collection in the event of an accident.
While your homeowner’s insurance can be applied to some of your collectibles, it might not cover the whole value. For instance, if you’ve spent a lot of money on rare trading cards, you might not be able to file a claim for the full value of the cards under your homeowner’s insurance in the event of a fire or flood.
If you are looking to insure your collections, you’ll need to take out a separate policy for the items themselves. Many insurance companies offer specific collectible insurance policies. These policies are much narrower than a normal homeowner’s policy and only insure your collection, not the house you store it in.
When you’re looking to insure your collection, what should you be looking for? We advise looking for policies that offer robust protection from a variety of ways you could lose value on your collection. For instance, you might favor a policy with an inflation guard, allowing it to pay out more based on the inflation that has occurred since you bought the items in the collection.
We would also recommend getting a policy with broad coverage, including fire, flood and other natural disasters, as well as theft. Sadly, many collectors have lost their life’s work to natural disasters. While the insurance settlement won’t bring back your treasured items, it can help you begin to rebuild.
Another factor to consider is getting a policy that sets an agreed value on your collection at the time of insurance. This allows you to know how much, exactly, is insured. That way, in the event of theft, fire, flood or other natural disaster, you know how much is to be paid out to you.