For many of us, our collections can be some of our most prized possessions but do we need to get specialist insurance to protect them? If you want peace of mind, you may wish to consider insurance either through your home contents insurance policy or through specialist collectors insurance.

Like most insurance, collector’s insurance is a specialist product to protect your collection against damage, loss or theft.  Specialist collectors insurance is an alternative to using your home contents insurance policy.  Both options provide peace of mind and can potentially help avoid a big financial loss if any items or even an entire collection needs to be replaced. 

Your collection will be covered through collectors insurance if your home is burgled or is damaged in a flood for instance.

When considering insurance it is important to have an accurate idea of what your collection is worth.  If you value it too highly, then you risk paying more than you need for insurance, and if you underestimate its value you could find you are not fully covered if you need to make a claim.  The amount of cover needed will be dependent upon the value.

If you are unsure of the value of your collection, a valuation can be provided by lifelong collector, Rachael Fretter.  Feel free to email theworldofpeterfagan@yahoo.com for more information.

It is worth noting that like most collectables the value of Peter’s work can fluctuate, therefore it is worth getting your collection re-valued every few years to ensure your policy is accurate and reflects the current value.

Most collections can be covered by a standard home insurance policy which will protect your items against; fire and smoke damage, flood, theft or attempted theft, storm damage including lightning, malicious damage and earthquakes.

If no individual item in your collection is worth more than £1,000 then for your collection to be covered by your contents insurance you just need to include the estimated value of the collection in the value of the total content for the house.

However, if you are lucky to own an item/s in your collection that are worth more than £1,000 then this will be considered a high-value item by most insurers and must be added to your policy separately.

If you wish for your collection to be covered against accidental damage then this too will also have to be added to the policy separately.

In the unfortunate circumstances that you do have to make a claim, it is worth noting that this is likely to increase the cost of your insurance premium in the future.

Specialist collectors insurance generally provides the same cover as home contents but many will also offer accidental damage cover as standard.  This type of insurance can also cover specific risks to your collectables such as the emergency evacuation of the collection where needed.  This is usually at an additional cost unless the policy states “all risks”

Collectors insurance offers the benefit of covering the total value of your collection rather than listing items individually. However, collectors insurance is often a more expensive option than adding your collection and specific high-value items to your home insurance policy. 

If you decided to opt for specialist collectors insurance it’s worth noting the different types of cover available.

Agreed value cover – this covers the cost of replacing the entire collection if it is damaged, however, there may be a limit to the number of items that can be insured as part of your collection.

Depreciation cover – this helps recover the lost value of your collectables if they can’t be repaired or their value has depreciated after repair.

Defective title cover – this is s type of indemnity which covers the amount you paid for your collectables should someone else successfully claim that the items belong to them.

Temporary location cover – this protects items outside the home and can include worldwide.

Emergency evacuation cover – this covers the costs of moving your collection due to a home emergency

Legal expenses – if you get into a legal dispute over the buying, selling or ownership of your collectables this cover will help,

Please note this is just a guide and there are many different insurers who provide both specialist collectors insurance and general home insurance.