I asked my insurance provider about this some time back, but they seemed to lack any desire or have much in the way of information on insuring collectibles. All I could get out of them is "You need to have it appraised" pretty much, with no sort of leads on what type of appraisal would suffice. An estimate from my LGS? Hell if I know!
I got to thinking about this last night after some a-hole pulled the fire alarm at my apartment building. My wife was pitching a fit about the chain smoker downstairs falling asleep with a lit cigarette, but thankfully, there was no fire. Still, it put the idea in my head. Our complex requires us to have renters insurance, but there's no specific rider for collectibles, and my provider did tell me that my comics would only be valued at cover price. That kind of sucks when you've got a pile of key issues from the 70's. When I mentioned insuring my M:tG, my wife was shocked that my collection isn't already insured.
Those of you that have done this, what were the stipulations and rules set forth by your insurance provider?
Very few renter's and homeowner's policies will cover collectibles and those that do will cover very little. For my sports memorabilia I used Collect Insure for awhile before I moved the valuable items to a safe deposit box. It was afforadable and fair for what it was. I would, however, only recommend it if you are insuring a handful of items at high value (P9 and early unopened). It's great for insuring 15-20 items that are irreplaceable but not really built to insure 10,000 items at the same value.
I have my cards insured through State Farm. I needed to establish value and then was able to get covered for the correct amount. There are many ways to establish value. The easiest for me was to plug my cards into tcgplayer's collection database. It lists the value of each card and gives a total. It also updates in real time so it's easy to change coverage. Ebay is another way to do it for individual, high-priced cards.
Every couple months I think about insuring mine, eventually I'm going to do it.
From what I've read about it, what you're looking for is a Personal Asset Policy rather than something for collectables specifically. You'll need to keep them updated with values and decide what to insure it for. These days most people are using the online collection trackers for value, alongside camera photos of the cards, and updated annually.
@Firevine: If the chain-smoker below you is the main issue, I would highly recommend moving somewhere else where you and your family feel safe. It's not worth losing sleep over, not worth the risk, and that should be the top priority more so than insuring the value or personal possessions. Meanwhile, I would try petitioning with the other tenants to have that individual evicted (if discussing the issue and subsequently warning them personally hasn't produced results), that way you don't have to make the difficult last resort decision of abandoning your home. Smoking in your domicile may be one's legal right. However, if such an individual displays a pattern where they are knowingly and regularly putting other people's lives and livelihoods at grave risk as a direct result of their willfully dangerous and irresponsible behavior (smoking perpetually even whilst dozing off certainly qualifies), the rights of those innocent potential victims supersede the rights of the person who is known to be a liability. In the interim, I suggest getting a fireproof safe for your more valuable binders and decks. Lastly, I feel it necessary to point out the irony that a firevine would even be so concerned about a fire (alarm) in the first place. Isn't it entirely plausible that you inadvertently set off the alarm yourself?
@Stevenus: I'm curious... How can the insurer know with any degree of certainty at the time of the claim that your collection was exactly as it was documented online? Do you regularly have to submit proof by providing photos, scans, or other signed documentation that all the cards listed are still in your physical possession, still in their listed conditions, and haven't been traded or sold? Do you continuously update your online list any and every time you open something of value in a pack, buy, trade, or sell singles of value, or acquire singles which will presumably appreciate in value? Does a notary or some other third party have to authenticate that in doing so each time you're being completely honest? What's the minimum threshold value for such cards to be added to such a list (for you or the insurer)? Any additional information would be helpful and much appreciated.
Anyhow, the best I can come up with myself is a game in the top 8 of a PTQ back during Urza block in which we were starting game 3 with time already expired, so the tiebreaker rule was that whoever had more life after 3 turns would win. And I lost to... healing salve.
@Firevine: If the chain-smoker below you is the main issue, I would highly recommend moving somewhere else where you and your family feel safe. It's not worth losing sleep over, not worth the risk, and that should be the top priority more so than insuring the value or personal possessions. Meanwhile, I would try petitioning with the other tenants to have that individual evicted (if discussing the issue and subsequently warning them personally hasn't produced results), that way you don't have to make the difficult last resort decision of abandoning your home. Smoking in your domicile may be one's legal right. However, if such an individual displays a pattern where they are knowingly and regularly putting other people's lives and livelihoods at grave risk as a direct result of their willfully dangerous and irresponsible behavior (smoking perpetually even whilst dozing off certainly qualifies), the rights of those innocent potential victims supersede the rights of the person who is known to be a liability. In the interim, I suggest getting a fireproof safe for your more valuable binders and decks. Lastly, I feel it necessary to point out the irony that a firevine would even be so concerned about a fire (alarm) in the first place. Isn't it entirely plausible that you inadvertently set off the alarm yourself?
@Stevenus: I'm curious... How can the insurer know with any degree of certainty at the time of the claim that your collection was exactly as it was documented online? Do you regularly have to submit proof by providing photos, scans, or other signed documentation that all the cards listed are still in your physical possession, still in their listed conditions, and haven't been traded or sold? Do you continuously update your online list any and every time you open something of value in a pack, buy, trade, or sell singles of value, or acquire singles which will presumably appreciate in value? Does a notary or some other third party have to authenticate that in doing so each time you're being completely honest? What's the minimum threshold value for such cards to be added to such a list (for you or the insurer)? Any additional information would be helpful and much appreciated.
I provided photos of my collection at the time that I provided the estimated value. I can increase or decrease the amount of coverage any time I want to, so if I acquire valuable cards I can update as needed. I have a policy that covers my cards for any damage for any reason. There is a $500 deductible. I can pay more for a smaller deductible, and I assume that if I file a claim my costs will increase greatly. Like any other insurance policy, the incentive is to never use it.
Don't know if things changed in the last several years but I had renters insurance with Allstate when I lost my collection in a fire. I had cataloged everything but they didn't even look at it nor did they look at my photos. When I made my claim I gave them a list with current values based on Scrye (the leading source at the time) and they paid in full. Granted I didn't have 100k in cards that would have brought a lot of questions but I had several thousand worth. It may have helped that collectibles and music equipment were indicated as the primary reason for the policy. Needless to say, I was happy with the service but I do recommend having a detailed discussion with an agent. Renters insurance was a good deal in retrospect. My current home owners policy covers collectibles to certain limit (a limit much higher than my current collection).
USAA sells collectibles insurance separate from other policies, but they just need a list of all of the items in the collection(s) (one collectibles policy can cover multiple collections), and a photo of any single item valued over $2000.
Is there no general insurance that covers all your household effects?
There's rental insurance...
Renter's insurance and homeowner's insurance generally don't cover collectible items. (There's also "Valuable Property Insurance" which would cover things like jewelry, guns, fine silverware, etc.) There may be an insurance company willing to cover collectibles in a renter/homeowner policy, but it would be extremely uncommon, and likely wouldn't offer great coverage.
I can't tell you the reasoning behind this model (although it probably boils down to "make more money for the insurance company"), only that it exists.
Insurance is probably cheaper, but you may look into a gun safe that has fire resistance......They can get pricey....
As someone who has a gun safe this won't work. they are rated for x amounts of minutes based on a fire at a certain temperature. What they don't tell you is the internal temperature of the safe at certain points along that curve. Towards the end of that rating, temperatures inside the safe can easily reach 350-400 degrees. It is easily hot enough to cook any paper that would be inside.
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I got to thinking about this last night after some a-hole pulled the fire alarm at my apartment building. My wife was pitching a fit about the chain smoker downstairs falling asleep with a lit cigarette, but thankfully, there was no fire. Still, it put the idea in my head. Our complex requires us to have renters insurance, but there's no specific rider for collectibles, and my provider did tell me that my comics would only be valued at cover price. That kind of sucks when you've got a pile of key issues from the 70's. When I mentioned insuring my M:tG, my wife was shocked that my collection isn't already insured.
Those of you that have done this, what were the stipulations and rules set forth by your insurance provider?
From what I've read about it, what you're looking for is a Personal Asset Policy rather than something for collectables specifically. You'll need to keep them updated with values and decide what to insure it for. These days most people are using the online collection trackers for value, alongside camera photos of the cards, and updated annually.
@Stevenus: I'm curious... How can the insurer know with any degree of certainty at the time of the claim that your collection was exactly as it was documented online? Do you regularly have to submit proof by providing photos, scans, or other signed documentation that all the cards listed are still in your physical possession, still in their listed conditions, and haven't been traded or sold? Do you continuously update your online list any and every time you open something of value in a pack, buy, trade, or sell singles of value, or acquire singles which will presumably appreciate in value? Does a notary or some other third party have to authenticate that in doing so each time you're being completely honest? What's the minimum threshold value for such cards to be added to such a list (for you or the insurer)? Any additional information would be helpful and much appreciated.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
There's rental insurance...
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
As someone who has a gun safe this won't work. they are rated for x amounts of minutes based on a fire at a certain temperature. What they don't tell you is the internal temperature of the safe at certain points along that curve. Towards the end of that rating, temperatures inside the safe can easily reach 350-400 degrees. It is easily hot enough to cook any paper that would be inside.