Mmm so here's a question I've been thinking about for some time now, does anyone know which insurance company(s) would insure my cards?
And does anyone have any other information in relation to the topic (cost, deductible, coverage amount, etc...)
There's a couple of threads I've found while searching for this topic, will post links to them here (mods: If this is against the rules just lemme know and I'll take the links down)
Basically what the suggestions boil down to is Homeowners (it seems like this is sketchy, i.e. it may cover booster pack values but not rarities), State Farm, which I've placed a query with, and Collectibles Insurance (does ANYBODY have a policy with them? I'd be greatly interested in hearing from you - especially if you have unfortunately ever filed a claim for stolen items!)
I talked to my insurance agent a few months ago about this and the main thing he said to do was have the collection appraised by a shop and have it in written form what the collection is worth. Then just submit that to him to add as an "asset" that they would cover, otherwise you won't get much at all for a collection of random cards.
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-Ryan-
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EDH: Kaalia | New Isperia | Ezuri
For what it is worth American Collectors Insurance charge $1600 per year for $80,000 worth of coverage. They cover against theft and non accidental damage. For example they cover in case of fire, but not if a drink spills on them. Totally worth it in my opinion, as the way MTG cards have been going up a collection of that size will definitely be gaining way more than $1600 a year in collection value.
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Greg Respet
MTG Buyer for CapeFearGames - Coupon mtgsally for 5% off entire order. Orders ship same day if order placed before 3pm EST M-F. MTGOTraders - Coupon mtgsallypaypal for 8% off.
Paying extra 20% on paper cards for MTGOTraders credits.
@Eberbacher,
You are right, so I guess maybe not 100k, but still definitely...20k cards at least? (many completed sets, and it is probably pretty easy to value cards that way as a set)
@garespet:
Thanks for the info! Quick q for you - why did you guys go with American Collectors vs CollectInsure.com? Just wondering. The pricing is relatively similar, CollectInsure.com is slightly cheaper and I'll dig into the coverage differences, but I'd like to hear your view on this too
The insurance is for my personal collection, not for the store. Store I'm sure has its own insurance :). Only reason that I use them because they were recommended by my regular insurance company. Don't know anything about collectinsure.com and luckily I haven't ever had to file a claim so I'm not sure how easy it would be. A friend that had a deck stolen told me that they basically paid approx. 25%the decks value up front, then he had to provide receipts for the re-acquisition and was reimbursed the rest. He said it was kind of a hassle, but much better than just losing the deck.
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Greg Respet
MTG Buyer for CapeFearGames - Coupon mtgsally for 5% off entire order. Orders ship same day if order placed before 3pm EST M-F. MTGOTraders - Coupon mtgsallypaypal for 8% off.
Paying extra 20% on paper cards for MTGOTraders credits.
I made the move last summer, seeing I was getting a bit paranoid about leaving my cards all in one place while I was not there. I don't have a huge collection, but got it appraaised by a dealer, who sent a copy of the appraisal to my insurance company. Costs me roughly 50$ a year for 10K coverage (theft, fire, etc), which is an excellent price for my peace of mind. I still carry a box or two around when I travel for a few days, but I'm not as concerned as I was.
Appraisal cost me 50$, all in all well worth the money.
PS. I notice you're in the US and I'm not, so maybe coverages/fees are apples and oranges...
I made the move last summer, seeing I was getting a bit paranoid about leaving my cards all in one place while I was not there. I don't have a huge collection, but got it appraaised by a dealer, who sent a copy of the appraisal to my insurance company. Costs me roughly 50$ a year for 10K coverage (theft, fire, etc), which is an excellent price for my peace of mind. I still carry a box or two around when I travel for a few days, but I'm not as concerned as I was.
Appraisal cost me 50$, all in all well worth the money.
PS. I notice you're in the US and I'm not, so maybe coverages/fees are apples and oranges...
One of your other questions is whether the insurance company will use appraisal value or replacement value. Most people overvalue (sometimes greatly) the actual worth of their collection, and a random appraisal from some store may not help that.
Hehe I'd be interested in knowing when insurance pays off on missing collections whether they go by SCG value, tcgplayer value, or whatnot Do you think valuing a collection by scg value is overvaluing it for insurance purposes? After all if it gets stolen you actually need to buy the cards back to replace it...
Hehe I'd be interested in knowing when insurance pays off on missing collections whether they go by SCG value, tcgplayer value, or whatnot Do you think valuing a collection by scg value is overvaluing it for insurance purposes? After all if it gets stolen you actually need to buy the cards back to replace it...
Insurance companies do their due dilligence on what the collection is actually worth as far as what goes missing/gets stolen/damaged/etc. You would have to submit a list of all of the cards that were stolen (complete inventory), and then an approx value for each (or for groups of cards depending on the types of cards stolen.) And then they will look around to find the cheapest the cards could be bought back for. In this case, typically ebay buy it nows/completed listings.
When we put in our claim for the cards that were stolen, I went straight off of ebay completed listing values and was very conservative on the value of cards. I got 90% of THAT value. So just keep that in mind. If you expect them to go by ANY online store price, think again. They look to find the cheapest it would reasonably cost to replace the cards, if ebay is the cheapest then they will value it at that accordingly.
That's interesting to hear, Jeff. Mmm in a hypothetical situation like you described, submitting a complete inventory is not a problem for me, but wow, eBay prices eh? I can only imagine the man-hours involved in researching card values across some 20k cards on eBay manually is definitely days+, those poor due diligence analysts, ha!
That's interesting to hear, Jeff. Mmm in a hypothetical situation like you described, submitting a complete inventory is not a problem for me, but wow, eBay prices eh? I can only imagine the man-hours involved in researching card values across some 20k cards on eBay manually is definitely days+, those poor due diligence analysts, ha!
That just shows you insurance companies greed. They will write you a check for $500 for the stolen cards, and they paid a guy $1000 for the week it took to look them all up.
That just shows you insurance companies greed. They will write you a check for $500 for the stolen cards, and they paid a guy $1000 for the week it took to look them all up.
It actually doesnt take as long as you think to quickly check values on cards. I can typically reprice all of standard rares/mythics in a few hours. Also they arent going to check bulk commons/uncommons. Basically if the card is worth less than $1, you would need to put it in with a bulk category when submitting the claim, and then they would account for that accordingly to bulk value. For most people's collections its not likely going to take more than a day, for something as large as, say, what I got stolen, Im sure it took longer, though my organization of the whole thing probably helped as well. Basically the idea that a $500 claim would take a week for one person to check on is incorrect, for the reasons I mentioned above. A $500 claim would take a day at most given the above reasoning.
And yes, its those people's jobs to pay as little as needed while still assuring that the person who is insured is getting a reasonable amount back from the insurance for what was insured.
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And does anyone have any other information in relation to the topic (cost, deductible, coverage amount, etc...)
There's a couple of threads I've found while searching for this topic, will post links to them here (mods: If this is against the rules just lemme know and I'll take the links down)
http://www.magictraders.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/024978.html
http://www.magictraders.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/023837.html
Basically what the suggestions boil down to is Homeowners (it seems like this is sketchy, i.e. it may cover booster pack values but not rarities), State Farm, which I've placed a query with, and Collectibles Insurance (does ANYBODY have a policy with them? I'd be greatly interested in hearing from you - especially if you have unfortunately ever filed a claim for stolen items!)
Standard: ---
EDH: Kaalia | New Isperia | Ezuri
MTG Buyer for
CapeFearGames - Coupon mtgsally for 5% off entire order. Orders ship same day if order placed before 3pm EST M-F.
MTGOTraders - Coupon mtgsallypaypal for 8% off.
Paying extra 20% on paper cards for MTGOTraders credits.
You are right, so I guess maybe not 100k, but still definitely...20k cards at least? (many completed sets, and it is probably pretty easy to value cards that way as a set)
@garespet:
Thanks for the info! Quick q for you - why did you guys go with American Collectors vs CollectInsure.com? Just wondering. The pricing is relatively similar, CollectInsure.com is slightly cheaper and I'll dig into the coverage differences, but I'd like to hear your view on this too
MTG Buyer for
CapeFearGames - Coupon mtgsally for 5% off entire order. Orders ship same day if order placed before 3pm EST M-F.
MTGOTraders - Coupon mtgsallypaypal for 8% off.
Paying extra 20% on paper cards for MTGOTraders credits.
Appraisal cost me 50$, all in all well worth the money.
PS. I notice you're in the US and I'm not, so maybe coverages/fees are apples and oranges...
Who did you get it insured through?
Insurance companies do their due dilligence on what the collection is actually worth as far as what goes missing/gets stolen/damaged/etc. You would have to submit a list of all of the cards that were stolen (complete inventory), and then an approx value for each (or for groups of cards depending on the types of cards stolen.) And then they will look around to find the cheapest the cards could be bought back for. In this case, typically ebay buy it nows/completed listings.
When we put in our claim for the cards that were stolen, I went straight off of ebay completed listing values and was very conservative on the value of cards. I got 90% of THAT value. So just keep that in mind. If you expect them to go by ANY online store price, think again. They look to find the cheapest it would reasonably cost to replace the cards, if ebay is the cheapest then they will value it at that accordingly.
That just shows you insurance companies greed. They will write you a check for $500 for the stolen cards, and they paid a guy $1000 for the week it took to look them all up.
It actually doesnt take as long as you think to quickly check values on cards. I can typically reprice all of standard rares/mythics in a few hours. Also they arent going to check bulk commons/uncommons. Basically if the card is worth less than $1, you would need to put it in with a bulk category when submitting the claim, and then they would account for that accordingly to bulk value. For most people's collections its not likely going to take more than a day, for something as large as, say, what I got stolen, Im sure it took longer, though my organization of the whole thing probably helped as well. Basically the idea that a $500 claim would take a week for one person to check on is incorrect, for the reasons I mentioned above. A $500 claim would take a day at most given the above reasoning.
And yes, its those people's jobs to pay as little as needed while still assuring that the person who is insured is getting a reasonable amount back from the insurance for what was insured.