Insurance And Pens

[isaacrn]

I have a question with specifics to insuring a pen collection. I live in an apt, and do not have home owners insurance. I have been thinking about having my pen collection insured in case of break in/ damage. The "value" of the pens can be all over the place as far as a collectible standpoint goes.

 

What suggestions do you all have for insuring a collection? I am assuming pictures need to be taken, but what companies do you actually hire for this purpose?

 

 

[jar]

I use Collectibles Insurance.

[BrandonA]

Not sure what it's like in America but in the UK you get two types of insurance. The first is property which covers you in case your house is burnt down. The second is content which covers the stuff you own.

 

My pens are covered under standard content insurance. On my policy any single item up to a value of £6,000 does not need to be named. Pens are not considered a "collection" as the lose of one pen does not adversely affect the value of the others. Therefore I do not have a single item of value over £6,000 so I don't need to do anything special to cover my pens.

[EclecticCollector]

To follow up on BrandonA, in the US you need to carefully read your renter's or homeowner's insurance policy. My own through State Farm does not cover my pens if they are lost, broken, or stolen outside of the residence, only if stolen from inside the residence. In addition, they will not offer personal articles coverage for pens.

[_Stormin_]

So basically, contact your insurance agent to see if your renters coverage will cover your pens...

[Keyless Works]

My watches are individually insured but my pens are covered under homeowners insurance. For renters your insurance cost is mostly based on the value of everything you want to insure.

[sexauerw]

I use the same insurance agency that Jar does, collectinsure.com. The big advantage of using them vs a standard homeowners or rental policy is that the Collectibles policy is designed for collectors. Documentation requirements for claims are minimal compared to standard policies. There is coverage for pens being shipped, such as to and from nibmeisters, buyers and sellers. There is coverage for pens that you take to pen shows, although not those that you take to local pen club meetings. And my homeowners policy would treat the pens as a collection and cap the coverage at something like $8,000 unless I purchased a special rider, which would require that each and every pen be appraised. There is no appraisal requirement with Collectibles.

[EclecticCollector]

Just a note about home/renter policies and "collections" coverage - generally speaking, unless you know for sure that your policy is otherwise, you can't use the pens if you want them to be covered as a collection/collectible. How they can tell after a loss event I don't know, but you're going to want to have lots of documentation ready just in case.