What is collector's insurance?

Key takeaways

• Collector’s insurance protects valuable collections from events like burglary, natural disasters, and accidental damage.

• Collector’s insurance may include agreed value cover, depreciation cover, defective title cover, and legal expenses.

• You need an accurate valuation of your collection to ensure proper cover.

What is collector's insurance?

Collector’s insurance is a specialist policy that covers valuable collections – such as art, antiques, coins, or memorabilia – against risks like theft, loss, or damage. It typically offers agreed values, expert valuations, and broader protection than standard home insurance, which may not fully cover collectible items.

Collector's insurance includes:

• Theft cover

• Damage cover

• Loss cover

When do collectors need specialist cover?

Your standard home insurance policy will almost certainly cap both the total amount you can claim for and the amount you can claim for per item (known as the single-item limit). If your collection is worth a lot of money, these limits may prevent you from recouping its full costs in the event of a claim.

You can take out high-value home insurance to protect valuable items. However, collector's insurance often includes extra protections such as:

• accidental damage included as standard.

• temporary location cover for exhibitions.

• emergency evacuation of your collection in an emergency.

Collector’s insurance policies usually cover the total value of your collection rather than listing items individually, except for very valuable items. They are generally more costly than other types of home insurance.

What are the different types of collectibles insurance?

Collectibles insurance can include general or specialist policies, with options like agreed value, blanket cover, itemised cover, and protection during transit or exhibition.

Types of cover than can be included are:

How do I value my collection?

You can value your collection by getting professional appraisals where needed, checking recent market or auction prices for similar items, and documenting condition, rarity, and provenance.

Here’s some more information:

Accurate valuation is key to obtaining the right level of insurance cover. If you over-evaluate your collection, you may end up paying too much while if it’s under valued you may be underinsured.

It's advisable to revalue your collection every year or two to ensure your insurance cover keeps pace with any changes in value.

How do I find cheap collector’s insurance quotes?

MoneySuperMarket does not directly partner with collector's insurance brokers or providers, but we do offer home contents insurance that includes some cover for collectables.

It's straightforward to compare home contents insurance cover on MoneySuperMarket. Simply include the value of your collection in your home contents policy's total estimated value and list any individual high-value items separately.