Insurance for your collection

[£400 for a Penny ?]

Hello,

Thought it would be a good idea to discuss this important subject on it's own thread.

Who do you use, mainstream contents insurer or specialist ?

How does the policy work ?

How much does it cost per £1000 ?

Are there any specific conditions like the use of a safe/bank vault ?

Any information anyone feels willing to share will be gratefully received I'm sure.

Rgds,

[Red Riley]

At present I just incorporate mine as part of the household insurance:

1) Who do you use, mainstream contents insurer or specialist ? Just changed from 'More Than' (stupid name) ex-Sun Alliance; to Asda Insurance Services who worked out a lot cheaper.

2) How does the policy work ? I just tell them how much the collection is worth and it is incorporated within the house contents;

3) How much does it cost per £1000 ? If it works that way, they don't tell me!

4) Are there any specific conditions like the use of a safe/bank vault ? Not that they have ever told me. Wait for a claim I guess...

Edited August 11, 2010 by Red Riley

[Mat]

I have not got much to store at the moment, but when I have a lot of higher value coins I includ it as 'specific items of value' on normal home contents insurance. That part of the policy is designed for certain individual items which have an individual value of over £1500. On my policy any individual items that are worth over £1500 that are not specifically specified with a specific value will only by paid out up to the sum of £1500 as a part of general contents.

When I used to do trade fairs, I used to call them up the day before and tell them I will be taking the contents out the home to a trade fair, and they used to charge a one off £10 per £50,000 of coins for that specific day which ensures all the coins are covered when I am there in the event of theft or a customer dropping one and reducing its value!

This was with Nationwide in 2008

[Badger]

Hi, I use Aviva and have them insured as an addition to my home and contents.

My payments increased £12 per month onto my existing payments, which I thought was very reasonable.

They ask for a total valuation(My own valuation I may add), and also specific details e.g. denomination/date/any other info you can give like variety etc on any single coin or set valued over £1500

They also asked if they were kept in a safe or lock box, or just in a cupboard or on display etc

It was aksed also if all or any were taken out of the house, for exhibits, personal or other reasons. When I said occasionaly, they said they would insure a 1/4 of the whole value of the collection to be taken outwith the home at any one time.

On the policy, It was all written down correctly with the total collection and my description of all the specified items.

It was easy to do as it was an English person I was talking to (NO OFFENCE INTENDED TO FOREIGNERS) and they had done similar insurance add ons before.

Badger

[azda]

Do you require photos of specefics? Just thought i'd ask, mine are in the bank in a safety depsoit box. I wonder if anyone will sell my details to Frau Merkel

[Badger]

Hi, no I didn't have to submit any photos of the specifics.

I do have photos just incase the need for a claim arises as we all know how the insurance companies can be in times of claims. Hopefully that time will never come though.

[TomGoodheart]

Mine are covered under my household insurance. Only one coin cost more than the limit per individual item and so is specified in the schedule. The rest are just 'a collection'. I can't remember how much it added to the insurance - not much I imagine. They asked if they were kept under lock and key, but little else. I did have a valuation done a while back but I wasn't asked for one. I expect it would only be an issue if I wanted to make a claim.

[Gary D]

I was originally putting my collection under the normal house insurance but it was less than ideal. The way house contents works is that any one item, a collection in this case, must not be more than a certain percentage of the total cover, if I recall correctly it is about 30%. This means that if your collection is worth £10,000 you must have at least £33,000 of contents insurance, ok no problem. A £20,000 collection would be £66,000 and £35,000 which I had at the time would require £117,000. That's a lot of premium you need to pay for. Last year I insured my collection for £40,000, it was cheaper at that point to find a seperate company to insure my collection and find a cheap contents insurance. My renewal this year was £243 for £45,000 cover. I upped it to £60,000 for £320. I use Stamp Insurace Services in Exeter and the policy is with Sterling Insurance.

Gary

[Peckris]

I have not got much to store at the moment, but when I have a lot of higher value coins I includ it as 'specific items of value' on normal home contents insurance. That part of the policy is designed for certain individual items which have an individual value of over £1500. On my policy any individual items that are worth over £1500 that are not specifically specified with a specific value will only by paid out up to the sum of £1500 as a part of general contents.

When I used to do trade fairs, I used to call them up the day before and tell them I will be taking the contents out the home to a trade fair, and they used to charge a one off £10 per £50,000 of coins for that specific day which ensures all the coins are covered when I am there in the event of theft or a customer dropping one and reducing its value!

This was with Nationwide in 2008

Be careful. Be VERY careful. Some insurance companies define a collection as an 'individual item' and NOT a particular coin. Check it with them!!!!!!

[£400 for a Penny ?]

I use Stamp Insurance Services in Exeter and the policy is with Sterling Insurance.

I think that's what we needed to know Gary, thanks for the steer.

Quite a reasonable cost and I just don't trust contents insurers, I can see them trying to wriggle out of paying in the event of a claim, either through some small print mechanism or trying to pass coins off as cash, or some such. Doesn't ensure peace of mind which is what it's all about in the end.

[azda]

Unfortunately i don't trust any Insurance Company, they all try and wriggle out of paying out in event of a claim. Their small print is the tricky part and they know 90% of people don't actually read the whole agreement, then when a claim arises they say, did you read part 2b of subsection 357 paragraph 45.

I hope no one has to make a claim, but my advice is, is to sit down and really read what you've got because there's always 1 small loophole somewhere. As i said, i have a safety deposit box at my bank, i pay 10 euros quarterly and can come and go daily if i feel, so for the time being i have no need for Insurance because i don't keep anything at home.

I'm on my way now to deposit a few coins from recent purchases, apart from that 1902 LT Penny, emailed and called them yesterday without reply, but it's definately going back to them.

Edited August 12, 2010 by azda

[1949threepence]

I was originally putting my collection under the normal house insurance but it was less than ideal. The way house contents works is that any one item, a collection in this case, must not be more than a certain percentage of the total cover, if I recall correctly it is about 30%. This means that if your collection is worth £10,000 you must have at least £33,000 of contents insurance, ok no problem. A £20,000 collection would be £66,000 and £35,000 which I had at the time would require £117,000. That's a lot of premium you need to pay for. Last year I insured my collection for £40,000, it was cheaper at that point to find a seperate company to insure my collection and find a cheap contents insurance. My renewal this year was £243 for £45,000 cover. I upped it to £60,000 for £320. I use Stamp Insurace Services in Exeter and the policy is with Sterling Insurance.Gary

That's incredibly useful to know. I hadn't realised there was a dedicated insurance company. Their website can be viewed here

[Rob]

Generally speaking, special items outside the scope of normal contents insurance seems to cost about 1/2% of the sum insured. Does this figure apply for all(?) insurers - so £50/£10K insured seems typical. There may be additional clauses requiring alarms (redcare or stand alone), lock types etc which boosts the actual cost but these vary from one insurer to another and with the sum insured, obviously the higher the value the more security features they want.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Rob

[Rob]

Some insurance companies define a collection as an 'individual item' and NOT a particular coin. Check it with them!!!!!!

This is true. The whole collection is a single item in many instances. The important thing is to keep receipts as this is the only evidence you will have that you paid good money to acquire something. It is also worth checking whether the collection is insured on a cost basis or current valuation. If the latter, you will need to have a regular reappraisal of value by a third party in writing.

[Peckris]

Some insurance companies define a collection as an 'individual item' and NOT a particular coin. Check it with them!!!!!!

This is true. The whole collection is a single item in many instances. The important thing is to keep receipts as this is the only evidence you will have that you paid good money to acquire something. It is also worth checking whether the collection is insured on a cost basis or current valuation. If the latter, you will need to have a regular reappraisal of value by a third party in writing.

Many non-specialist insurers will pay a % of Spink value (typically 66%) : if you have pictures of anything that has any value (over £10?) that helps enormously.

[£400 for a Penny ?]

Many non-specialist insurers will pay a % of Spink value (typically 66%)

What does that say about the quoted Spink value, I wonder?

At the risk of stirring up a hornets nest, another advantage of CGS is that your collection and archive pictures are stored online on a 3rd party site, together with itemised individual values.

[Tony Clayton]

I use Wardrop & Co of Coggeshall in Essex for my collections. When I have had items lost in the post payment has been by return.

I cannot recommend them too highly.

[Tony Clayton]

For some reason I cannot edit the above. The rate is £5 per £1000 for coins

[Peckris]

Many non-specialist insurers will pay a % of Spink value (typically 66%)

What does that say about the quoted Spink value, I wonder?

Exactly. Prices hiked up for the sake of insurance ... surely not!!

[£400 for a Penny ?]

For some reason I cannot edit the above.

Everyone complains about that when they first come onto the forum, it's not you, it's just that the edit function is only available for a very short time after you post.

[Mat]

Actually, the safest and cheapest option is a bank safety deposit box.

I realise this is not suitable for most people as they want to look at their coins most days, but if your not fussed about seeing your coins for a while than putting them in the bank is the best option as it is fairly cheap and they are liable for loss if its nicked from them.

I used to work for Lloyds TSB in 2003, at Coventry High street branch they had a floor dedicated to safety deposits, you used your own box too so your not limited to a size. I remember several huge trunks down there that had not been opened since the 50s. Some of the boxes had not been opened since 1910 when I used to look at the records

As far as I remember, it used to cost about 30-50 quid a year for the storage and then about 10 quid every time you wanted to visit your box.

[£400 for a Penny ?]

I remember several huge trunks down there that had not been opened since the 50s.

Full of 1933 Pennies no doubt

[Red Riley]

Actually, the safest and cheapest option is a bank safety deposit box.

I realise this is not suitable for most people as they want to look at their coins most days, but if your not fussed about seeing your coins for a while than putting them in the bank is the best option as it is fairly cheap and they are liable for loss if its nicked from them.

I used to work for Lloyds TSB in 2003, at Coventry High street branch they had a floor dedicated to safety deposits, you used your own box too so your not limited to a size. I remember several huge trunks down there that had not been opened since the 50s. Some of the boxes had not been opened since 1910 when I used to look at the records

As far as I remember, it used to cost about 30-50 quid a year for the storage and then about 10 quid every time you wanted to visit your box.

In reality that's ludicrously expensive. I believe Azda posted on here saying how much cheaper it was in Germany. It's not the £30-£50 a year that's the issue, but the £10 every time you want to access it. No doubt he will confirm, but apparently there is no access charge in Germany.

[declanwmagee]

I always think asking a bank to look after your assets is like asking a junkie to look after your medicine cabinet, but still...

[argentumandcoins]

Actually, the safest and cheapest option is a bank safety deposit box.

I realise this is not suitable for most people as they want to look at their coins most days, but if your not fussed about seeing your coins for a while than putting them in the bank is the best option as it is fairly cheap and they are liable for loss if its nicked from them.

I used to work for Lloyds TSB in 2003, at Coventry High street branch they had a floor dedicated to safety deposits, you used your own box too so your not limited to a size. I remember several huge trunks down there that had not been opened since the 50s. Some of the boxes had not been opened since 1910 when I used to look at the records

As far as I remember, it used to cost about 30-50 quid a year for the storage and then about 10 quid every time you wanted to visit your box.

One of the un-opened trunks marked Lord Lucan?