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Post by wollastoni on Mar 2, 2016 14:08:46 GMT
Some of us have invested large sums over the years to build their collection (collecting trips, insect purchases, etc...). Some private collections can worth many $$$ !
As we all know, those collections are fragile and can be destroyed easily (fire, dermestids, small kids...).
Do some of you have an insurance to protect the value of their collection ? If yes, what is the cost and which damage do they insure ?
Thanks Olivier
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Post by bobw on Mar 2, 2016 14:36:18 GMT
I asked about this on Insectnet a few years ago but didn't get many useful replies. I had my collection insured for £20,000 as part of my household contents insurance for several years and the overall premium was only about £90 p.a. This covered it for all the usual things like fire, theft, accidental damage etc. When I realised I was underinsured and tried to raise the cover to £50,000 they said they could only do that if I supplied a complete inventory with values. There's no way I could have found the time to do that so I asked if I could revert to what I had before. They then refused to insure me at all as I had something of that value in the house. I've not since managed to find suitable insurance.
Bob
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jhyatt
Aurelian
Posts: 224
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jhyatt on Mar 17, 2016 13:52:27 GMT
I went through this situation some years ago. My then current State Farm agent said that a butterfly collection was in the same category as collections of paintings, jewelry, or firearms and as such would have to be inventoried, appraised, and insured with a rider to our homeowner's policy - at considerable expense. I wound up getting modest coverage on only the most expensive-to-replace specimens.
But then that agent retired and a new agent took over the business. We changed houses about that time and needed to re-insure, so I brought up the insect collection with the new agent, & told him the history involved. He said that the former agent was wrong - that dead insects were highly unlikely to be the subject of theft, and what I needed was normal fire, accident, & vandalism coverage, and that the collection would be covered as "contents" on my homeowner's policy. The agent called his underwriter to confirm that this was correct. He said an appraisal was not necessary, but he did want on file some photos of the collection and a listing of number of drawers, cabinets, rough # of specimens. So that's what I did. We've never had a casualty to cover, so I really have no idea whether I'm well and truly covered or not. Furthermore, the situation might vary with by state in the US.
Bottom line, talking to insurance agents about insuring bugs is like talking to the FWS about imports and exports. You get a different answer depending on to whom you speak.
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