Protecting your Art Collection Part 3

     The things that make your art collection unique also make up the few details that you need to have documented in the case of a loss.  My Art Collection software will help you to detail, and track, these few unique factors that will be key when you have to make an insurance claim, want to print a portfolio or want to see a report of either that can sort 5 different ways.

     When an insurance company pays you for a loss claim you can bet that it will be entirely determined on those  pieces of information they can use to best verify that:

1-You actually owned that specific piece.
2-That the value of that piece is what you say it is.
3-That the piece, if replaced today is worth what you say it is worth.
4-That your policy is written to cover the claim as you need it to be (this is why you want to work closely with your agent at the time of taking out the policy)

     Rule number one is "Never assume that your existing policy covers your collection."  I cannot overemphasize this point.   As I mentioned in an early post on this subject, your homeowners or renters policy most likely will NOT cover your collection in any significant way.

     So what exactly are the details of your works that you need to have documented?

1-The easy ones:  Artist and title
2-Your out of pocket cost for the piece and its current value with receipts when available
3-Any third party appraisal and authentication Information and
4-Photos of the item.  (My Art Collection software allows the storage of up to 6 photos per entry.)

     With My Art Collection you can keep all that info and also other things like a sales history, a bio on the artist, printed or pdf reports and portfolios.

     One thing I have not much addressed in this 3 part blog is the actual loss of your collectibles.  This can be very traumatic emotionally.  Crazy and shallow but its true.   Without being overly dramatic here, I am a book collector and its a fact that I am pretty attached to some of the things in my own collection.  Many of the books I own were inscribed to me or,  in the case of authors long dead before I was born, inscribed to someone else.  In the case of a dead author, these kinds of items cannot ever be replaced.  Ok so its not like a divorce or the loss of a parent or friend but, it can sure feel like it when it happens.  The last thing you want to do if a disaster strikes is find out your homeowners policy only covers up to $500 of your collection (the good news is that there's no deductible...J/K I don't know.)

  Good luck and always Protect Your Art Collection