Comic book insurance8652
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 Collector
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Kaplanthecollector private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have an expensive comic collection with over 50k books. Does anyone know where I can get the best insurance for my collection? | ||
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 The apple sauce and pudding were the best part...
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Bronte private msg quote post Address this user | |
| https://collectinsure.com I think it was about 500$ for 100k I have NEVER put in a claim, so I dont know how that part is. |
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 Collector
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Bronte +1 |
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 Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it!
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IronMan private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by MR_SigS +2 Rates seem very reasonable (especially collectors policies, my dealer policy is more expensive), simple and straightforward to apply for and be approved for coverage. Never had to file a claim. Hopefully that would be simple and straightforward too. But never had to do so. Knock on wood.... |
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The apple sauce and pudding were the best part...
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Bronte private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have a question regarding original art. I have about 5 pieces done by relatively famous comic book artists. How do you determine value on that? You figure there is no price guide for a piece of art that is one of a kind..... |
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it!
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IronMan private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Bronte This is a rather profound question. About eight years ago I decided to sell OA I had owned for 20 years and buy some different stuff to hang on the wall. I was -- surprised at just how difficult it was to determine the value of OA. I joined Comicartfans.com (CAF) and subscribed to their full service that gives some historical sales. But it was only a little help Ultimately I decided to sell my old stuff at auction and purchase my new stuff at auction. As it was the ONLY way to have even a close to market value price. So my suggestion is you insure it for what you paid. Because if you ever file a claim, it's going to be difficult to establish any greater value. The entire point of Original art is that it's one of a kind. It can be next to impossible to even identify "comparable" sales. if that value -- what you paid -- seems way too low (you bought the art long ago, the artist is very popular) I suggest asking for an appraisal from someone that would count as an expert. IDK if you would have to pay for such or not. But if you look on say CAF you will see the larger OA dealers selling stuff. Or call say Comiclink or Comic Connect and ask. I believe Heritage even has a "request an appraisal" link on their website. |
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Collector
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MR_SigS private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Good answer- Glad I didn't type much before you posted it lol | ||
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The apple sauce and pudding were the best part...
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Bronte private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @IronMan I actually chose the option you suggested. I just consider the value I paid. Nearly 100% of my collection consists of just cgc / cbcs books so value is negligible in comparison to books. By the way, for insurance, I took pix of every serial number and title. How do folks do raw books? There is no serial number. A hulk 181 could be missing a value stamp, or missing interior pages... I cant imagine pix being fine enough to determine a quick grade in a busy insurance company. |
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it!
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IronMan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Bronte The nice thing about the Collectibles Insurance Group (collectinsure.com) is that you only have to individually list items with a value over $5,000. It isn't necessary to send to collectinsure.com a list of every book you own with an assigned value. Or at least that is how my policies work. I have both a collector policy for my personal collection and a dealer policy for inventory that changes weekly. Now when/if you ever file a claim....IDK. Maybe they will ask what you had. I have a list of most of my personal collection on an excel spreadsheet. Anything of value is there. For dealer purposes it would be my inventory of stuff for sale, my list of books received from clients for services. Hopefully I will never find out how easy/difficult a claim might be. I have provided CIS with the information they requested to issue said policies. My expectation would be that if the house burns to the ground that they will pay out up to the maximum of my policies. I have tried looking online but surprisingly there is little out there in the way of reviews, good or bad. The few reviews out there actually seem...wrong. Like for the wrong company. Complaints about damage to the apartment not settled. A complaint that a framing shop damaged some artwork, and CIS did not cover it (they said the framing shop had to pay) The general advice for homeowners insurance is have a list and pictures. Probably good advice here My family is thick with attorneys, including my son. So I figure if a claim is a problem my son owes me some legal work anyway LOL. |
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 I bought a meat grinder on amazon for $60 and it's changed my life.
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kaptainmyke private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I have a dealer policy for my collection since I buy and sell. www.collectinsure.com | ||
| Post 11 • IP flag post | ||
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The apple sauce and pudding were the best part...
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Bronte private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Must be nice to have a son who perpetually owes you for life. Lol Btw, I asked about the listing of stuff over 5k. Here is their response as of july 16th 2018. We only need to schedule items individually if they are above $25,000 in value. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank You, Mike Eddinger Underwriter I Collectibles Insurance Services A member of Global Indemnity |
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 Collector
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BabaLament private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @OGJackster I have Sure. I haven't put in a claim, so I don't know about the service; but its inexpensive piece of mind. They do request an inventory of all individual items valued in excess of $2,000, to be updated whenever those items are added or removed from the collection, and if/when the gross value of the collection changes by $10,000. Not particularly hard rules to live by, so its been smooth sailing so far; but again, I've not needed to mess with claims stuff. @Bronte I have a Valuable Personal Property policy rider through my homeowners insurance company that covers artwork & rare books. When it came time to determine value, some stuff was fairly straightforward. With some art/books, there is a well documented sales history for the artist/author, & chain of possession for the piece (galleries, auction house, etc.), or the artist/author has various pieces in circulation that change hands often, so its easy for the insurance company to go "this (or equivalent) sold at auction in (date) for (price), so we're going to say your piece is valued at ($)." For other stuff, especially comic art, they can be real sticklers when determining value. For example, I have a piece by Skottie Young; the insurance guy didn't have a clue who that is, so he had no idea what to value the piece at. I showed him Mr. Young's website, and the Felix Comic Art website, after which he had no problem insuring the piece for a couple thousand dollars. Win some, lose some; but it helps when there is a documented sales history to point to. Now, my questions for the guys who have been playing far longer than I have: @IronMan @kaptainmyke With your policies, have you gone through the legalese to see how the overlap (if any) works? Between homeowners/collectors/VPP, each policy has a statement in it to the effect of "if there is any other policy that may cover items covered by this policy, *that* policy must pay out first prior to this policy taking effect." Do you guys have similar legalese in your stuff? |
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 It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I am an Underwriter for an insurance company in Canada. If you want replacement cost for your books, appraisals are extremely helpful. Put your feet in the shoes of the Adjuster who writes the amount on the check they cut. The Adjuster wants to indemnify the client. The client is not to profit nor take a loss. Appraisals and pictures are huge helps when settling claims. If an appraisal is not possible...pictures, pictures, pictures and video are so helpful. Your own notes describing your books complete with your own assessed grades. Do online research for same books similar grades (closed listings from eBay, HA, Comiclink/Comiconnect etc.). If your books have increased in value over the years you must increase your insured limits as well. Be prepared to negotiate a settlement with your Adjuster on comics that are either gone (stolen) or destroyed (water or fire). How difficult will that be if no appraisal or pictures exist? If you can prove what you had or at the very least, make a convincing arguement to what you had, the Adjuster will be much more comfortable cutting a check in an amount you agree with. |
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Ima gonna steal this and look for some occasion to use it!
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IronMan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @BabaLament Perhaps I should be looking at the legalize. I have not. I have a personal collection - and that is covered by my collectors policy. These books never travel to shows. They are not for sale so never get shipped. I have dealer inventory - books for sale. And I have client's books that are in my possession temporarily. These are covered by a dealer policy. Inventory changes, there is a lot of shipping (dealer policy has better coverage for shipping insurance) There is insurance for shows. The dealer policy costs about double the collectors policy. Which seems reasonable, since the exposure (risk of insuring) these books is greater. Both policies are through collectinsure.com. So they can work out who pays first. It shouldn't be an issue for me. |
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 Collector
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Paulbg2000 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by GAC I keep my collection documented in an online listing and identify in the notes if a book was graded and at what level or signed and by who etc...I mean, if my collection was wiped out by fire...there's certainly books I'd want compensation for and others that I might just shrug at. Just from your experience,is having an online listing and documenting everything there enough for an insurance company to make a claim or do they want photos and stuff on top of that? I have a pretty large Media collection too, so I documented that online for the exact purpose. DVD, Blu Ray and CDs are a little more cut and dry though in value I thought because packaging condition isn't always a factor....so how do they evaluate comics? |
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It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Paulbg2000 @Paulbg2000 I am an Underwriter for Habitation and Commercual risks. If you suffered a loss to your comics/media collection would you attempt to claim from your home insurer or do you have a standalone collectibles policy? I can speak to how things might play out if you'd go to your home insurer with a high degree of accuracy. |
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Collector
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Paulbg2000 private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by GAC Talking specifically property damage and not theft. I would go through my home insurance. According to my broker, I'm covered for up to $10K in Collectibles (they listed the items in this category and Comics was the only one that came up) under my policy, which I think is fine because that covers books that are important to me (and more) and Media I believe was covered under personal items. I just wasn't sure how an appraiser comes in an qualifies value of items when you provide them with a list of property that has been destroyed. |
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It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Paulbg2000 If you'd claim from your home insurance policy, most, if not all home policies, have special limits for collectibles and media (unless they're scheduled). Depending on the type of coverage level you have for your home policy (Comprehensive or Prestige vs. Broad or Classic) these limits will vary. Typically these limits will range from $4K to maybe $7-10K again depending on your coverage level and these limits are subject to your policy deductible. If you require higher limits or want your collection(s) insured to value you will need a separate rider on your home policy and usually you can select your own deductible independant of what's on your home policy. If you choose a separate rider, all requirements for the insurance company to pay out the full value limit in the event of a loss will have to be satisfied before you can purchase the rider. This can/will mean an appraisal, pictures, scheduled article list with pertinent details and perhaps more. The best thing to do is call your home insurer and find out what your limits are in the event of a loss to your collectibles and media. Those built in limits might be enough. If you have a separate standalone collectibles policy then others can probably answer you better than I can. I hope this helped. |
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It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Paulbg2000 The Adjuster will look to the market to see what these items have sold for (eBay listings, comic shops, Overstreet, etc). The Adjuster will go up to but not exceed the policy limit and deduct your deductible from the final amount. The Adjuster will use the same tools we use to determine value. Remember, when an insurance company wants to settle, a good insurance company will invite a dialogue with their client, meaning you are part of the settlement decision. |
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It was a one trick pony show but always hilarious.
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GAC private msg quote post Address this user | |
| When it comes to settling claims, the old cliche is so true, "a picture is worth a thousand words". I have videoed my collection and uploaded to YouTube...theres my proof along with my notes. |
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