1SDB2012
I'm certain this has been discussed before but my poor search skills haven't unearthed the thread.
For US collectors - how do you insure your collection?
Homeowners insurance covers a limited dollar amount. I received a reasonable quote from https://collectinsure.com/ but the policy doesn't cover insect damage or issues related to humidity or lack thereof. I've never had issues with insects or humidity as I live in an area where those aren't common problems. It still seems that those are issues that may be the highest risk for me.
What options are out there for coverage?
For US collectors - how do you insure your collection?
Homeowners insurance covers a limited dollar amount. I received a reasonable quote from https://collectinsure.com/ but the policy doesn't cover insect damage or issues related to humidity or lack thereof. I've never had issues with insects or humidity as I live in an area where those aren't common problems. It still seems that those are issues that may be the highest risk for me.
What options are out there for coverage?
2jsg1976
>1 SDB2012: mine is just part of the personal property portion of my homeowners policy
3MobyRichard
>1 SDB2012:
I've looked into it before and was told that I have to get an assessment of value from a professional book appraiser. When I called said "professional," he basically said I could just provide a list of the books I wanted to insure and he would rubber stamp it for a fee....which I declined b/c I don't maintain a catalogue and I didn't want to pay to have an appraiser do basically nothing.
My understanding is that normal homeowner's insurance will basically just pay the "market value" of your books, which will be nowhere near what they would fetch at auction. That's assuming they don't just deny your claim outright, since it'd be hard to claim you had a library full of undocumented and very valuable books once a fire has eaten them all.
I've looked into it before and was told that I have to get an assessment of value from a professional book appraiser. When I called said "professional," he basically said I could just provide a list of the books I wanted to insure and he would rubber stamp it for a fee....which I declined b/c I don't maintain a catalogue and I didn't want to pay to have an appraiser do basically nothing.
My understanding is that normal homeowner's insurance will basically just pay the "market value" of your books, which will be nowhere near what they would fetch at auction. That's assuming they don't just deny your claim outright, since it'd be hard to claim you had a library full of undocumented and very valuable books once a fire has eaten them all.
4jroger1
>3 MobyRichard:
The best evidence would be receipts for purchases, but if you’re like me you haven’t saved them. Insurance companies usually suggest snapping photographs of your collection.
The biggest risks to valuable books are floods and fire. There aren’t many thieves out there stealing books, first because they aren’t knowledgeable enough to know what’s valuable and, second, because fencing them would be difficult.
The best evidence would be receipts for purchases, but if you’re like me you haven’t saved them. Insurance companies usually suggest snapping photographs of your collection.
The biggest risks to valuable books are floods and fire. There aren’t many thieves out there stealing books, first because they aren’t knowledgeable enough to know what’s valuable and, second, because fencing them would be difficult.
5SDB2012
>3 MobyRichard: yes. I'm in the process of adding my collection to a Google doc. I'm going to eventually include pictures of the cover and colophon. It's surprisingly easy to do that by setting my phone to store photos in the cloud. If I have the receipt, I'll add that too. Many were purchases were online so that's easy. I'm also adding a link to the vialibri search for each book for valuation. It's a slow process but fun.
With all that, my homeowners is limited in the amount they'd cover. My collection isn't huge but it has grown to the point where I need to insure it.
With all that, my homeowners is limited in the amount they'd cover. My collection isn't huge but it has grown to the point where I need to insure it.
6Glacierman
Insurance is ONE reason to catalog your collection. I strongly recommend you do it, whether on LT or separately. This article is worth a read. It offers many suggestions for cataloging your valuable collection.
7dpbbooks
As someone who lost two significant collections due to a fire:
https://www.librarything.com/profile/broadsides
https://www.librarything.com/profile/dpbrewster
I can attest that cataloging the collection in a data base such as LibraryThing is/was a great help in dealing with the insurance company. In addition, I was able to recreate from my accounts (as well as emails) with Biblio, AbeBooks, ABAA, EBay, Amazon, individual dealers, etc., the purchase receipts/prices for the more valuable books in the collection. My collection was insured through my homeowners insurance. Yes, probably underinsured to a degree, but not grossly so. The documentation went a long way to smoothing the claims process. Also probably helped that there was nothing like a Kelmscott Chaucer in the collection, which I probably would have insured in a different manner.
https://www.librarything.com/profile/broadsides
https://www.librarything.com/profile/dpbrewster
I can attest that cataloging the collection in a data base such as LibraryThing is/was a great help in dealing with the insurance company. In addition, I was able to recreate from my accounts (as well as emails) with Biblio, AbeBooks, ABAA, EBay, Amazon, individual dealers, etc., the purchase receipts/prices for the more valuable books in the collection. My collection was insured through my homeowners insurance. Yes, probably underinsured to a degree, but not grossly so. The documentation went a long way to smoothing the claims process. Also probably helped that there was nothing like a Kelmscott Chaucer in the collection, which I probably would have insured in a different manner.
