I recently talked with my insurance company about coverage for my gem and mineral collection (total value around $15k). They’re unable to underwrite a policy for it and recommended a separate policy with “inland marine” coverage.
They couldn’t offer any guidance, so I resorted to Google and ended up more confused.
After reading the description for “inland marine” coverage, it doesn’t seem right to me. But I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to insurance policy jargon, so that doesn’t mean much.
Has anyone gotten insurance coverage for their collection? What was the process like, and how did you go about finding a carrier?
Thanks for any help!
having a bank safety deposit box is the only way to really keep anything theft proof. Of course, you can’t display your stuff at home… getting access to the box is only during banking hours. You probably have already asked about your home owner’s insutrance…Home owner’s insurance won’t specifically cover individual items such as collectables… However, they do cover possessions. Ask you home owner’s insurance first… if they will cover it along with other possessions, you will need to document everything… replacement costs, photos, etc…they won’t give you full replacement cost either… depreciated cost is what they give, which is intangible, for collectables, 15K is not a lot of money but.for some people it is… for insurance companies and banks it isn’t.
Although these companies are more focused on jewelry coverage, at least one, Jewelers Mutual, does cover loose gemstones. You might contact some of the others to see if they offer policies for a gem and mineral collection.
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This is my first post/reply on this forum, which I just joined, so know that this is not a commercial response. I have no affiliate or financial interest in this firm, but I am a customer, and I’ve been very pleased with them. I collect gemstones and beads, but also vinyl records and vintage guitars/amps and I have a very reasonably priced policy that covers everything. I was conservative in valuing the beads and gemstones, basically they are insured for the price I paid, so that probably helped keep the premium lower, and I don’t know if they will insure gemstones only (I added these as a rider to my other policy), but as I understand it, they insure almost anything collectable (my agent shared some crazy examples, so gemstones are probably routine by comparison.
http://www.americancollectors.com/
I hope this helps!