Who here has their collection insured?

[Sleeve]

I've been meaning to get home and contents insurance for a while, and after the unit next to mine was broken into yesterday I've decided to get my arse into gear and do it.

Now I've looked into it before with RACQ (I also have my car insured with them) but there's a limit as to how much of my collection I can insure. Basically it's only a certain amount, which to my memory was around $4000.

So my question to you fine folks is, do you have your collection insured, and if so with who? Or, do you know of any companies who collections of any value?

[bruticus]

yes its insured, with RAC (in perth),
Some insurance companies like RAC will insure special items such as collectibles but you need to ammend your policy. They require photo documentation and you may also need to provide a written list of items to the insurance's underwriter....

i have gone snap crazy and backed up all photos on a secure network so worst case, i wont lose the photo documentation either!!!

however, i still havent got around to emailing the underwriter my list of items and their estimated current market value as there are too many to type and my collection is ever growing...

but thanks for the wake up call...i'll get onto it right now for myself so i can finalise things.

[16364279]

do u think low lives that break into houses will look twice at toys or do they still go straight for the tvs and the master bedrooms ?

in other words would toys be targetted ?

[bruticus]

do u think low lives that break into houses will look twice at toys or do they still go straight for the tvs and the master bedrooms ?

in other words would toys be targetted ?

i insured my TFS mainly against accidental fire damage or glass cabinet breakage etc...
...but you're right on that aspect. most of the time, burglars would rather nab stuff they can quickly carry like latops, cameras, stereo systems, phones, watches, liquor etc...rather than go for the TFS....unless they are a TF fan turn bad?

Although, i do recall another perth member being robbed and lost his TFS... i can't remember who though....

[enforcer888]

Unless they're targeting the toys because they know you're a collector, it's probably also to cover in case of fire or natural disaster.

[Sleeve]

I'm interested in covering it from all angles - fire, damage, theft. Last thing I want is to have a fire and lose everything. Insurance, in the words of Chris Rock, should be called 'incasesh-t', because you only have it in case sh-t happens.

In terms of theft, sure they go straight for the big money items like tv's and computers, but the way I see it is what's to stop them grabbing a pillow case and throwing the figures in? The main thing I'm thinking is a glass display case filled with a butt-ton of figures gives the projection of importance or value, so if someone broke in and saw it, it's not hard to work out there might be a benefit in nicking them.

[Paulbot]

Unfortunetly some members here have indeed had Transformers stolen :(

I will insure mine when I get my own place to live.

[GoktimusPrime]

Unfortunetly some members here have indeed had Transformers stolen
:( It's a horrible feeling and I hope it never happens to anyone else. My heart sank when I came home to this one night a few years ago...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/aftermath.jpg

In terms of TFs the thief targetted my boxed toys, with the exception of BTA Alert, they were more of sentimental value than financial value because I tend to put my old original G1 toys (often beat up and worn) in reissue boxes and display the reissues loose. It totally sucks that my childhood Optimus Prime and Galvatron (as well as my original (not reissue) G1 Megatron, grrr!) were stolen. He might've fetched a price for Megatron because it's just that kind of toy that commands a fair price even in sub-par condition. The other toys he wouldn't have gotten much for. None of my really valuable toys like my e-Hobby or convention exclusives, which were all on one shelf at the time, got touched - because they were all displayed loose.

So I learnt that boxed toys are far more attractive to thieves than loose toys. Makes me glad that I'm a loose collector.

[JuzMel]

I think most insurance companies allows you to cover your home contents and nominate extra for any collectibles. I did some research when we first moved down to melbourne with some companies and at that point of time found GIO had the best rate and cover for what I wanted:

$x cover for general contents and extra cover of $x I nominate myself for my TFs collection which is listed on the policy. :) For an extra small amount they also insure my pet dog in case of injury. ;)

[Lint]

I've had toys destroyed in a break in. They bowled over my KO devastator and Computron and stepped all over the other displayed toys when they came through my window.

[16364279]

interesting views guys, thanks for helping me understand better. it makes so much sense

[SentinelPrime]

ive been broken in, fortunately they did not steal my toys, but even if they stepped on boxes i would have been upset. i think its a good idea to insure, but how often would you have to keep them updated? my population is ever growing and it would be annoying to keep writing letters. i think i might over insure to be on the safe side.... thanks for the heads up bruticus i will give rac a buzz this week.

[STL]

ive been broken in, fortunately they did not steal my toys, but even if they stepped on boxes i would have been upset. i think its a good idea to insure, but how often would you have to keep them updated? my population is ever growing and it would be annoying to keep writing letters. i think i might over insure to be on the safe side.... thanks for the heads up bruticus i will give rac a buzz this week.

Your obligation should be to inform them when there is any significant change in your collection. And that's the tricky part, how do you determine when you've reached that point where you have a significant change to your collection? A 2006 Botcon boxset? A lucky draw figure? The easiest way to do is keep an excel file and take pictures whenever u acquire a new acquisition and send the new version each year when u pay ur premium.

[liegeprime]

I have mine insured for 10K only, unfortunately its included in the contents policy with NRMA, they wouldnt allow for more than that amount, if I wanted to have it separately insured higher, Id have to provide a more detailed listing , documentation ( piccies) and its just too nitty gritty. But yeah i think I might have to get separate insurance ( which makes it double insured :D) for the collection. It's kinda really pricy though.:o Me thinks I would invest first in a few window locks and an alarm system that really blares out and knocks the earwax of thieves...:D time to save...

[kristofferrer]

I did the same as Lige -
Insured with NRMA for 10K Max. If you feel your collection exceeds 10K you'll need to have it valued by a pro - and provide pictures and keep receipts (gets annoying because collections will grow).
ended up paying approx $500+ a year (pro-rata) for home contents including my collection.

I really recommend you insure your collection - you're essentially buying peace of mind!

[Defcon]

On the subject of thieves targeting transformers, well yes I think if you have a big display of them they will have a looksie. They will take not only stuff they percieve as valueable but anything that has caught their eye just because it looked cool. Boxed items that look vintage would fall into the perceived value category. I won't list the other items specifically, but also maybe well known characters. My first priority would be security to go in hand with insurance cover. Location, it is preferable but sometimes unrealistic to have displays away from possible entries for theives, and away from electronics such as laptops, tvs, dvd players.

[1AZRAEL1]

Figured I'd throw my 2c in on this debate, now that I am about to move into my own home.

I did ask the guy at NRMA, when I had to get house insurance, what I could do about my collection. He did say you gotta have photos of them and that kinda stuff, documentation, excel spreadsheet is a good idea.

Now, once I do move, we are going to get contents insurance as well, just have to wait a little.

Weird thing is, I have enver been worried about my collection when it was at my parents place or fiances parents place. But now I find that because it will be MY place, it becomes more of a responsibility for me to protect it so to speak.

I think I'd rather take the time to document them all and have them insured for the peace of mind I will have.

[i_amtrunks]

I did ask the guy at NRMA, when I had to get house insurance, what I could do about my collection. He did say you gotta have photos of them and that kinda stuff, documentation, excel spreadsheet is a good idea.

but what happens if the thief steals you collection and your computer with the excel spreadsheet and photos on it?

Or if there is a fire that wipes both out as well?

[1AZRAEL1]

but what happens if the thief steals you collection and your computer with the excel spreadsheet and photos on it?

Or if there is a fire that wipes both out as well?

That is true, I will have my external harddrive as a backup as well, may even save the doc to my father-in-laws computer, as an extra backup.

But when does it get to the point when you know it will be safe?
Unfortunately you can never have it 100% safe, but you just have to take all precautions you can.

[liegeprime]

but what happens if the thief steals you collection and your computer with the excel spreadsheet and photos on it?

Or if there is a fire that wipes both out as well?

Which is why there's a good reason to keep the data in a USB stick and have it with your keys (car/house) that way its always with you. Now for pics Im not sure how big a file that would be to be able to keep it in USB sticks but its good to keep a back up file in the net (Photobucket et al) which would make it easy to retrieve if need be.

[JuzMel]

I did the same as Lige -
Insured with NRMA for 10K Max. If you feel your collection exceeds 10K you'll need to have it valued by a pro - and provide pictures and keep receipts

Ermmm mine's insured by GIO for more than $10k though and they didn't even ask me for any proof or photos to justify that. And I can confirm it's a seperate nomination because my policy states:

General Contents: $xx,xxx
Transformers Figurine Collection: $1x,xxx

I added a couple more $k to it because I know I'll be buying more throughout the year (after I applied for it), just to cover the extras you buy. And of course I have the excel spreadsheet as well. ;)

[Hereticpoo]

Any insurance company will give you cover for what you tell them too. If you wanted cover of $100,000 for your TF's you could have the cover and never show any reciepts/photo's. It would take you a few minutes on the phone.

BUT if you had to claim......

You need photo's, you need an itemisied list, you need reciepts.
Its all good being insured, but people need to check the CLAIM PROCEDURE.
The claim itslef is the most important aspect of insurance, if you don't meet their claim requirements being insured for any $k wont matter. Every company is different, every policy will be different. For real piece of mind actively know what your cover and claim procedure is. Dont assume, never assume.