Insurance & Securing toys - tips, questions and options (browse whole topic)

[5FDP]

See here dude

[iamirondude]

can anyone help in regard to insuring tf's.mine are insured but what total should i insure them for(like average price per tf)?and how regularly should i update the insured total.

[Slag]

Good question. i was thinking to do the same, considering the cash , time and effort we all put into them

[iamirondude]

thats the problem how do u come up with a total and i know some insurers will only insure up to $4000 total (nrma,racq)and some will do a estimate(suncorp).

[GoktimusPrime]

I believe you need to take out itemised home content insurance. Photograph every toy and then get figure out how much it would cost to replace the collection. There is a special kind of insurance for collections I believe... I was speaking to a bank about this about a month and a half ago. It would be a _lot_ of effort to itemise each toy you want to insure though. But yeah, I believe that's the way to go.

[Cat]

Depends on the insurer, but you will DEFINITELY need an extra policy to cover them.

The name for it varies, but it's generally along the lines of 'personal valuables', and covers special items like sporting gear, expensive jewellery pieces that go above the standard amount, etc.

From there, there's a few different methods and options, ie some will only list individually, others let you give an overall estimate.

It's vitally important that you take photographs of EVERYTHING you want insured. These photos must be dated, and keep them somewhere where, if the worst case were to happen, you'd still have copies of those photos.

You will probably have a little bit of difficulty in getting them to grasp what you're after. When I got mine years ago, nobody knew how to process it, considering it was collectibles that weren't sport related. It was kinda funny, and it did mean I'd get calls out of the blue from the insurance guys asking me if I knew anything about *insert pop culture collectible here* and what would I estimate them at. I was their go-to-geek (I was working for the bank, btw, not just a random guy off the street).

And if you list a total, triple check it. Seriously. We ALWAYS undervalue for insurance, and well, you want it to realistically cover everything. Don't be stingy, it'll only come back to haunt you should the worst happen.

[griffin]

This is something that we probably should be noting or announcing from time to time, for the benefit of the newer members and guests.

As with any valuables, if you have a growing collection, or some pricey pieces, remember to secure them (and your house in general).... and as always, be careful who you let into your house if you don't yet know them, even if they appear to be a fellow fan. Until you trust someone who has access to your house, always secure and watch over your valuables - toys or not.

A couple years ago there was a news report about a Superman collector in America who let someone into his home, but didn't realise he was just scoping the joint to rob later.
It doesn't even have to be someone claiming to be a toy collector either, as TV shows like Toy Hunters is educating non-fans into the potential value of vintage toys that people here are collecting. If something is small and publicly known to be valuable, toys, jewellery, electronics or cash, they become a target... so...
- Document everything you own,
- Secure it,
- Restrict or Supervise Access, and
- Insure it.

As the catch phrase goes - Be Alert, But Not Alarmed.
So don't be worrying that your collection is now at risk, but do take the normal precautions you would with anything of value in your home.
And if you need to meet up with someone new who is buying or selling, prefer meeting at their place or somewhere neutral, or if they do come to your house, keep an eye on them like you would do with any stranger.

[BigTransformerTrev]

We got robbed about 6 years ago. The perps let themselves in to the TF room, gingerly lifted the TF Movie Bumblebee statuette off the laptop in there, sat it on the floor and nicked the laptop. Rather considerate for a thief


When the cops investigated they were two young guys who prob spent more time looking at my collection than any kind of detective work. One of them said "You need to get this insured mate - a junkie would trash all of this for the hell of it"

[Burn]

How do people go about insuring the collection anyway? Do they just increase their contents insurance or are they specifying it separately?

[reillyd]

If anyone (eg workmen) seems to pay a particular interest in any of them, I've drilled family members to say "Yes it's just such a shame he took them out of the packaging, and didn't keep the boxes. They're a fraction of what they would have been worth "