Guide to insuring collectibles and memorabilia

Collecting has become an increasingly popular hobby, spanning all ages and across all walks of life. The range of collections is unlimited! It spans all the way from retail items such as dolls, clocks, and cameras to natural items including seashells, rocks, and butterflies. The sky’s the limit when it comes to what you can collect. For example, the Guinness World Records highlights record breaking collections of everything from rubber ducks to Harry Potter memorabilia.

As your collectibles and memorabilia become more valuable, it’s important to have them properly protected with collectibles insurance. Only some home insurance policies cover your collectibles and memorabilia, so you should check your policy to make sure. If your home insurance policy doesn’t cover your collection, you can purchase additional collectibles insurance with an endorsement to your home insurance policy. Endorsements are adjustments to your home insurance policy which cover the value of your collection. Alternatively, you can purchase a standalone insurance policy, separate from your home insurance, which will protect your collectibles and memorabilia. Below are details on how to check your current home insurance policy and get insurance for your collectibles and memorabilia.

Check your current home insurance policy for collectibles and memorabilia coverage

Does your home insurance properly cover your collections? Most home insurance policies have limits restricting home contents coverage. This means that collectibles and memorabilia are not always adequately covered under these policies. Some policies may exclude collectibles and memorabilia completely. In addition to collectibles and memorabilia, items such as jewellery, watches, comic books, bicycles, and sports cards may not be covered under your home insurance policy.

Since limits, coverage, exclusions, clauses, and basis of settlement vary between policies, it’s important to read your insurance policy. In the event of damage or theft to your collection, your policy limits dictate how much you may be entitled to receive. Taking the time to read and understand the details of your policy could potentially save you a lot of time and money down the road. If you have any questions about your BrokerLink home insurance policy, contact your local BrokerLink broker.

Your home insurance policy may already include coverage for collectibles, memorabilia, or other high value items. Your policy may also include endorsements, sometimes called “riders,” which might include the removal of restrictions, clauses, and/or increases in limits and coverage. Endorsements are adjustments you can add to your policy. Some endorsements add coverage or change your policy to include coverage of your collectibles, memorabilia, and other high value items. Since endorsements are adjustments to your policy they generally change the policy premium.

Make an inventory of your collection

Life is full of the unexpected. You can’t predict when a fire, flooding, or theft will occur. Any of these events may have a devastating impact on your collectibles, memorabilia, and more. In these types of events, would you be able to remember every item in your prized collection? Having a list of your possessions is important for making an insurance claim.

To avoid this problem, take an inventory of your collectibles now and keep it in a safe place. Keeping a physical copy in a safety deposit box or a digital copy in secure online storage are both great ways to retain an inventory of your collection. Here are a few tips for creating your collection inventory:

• Prepare a list of your collection ahead of time. This is always much easier than creating the list from memory later.
• Include details such as the date of purchase, amount paid, and any other important details.
• Be sure to save photos or videos of each item.
• Keep receipts for new additions to your collection.
• Keep any documentation of prior appraisals.

If you need to file a home insurance claim in the future, you’ll have the information ready at your fingertips. We offer a step-by-step guide of the claims process on our personal lines claims page. For starters, here’s a home inventory checklist of commonly found items in your home, some of which may be included in your collections.

Get an appraisal for your collectibles and memorabilia

Sometimes appraisals for your high value goods, including collectibles and memorabilia, are required for special insurance coverage. Many insurance providers offer specialized coverage (with either no deductible in a loss or a greatly reduced one) to protect collectibles to a replacement value. To be eligible for these policies, collections need to be appraised by a certified expert. Getting an appraisal by a certified expert will help you decide how much insurance coverage you need. Appraisal details depend on the insurance company and your policy, so be sure to contact your insurance company for guidance on getting an appraisal.

What’s the difference between collectibles and memorabilia?

Collectibles and memorabilia are not the same thing although they are often confused. Here’s the difference:

Collectibles are things like vintage toys, baseball cards or record collections. They are purchased for fun and don’t have any other purpose. Many collectors seek to complete their collections. That means one item can have a lot of value if it’s the one thing someone is missing.

Memorabilia is something that was created with a purpose. For example, merchandise from old Olympics or sporting events or vintage advertisements are considered memorabilia. The value of memorabilia depends on its condition and how rare it is. Your tickets from last night’s Blue Jays game aren’t considered memorabilia – but if you have a program from a 1961 Montreal Expos game, you might want to get it appraised.

Insure your collectibles and memorabilia with BrokerLink

To keep your collection safe, you may want to increase the personal contents amount in your home insurance policy, add endorsements to increase special limits of coverage, or schedule the item to the policy to potentially remove exclusions, deductibles, increase limits, increase coverages, and amend clauses and exclusions.

Coverage options include standalone policies or endorsements applied to your current home insurance policy. Usually, collections can be covered by an endorsement to your home insurance policy, but there are benefits to using standalone collectible policies. For example, standalone policies allow different limits and special coverage terms, such as a reduced deductible. BrokerLink also offers several different settlement options in the event of a claim, which include replacement cost, actual cash value, single limit, special limit, agreed value, and guaranteed replacement cost.

We’re happy to discuss the coverage that will best protect your collectibles and memorabilia. Whether your passion is fine art, records, antiques, coins, jewellery, wine, vintage cars or other treasures, make sure your valuables are safeguarded with the right insurance coverage. Talk to your local BrokerLink broker today to get the best coverage to protect the things you love.

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FAQs about collectibles and memorabilia

For more FAQs, visit the BrokerLink FAQs page.