Your cards and insurance

[KindGrind]

I have had a conversation with another MTG player recently, and while flipping through pages of staples in a binder, we got to talk about what we would save in case of fire. Obviously, I'd make sure my kids are safe first, but once that's secured, I'd definitely grab my cards before anything else.

That got me thinking... I knew my home insurance policy covered me for "collections" in general, but after checking the amount related to that, and since I own other collections, it wasn't really enough.

My question is this: Are your cards insured? Is this a marginal practice?

[AngryTroll]

I have had a conversation with another MTG player recently, and while flipping through pages of staples in a binder, we got to talk about what we would save in case of fire. Obviously, I'd make sure my kids are safe first, but once that's secured, I'd definitely grab my cards before anything else.

That got me thinking... I knew my home insurance policy covered me for "collections" in general, but after checking the amount related to that, and since I own other collections, it wasn't really enough.

My question is this: Are your cards insured? Is this a marginal practice?

I lumped my cards in with the "assorted things" value of my apartment. The insurance company seemed happy enough to lump them in with Scuba diving gear, my laptop and camera, etc.

I keep my decks and a binder of ~$15-20 + cards (plus duals, Forces, and other really expensive stuff) that I keep in a fire resistant safe. I bought a bigger safe than I needed because you never regret having too much space, so there's room for the cards, my camera, a backup of my harddrive, etc. It protects them from theft and offers some protection from fire.

[Misplayer]

Working for an insurance company, I can tell you it will vary by company, by state and by value of your collection. For the most part, unless you have your cards as a scheduled item (i.e. a separate item on your policy, also known as an endorsement), you're generally looking at a payment of something like $1000-$2500 in the event of a loss. I'd say most Legacy players' collections are worth more than that, I have a modest collection of staples and it would probably cost me over $5000 to rebuild my collection after a total loss.

If you're scheduling a collection worth over $10k-$15k, you'll probably need some sort of appraisal. I have no idea how you would go about doing that, although with the market being moderately volatile I'd recommend having it done right before a GP.

In general, insuring your cards is a good idea. Especially because under most Homeowners/Renters policies, your contents are protected even when they're not in your house. So if your fancy foil binder gets stolen at a large event, you have coverage.

Your best bet is to talk to your agent to make sure you're covered.

Hope this helps.

[KindGrind]

I had my collection officially appraised at a local store, which is arguably quite a big one (they do that quite frequently, apparently), and sent the detailed appraisal to the insurance company. As you say it varies from a company to another, apparently. First question they asked me is if I had cards worth more than 500$ a piece. Those, apparently, would fall in a separate category. They didn't seem to find my request bizarre at all, the lady even seemed to know what I was talkng about. Costs me a few bucks a month, and the collection is insured, so I can now rest easy. No more bringing my stuff on long trips just so it's not alone at home...

[rocketrae21]

Depending on the rarity of your collection depends on the kind of protection you want. I have a lot of japanese and fbb cards and some have been very hard to come by. So for me, I purchased a fire/water proof safe and keep my decks and binder in there. My cube is all just normal english versions of cards so I would be fine with cash reimbursement for that. But if you do plan to just go with insurance definitely get them appraised because to some people its just cardboard and that FBB Sea isn't worth $300+