Insuring your Collection

[sdematt]

Hey all.

Considering how most Legacy decks are worth a pretty penny, and with all the recent high profile theft events, how many of you have considered insuring your collections?

I'm curious because I'm trying to see if there's enough interest in the community to approach an insurer, or if any of you would know who to get insurance from for a collection. Most homeowner's policies only cover up to $5,000, and others will not put a rider on the collection.

So, does anyone have any ideas or want to associate together to get a rate from a company? If you don't feel comfortable posting, PM me.

-Matt

[Dan Turner]

I have approached a couple of different companies over my collection and get pretty much the same reply.

There are only 2 companies I have found who insure collectibles at all.

http://www.collectinsure.com/

http://www.thefia.com/html/collectibles.html


Really good thing is you can even get Mail loss protection from Collect Insure.

[sdematt]

I have approached a couple of different companies over my collection and get pretty much the same reply.

There are only 2 companies I have found who insure collectibles at all.

http://www.collectinsure.com/

http://www.thefia.com/html/collectibles.html


Really good thing is you can even get Mail loss protection from Collect Insure.

Ok, I'll take a look into these.

Anyone else?

-Matt

[Mr.C]

Ok, I'll take a look into these.

Anyone else?

-Matt

When I was in BC, and my collection was much larger, I had it insured with BCAA, and paid a hefty premium.

[zendo]

I asked my agent about insuring my cards. His immediate reply was "Baseball or Magic?"

I sent him a link to my listing on Deckbox, and he worked me up a quote. They had some sort of 'personal collection' policy they could get me. I took it. It covers everything from fire, theft, loss, to stupidity.

I orginally switched to this company for cheaper auto insurance. My new insurance policy, plus the 'personal collection' policy together, is cheaper than I had been paying for my old auto insurance policy.

You might look into it, but I wonder if they have State Farm Insurance way up there.

[SmallFish]

http://www.americancollectors.com/

You can try this but I'm not sure if they work in Canada or just the US (AMERICANcollectors). You can get a quote by clicking on the right hand side, selecting the state, and filling out the info. Just make sure you hit the collectibles since the default quote is for collectible cars.

[infant_no_1]

I'd love to insure my collecton. I've looked into it, but have kept coming up empty.
Let me know what kind of info you'd need.

[psrex]

I've been meaning to look into insuring my collection, and I saved this post from another board:

Alright, in case more people want to know about insurance, I will just post it here.

The company I got insurance with is American Collectors Insurance. My own insurance company doesn't insure collectibles, so they contracted ACI to do that. And I did get a 10% discount for that relationship.

I provided them a Google doc of the cards that I want to insure. I don't know if you need to do that, but I bet that they need some information about what is in the collection. Also, you need to provide pictures of anything over $2,000.

Here is their contact information:
496 Kings Highway North - P.O. Box 8343 - Cherry Hill, NJ 08002-0343
Telephone: (800) 630-6302 - Fax (856) 755-3630
www.AmericanCollectors.com

[mini1337s]

When I was in BC, and my collection was much larger, I had it insured with BCAA, and paid a hefty premium.
What was your monthly premium like?
Anyone in insurance have a rough idea what I would pay on premiums to ensure a collection at $28,000?

[Ziveeman]

State Farm insures Magic cards.

[sdematt]

Not sure if State Farm operates in Canada.

Ideally, I'm trying to find a company that works in North America (usually ones that are international, like say, Lloyd's of London or whatever are going to cost a bunch) for we can all get in on it, and get a good rate for doing so.

I'll take a look around, but if others can do so as well, it'll go faster.

-Matt

[Wereodile]

Not sure if State Farm operates in Canada.

I have State Farm here in Ont. I will email my rep and see what she says.

[sdematt]

I'm from BC if that helps.

-Matt

[WorstBandNameEver]

I've been meaning to look into insuring my collection, and I saved this post from another board:

Alright, in case more people want to know about insurance, I will just post it here.

The company I got insurance with is American Collectors Insurance. My own insurance company doesn't insure collectibles, so they contracted ACI to do that. And I did get a 10% discount for that relationship.

I provided them a Google doc of the cards that I want to insure. I don't know if you need to do that, but I bet that they need some information about what is in the collection. Also, you need to provide pictures of anything over $2,000.

Here is their contact information:
496 Kings Highway North - P.O. Box 8343 - Cherry Hill, NJ 08002-0343
Telephone: (800) 630-6302 - Fax (856) 755-3630
www.AmericanCollectors.com

I called them a while ago and they said they don't I sure magic cards since it's a fad. Maybe they changed their outlook.

[Warr]

I am insured through American Collectors. My background:

With the growing concern of theft at major events and a couple close calls with my cards, I specifically asked my renter's insurance provider if my collection was covered completely under my policy. Even though my other possessions are covered completely, there were loss limits on certain categories of items. I was told my cards would be considered under philatelic items (i.e. stamp collections) and that the loss limit was $1,000. They did offer additional coverage, but trading cards weren't considered a coverable category (although stamp collections were, for some reason).

Not liking the answers I was hearing, I went with a company that specializes in collectibles. I found at least two of them that specifically covered trading cards: American Collectors Insurance and Collectibles Insurance Services. The premium from either for $20k of coverage was ~$120 a year and well worth the additional peace of mind. No appraisal required, but they did require photo proof of any single item over a certain limit. American Collectors also has an online interface that lets me upload inventories and photos for collection tracking which I found to be useful.

[Malchar]

Not sure if State Farm operates in Canada.

Ideally, I'm trying to find a company that works in North America (usually ones that are international, like say, Lloyd's of London or whatever are going to cost a bunch) for we can all get in on it, and get a good rate for doing so.

I'll take a look around, but if others can do so as well, it'll go faster.

-Matt

This is actually a pretty good idea. I don't think it's very efficient for each person to get a policy from their own insurance company, either for the individual or the company. If you had lots of players get together in some kind of player's union, you could get a much more efficient group policy which covered everyone. This would be particularly beneficial for the insurance company because a larger pool decreases the variance of the claim payments, meaning that they would be able to charge a more competitive rate to the consumers.

Getting your cards insured along with your existing insurance isn't particularly efficient because the insurance company is essentially doubling-down on the risk that you have a loss. For example, if you add cards to your home insurance, it's not a very good deal for them because if your house burns down, then that's just a larger claim that you're going to file. The insurance company is basically just taking a bigger risk, and they have to charge a pretty inflated price to offset that.

The idea of a player's union is very ambitious, but at least you could still get together with a few of your friends and try to see if you can get a better rate for insuring your pooled collection. You could also look into what kind of insurance the mtg vendors get on their card pool.

[SmallFish]

Getting your cards insured along with your existing insurance isn't particularly efficient because the insurance company is essentially doubling-down on the risk that you have a loss. For example, if you add cards to your home insurance, it's not a very good deal for them because if your house burns down, then that's just a larger claim that you're going to file. The insurance company is basically just taking a bigger risk, and they have to charge a pretty inflated price to offset that.

The idea of a player's union is very ambitious, but at least you could still get together with a few of your friends and try to see if you can get a better rate for insuring your pooled collection. You could also look into what kind of insurance the mtg vendors get on their card pool.

The insurance company's main concern with cards would be theft and that would be the main reason companies wouldn't want to insure the collections. Doubling-down on another type of insurance would be beneficial to them because they will be making more money. If your house burns down and you have 1-2 cars in the garage, those cars will be all sorts of jacked up but the insurance companies don't put a surcharge on the auto policy even though their chance of a greater loss went up. Same thing with putting an addition on a house - you add more coverage and the exposure is more valuable, but the insurance companies don't charge extra for that even though they stand to lose more in the event of a claim.

As far as premiums go, $120/year for $25,000 does not seem like a lot, so I don't know how much anyone would really save if you got a group together to purchase insurance. Usually group rates are only going to apply with health care or if you have a huge group. I don't know how big of a group you would be looking at, but if it's 10-20 guys trying to get a lower rate on $100-$200 premiums of insurance, I doubt the insurance companies would bite on that.

Last thing - MTGVendors should have the cards scheduled on their buisness insurance policies. Usually, you can have an endorsement added to those policies to cover cards/comic books/ etc. when you take them to a convention or similar event. My guess is they would have that and if not, they may just get a special events policy to cover their exposure for the 1-2 days they are at a convention.

[psrex]

As far as American Collectors Insurance, I like this bit:

Collector's Choice - This extra coverage provides protection while items are being shipped, being stored outside of the residence, for special occasion usage, and more!

This sounds like a huge boon for active online traders, and that it would cover your deck/binder getting stolen at a tournament.

[Dan Turner]

What was your monthly premium like?
Anyone in insurance have a rough idea what I would pay on premiums to ensure a collection at $28,000?

My collection is insured at $175k and I pay $950 a year

[sdematt]

My collection is insured at $175k and I pay $950 a year

What company do you have it with? Is it separate?

-Matt

[Dan Turner]

What company do you have it with? Is it separate?

-Matt

I am insured with Collect Insure. It covers pretty much everything even Mail damage or loss. I wish I had it when my deck box was stolen a couple years back, but it is well worth the almost $1000 a year I pay considering my collection includes power and stuff. They made me send pics of anything worth more then $500 per card so its not going to be much work on your part other then a full inventory.

I inventoried only the stuff worth $20 or more and I have a $500 deductible. But with the deductible that's only a set of Underground Seas so it will readily replace most of my collection in case of theft or fire.

One thing if you have anything stolen you do have to file a full police report to submit a claim. I sold some cards to a player in Germany and they never maid it to the destination. I did not have insurance or international tracking, they refused to pay on it. If you do ship out of the country for any reason it has to be fedex, UPS, DHL, or USPS registered to be covered. They have to be able to find the package or at least prove it is missing.

[Kl'rt]

Hey Matt, have you gotten anywhere with this?

If not, do you have any recommendations on which company to go with for someone in Canada? I'm in Alberta.

[Phelix]

I have my collection insured for rough 17.000$ its not the value of my collection, but there was a significant price hike for the next level (roughly 50K)

Its a small premium to my normal homeowners insurance, so i pay IN TOTAL for both home+collection 780 dollars/year.

i have a deductable of 0. they pay everything, theft, water damage - but not mail.


I lost/had stolen a borrow deck a few years back, and I got paid il full, retail value on every single card+sleeves+deckbox. no hassle.


I live in europe, and dont know if this info is useless to you.

[Technics]

Running some numbers from these guys:

https://quote.americancollectors.com/AcctMgmt/S/Quote/


Their minimum coverage price is 65 bucks a year. That gives you full coverage with ZERO deductable, and the preimum coverage (outside the home) for up to ~7k.

Seems like a good deal to me. That covers 2 decks at an event in the case of a bag getting stolen.

[r3dd09]

Running some numbers from these guys:

https://quote.americancollectors.com/AcctMgmt/S/Quote/


Their minimum coverage price is 65 bucks a year. That gives you full coverage with ZERO deductable, and the preimum coverage (outside the home) for up to ~7k.

Seems like a good deal to me. That covers 2 decks at an event in the case of a bag getting stolen.

I'll definitely have to check them out.

[raudo]

What is the best way to keep a list of your cards? Is there any program for it? My insurance company (small company in small european country) wants the full list and some photos from it.

[Lemnear]

What is the best way to keep a list of your cards? Is there any program for it? My insurance company (small company in small european country) wants the full list and some photos from it.

Pictures (16 cards per picture in alphabetical order) + Excell cardlist with links to MCM-prices should be enough. However this might only work for central parts of your collection which you don't have for sale/trade. Otherwise you might insure your collection for a total worth via "moveable values" paragraphs most insurance companies have to cover Post-stamps, Art and Co. I can give more details for german insurance companies if needed

[raudo]

That is just so huge task to write your cards to excel list.

Is there any program ready which lists all the relevant cards (like legacy staples price over 5€) and then you just write the amount of cards you have in some check boxs? Then save it in excel form? Thanks very much if someone knows such site.

[phazonmutant]

That is just so huge task to write your cards to excel list.

Is there any program ready which lists all the relevant cards (like legacy staples price over 5€) and then you just write the amount of cards you have in some check boxs? Then save it in excel form? Thanks very much if someone knows such site.

Cockatrice can be handy for that. If you put your collection in a deck and enable the Price feature, it will scrape values from blacklotusproject. Their numbers are lower than something like TCGPlayer, but it's easy to do.

Another option is to use TCGPlayer's Collection tool (http://store.tcgplayer.com/my/collection.aspx). That's what I use. It's starting to not be ideal for me though because I've been buying so many foreign cards.

[mini1337s]

That is just so huge task to write your cards to excel list.

Is there any program ready which lists all the relevant cards (like legacy staples price over 5€) and then you just write the amount of cards you have in some check boxs? Then save it in excel form? Thanks very much if someone knows such site.

mtgpeertrader.com does that and automatically updates the prices.

[raudo]

Thanks for the tips. I liked tcgplayer collection site most. It took under an hour to list the most expensive cards and print the list to excel. :smile:

[barcode]

This thread just reminded me to get renter insurance and to get my cards included.

For people in Canada state farm has a sweet online tool.

[MTGPeerTrader]

mtgpeertrader.com does that and automatically updates the prices.

Hi
http://MTGPeertrader.com creator here. If you wanted to use the site to track your collection you can easily enter any portion of your collection, sort by price, set, etc. You can also export portions of your collection to an Excel file with up to date prices for almost every Magic the Gathering card in existence for use with whatever insurance company you pick. (We do lack foreign card prices however atm).

You can also then see how your collection stacks up against others as part of the Collection Value Leader Boards LeaderBoards (http://mtgpeertrader.com/Home/LeaderBoards) (or keep your collection value private). You will be able to see what cards are increasing and decreasing in price as part of the sortable options for your entered collection.

You can also use the site to Search other peoples Trade Collection for the cards you want to Trade for or Buy, or mark cards you want to let go as part of your Trade Collection (the cards you want to Trade or Sell) and let people come to you. On top of this there is a fully integrated rating system with Trade Ratings and Feedback as well as Shipping Options which can be used for negotiation.

The site has tons of features and while it is new it is under active development with new features constantly.

Check it out and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Mark / Vesuvand

[Dan Turner]

Hi
http://MTGPeertrader.com creator here. If you wanted to use the site to track your collection you can easily enter any portion of your collection, sort by price, set, etc. You can also export portions of your collection to an Excel file with up to date prices for almost every Magic the Gathering card in existence for use with whatever insurance company you pick. (We do lack foreign card prices however atm).

You can also then see how your collection stacks up against others as part of the Collection Value Leader Boards LeaderBoards (http://mtgpeertrader.com/Home/LeaderBoards) (or keep your collection value private). You will be able to see what cards are increasing and decreasing in price as part of the sortable options for your entered collection.

You can also use the site to Search other peoples Trade Collection for the cards you want to Trade for or Buy, or mark cards you want to let go as part of your Trade Collection (the cards you want to Trade or Sell) and let people come to you. On top of this there is a fully integrated rating system with Trade Ratings and Feedback as well as Shipping Options which can be used for negotiation.

The site has tons of features and while it is new it is under active development with new features constantly.

Check it out and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Mark / Vesuvand

not a lot of people on there. I listed just my trade binder since that is all I ever take outside the house other then a deck or 2. when I was done it put me at #3 for trade collection :) I wish there was a way to jot down a note next to cards where you can put signed/altered/sealed deck stamp etc. Also you can not add crusade as a card it pops up an error.

[MTGPeerTrader]

not a lot of people on there. I listed just my trade binder since that is all I ever take outside the house other then a deck or 2. when I was done it put me at #3 for trade collection :) I wish there was a way to jot down a note next to cards where you can put signed/altered/sealed deck stamp etc. Also you can not add crusade as a card it pops up an error.

Yes, it literally just came out of the testing stage in our local community and I"m about to fully launch the site so it's just starting. Adding a "Note" option is on the list of development items so you should definitely see that in the near future. Please PM me about any technical issues on the site if you wish, as I had no trouble adding the card.

Thanks

Mark / Vesuvand

[Dan Turner]

Yes, it literally just came out of the testing stage in our local community and I"m about to fully launch the site so it's just starting. Adding a "Note" option is on the list of development items so you should definitely see that in the near future. Please PM me about any technical issues on the site if you wish, as I had no trouble adding the card.

Thanks

Mark / Vesuvand

This is all I get. I type the name and hit enter.

http://i43.tinypic.com/avlkl3.png

[MTGPeerTrader]

Hey, I see the problem, the "Crusade" name is too common to display, I'm going to have to change that around as you should be able to add that card. If you go to Show: All Cards and filter for Crusade you will see the all the cards containing "Crusade" in the Card Name.

Thanks for the heads up.

[raudo]

Hi!

Is there a way to import the card list from excel to your site?

[MTGPeerTrader]

Hi!

Is there a way to import the card list from excel to your site?

It currently support importing of Deckbox.org collections, and the MTGPeerTrader.com site's formatted file. Send me a private message and I would be happy to have a look at your file for you if you want.

[SteakKnife]

So I recently had to put a claim in for cards that were stolen and my insurance will help me cover the loss(due to home owners insurance) but they are depreciating my cards based on my purchase date. They used the tcgplayers median price and then depreciated that based on the number of years I've had the cards.

Have any of you dealt with this before? I'm waiting for all the specifics of the claim outcome but I assume I'm going to need to argue that these cards don't depreciate.

For the most part I'm happy they are giving me anything as I didn't have it scheduled but I also feel like I'm losing out due to this.

[sdematt]

So I recently had to put a claim in for cards that were stolen and my insurance will help me cover the loss(due to home owners insurance) but they are depreciating my cards based on my purchase date. They used the tcgplayers median price and then depreciated that based on the number of years I've had the cards.

Have any of you dealt with this before? I'm waiting for all the specifics of the claim outcome but I assume I'm going to need to argue that these cards don't depreciate.

For the most part I'm happy they are giving me anything as I didn't have it scheduled but I also feel like I'm losing out due to this.

Maybe show them something like the Black Lotus Project that shows trends over time, and shows them going up.

-Matt

[barcode]

So I recently had to put a claim in for cards that were stolen and my insurance will help me cover the loss(due to home owners insurance) but they are depreciating my cards based on my purchase date. They used the tcgplayers median price and then depreciated that based on the number of years I've had the cards.

Have any of you dealt with this before? I'm waiting for all the specifics of the claim outcome but I assume I'm going to need to argue that these cards don't depreciate.

For the most part I'm happy they are giving me anything as I didn't have it scheduled but I also feel like I'm losing out due to this.

Just make sure they understand that they do not necessarily lose value specifically because of age. Remember, the insurance company will want to fuck you out of everything possible. You have to fight.

[sdematt]

Correct. Insurance companies are scum.

-Matt

[SmallFish]

Correct. Insurance companies are scum.

-Matt

Not really. I've seen them pay out plenty of claims and were very generous on some of them.

[Malchar]

Has anyone considered getting a safety deposit box for their cards? I'm curious what the price range would be and how it might compare to getting homeowner's insurance.

[Dan Turner]

I think ours is about $120 a year about the size of a long shoebox. Makes it hard to get to your collection though.

[apple713]

Has anyone considered getting a safety deposit box for their cards? I'm curious what the price range would be and how it might compare to getting homeowner's insurance.

Its cheap but not a great idea. Depending on the bank you can get them for cheaper like 50$ a year. Additionally saftey deposit boxes are not insured. So if the bank gets flooded or catches fire your screwed.

[thecrav]

I'm trying to get my collection insured, and it's not straightforward as I would've hoped. The company can insure individual cards that are greater than $50, which is 1/3 of my collection, but typically one needs an appraisal to prove these values. Has anyone been able to get a local card store to do an appraisal? What about card magazines like Beckett?

I'd imagine any game store would be happy to take your money. How long it takes will depend on how large the collection is and how busy they are during downtimes (during the day, for example)

[SmallFish]

http://www.minico.com/collectible.html?utm_source=DMC&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_content=CkVQTg1RUiQIVw0MD1YBVF9dFllLAEtVDg4=&utm_campaign=207:Collectibles%20-%20Family%20Campaign%20-%20Wine%20Imagery

I got an email the other day from this insurance company that will cover trading cards. It looks like they have a sister company in Canada as well. They don't require appraisals at the time of the application which is nice. If your homeowners won't cover cards, this could be a good market.

[shpishay]

http://www.minico.com/collectible.html?utm_source=DMC&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_content=CkVQTg1RUiQIVw0MD1YBVF9dFllLAEtVDg4=&utm_campaign=207:Collectibles%20-%20Family%20Campaign%20-%20Wine%20Imagery

I got an email the other day from this insurance company that will cover trading cards. It looks like they have a sister company in Canada as well. They don't require appraisals at the time of the application which is nice. If your homeowners won't cover cards, this could be a good market.

So you get your homeowner's / renter's insurance agent to subcontract with these guys? Does this seem legitimate?