Art insurers and brokers
Safe. Image Courtesy of Jim Sage
If you are serious about art collecting, you need to be serious about insurance too, because events such as theft, weather damage and accidental damage are a perennial problem. Underinsurance is also an issue, especially as may collectors do not have a clear idea of what their collections are worth.
Including your fine art and collections within your property programme may lead to uninsured – or seriously underinsured – assets, unnecessarily high deductibles, or incorrectly rated premiums. The bottom line is that anyone whose collection is worth more than a few thousand dollars needs to look beyond their regular home insurance for protection. Here are some brokers and insurers offering specially tailored art insurance.
As part of its collection insurance service, accurART will review your current fine art insurance arrangements and highlight the possible potential. They aim to help you achieve a combination of a very economic, extensive and tailor-made fine art insurance solution.
Provides companies or private individuals with insurance for their collection of fine art or valuables such as coins, bullion, valuable documents, stamps and other collectibles. The insurance covers items whilst in transit worldwide or in temporary or permanent situ.
AIG’s Private Client Group offers collections insurance tailored for fine art, wine, jewellery, antiques and other collectibles.
Provides fine art and collections insurance and risk management solutions. Areas of expertise include: private collectors and high value property, corporate collections, art dealers, artists, museums and exhibitions, and restorers and conservators.
Aon’s Global Fine Art Practice has a network of experts in appraisals, installation, conservation, handling, transit, loans, buying and selling. It offers unique, sophisticated and flexible policy programs, claims advocacy, collection management, schedule review and reconciliation and review for fine art title insurance. You will also benefit from a confidential consultation with a member of APRM’s Global Fine Art Practice.
AXA ART specialises in the insurance of high value home contents and buildings, art, collectibles and musical instruments and caters for private collectors, dealers, museums and exhibitions both in the UK and internationally.
Beazley writes a general specie portfolio of fine art, covering private collectors and auction houses, together with museum exhibitions. Very little primary cash in transit exposure is written into the account.
Brownhills offers automatic acquisition cover (for those spontaneous purchases) and can advise about updating valuations, shipping, packing, handing, framing and restoration and all other art risk management
Catlin write all types of commercial art insurance and are probably the largest insurer or art dealers in Lloyds. They have a global book of business, with underwriters in Singapore, New York, Sydney and London. Their book encompasses commercial private collections, dealers, museums, exhibitions and auction houses. They can provide coverage whilst in storage and in transit anywhere in the world against physical loss or damage.
Chelsea Insurance covers both single items and collections. Insurance benefits include worldwide cover; the option to reduce premiums by restricting cover to the UK or Western Europe; comprehensive cover for theft, loss and accidental damage; and no excess.
Chubb is the leading insurer of privately owned fine art and jewellery, and is the insurer of choice for more than 60% of the world’s top collectors and 74% of the Forbes 400 Richest People in America. Chubb is the Principal Sponsor of TEFAF Maastricht – the world’s leading fine art and antiques fair.
Highlights of the cover include an agreed value approach; specified and unspecified cover; cover for loss in original value; a cash or replacement option; replacement of a pair or set; “all risks” worldwide cover; instant cover for newly acquired pieces; and no restrictive alarm or vault conditions. Valuations are only required for high value items.
Ecclesiastical’s Heritage Residential Insurance includes fine art insurance. It is designed for anyone who owns or lives in a high value heritage property, or owns a fine art collection.
By working with specialist high net worth insurance companies the team at Endsleigh Private Clients can work with you to make sure that all your art is correctly insured without prohibitive conditions that stop you enjoying your artwork in the way it was intended.
Benefits that would not be usually included in a home insurance policy include new acquisitions cover; death of artist cover; and cover for artwork whilst being transported from your home to any permanent residence worldwide.
Greenfield is a leading art insurance broker specialising in cover for fine art. They can tailor a specialist policy to cover individual pieces or fine art collections, or provide insurance for art as part of your wider home insurance policy.
Their policies are bespoke but typically include accidental damage, loss and theft of art; death of artist cover – up to 200% of its sum insured and up to £100,000 in total; defective title up to £25,000; no excess for fine art and antiques; and the services of the Art Loss Register – a service that continues to trace works of art after a theft or loss.
Other features include extended replacement cover; and partial loss or damage to art and antiques – the policy pays the cost of restoration and any residual depreciation in value.
Highworth’s expertise includes insurance for art galleries, museums, exhibitions and commercial organisations wishing to display art to their staff and visitors. Specialising in insuring art also enables Highworth to offer a number of options to private art collectors, including a stand-alone insurance policy or inclusion of pieces within a high value home insurance policy.
Hiscox’s art and private client business covers the breadth of high value assets from museums and mansions to holiday homes and exotic cars, all over the world.
Clients include private collectors, corporations, museums, commercial galleries and auctioneer. Hiscox’s expertise encompasses everything from the restoration of fragile or mixed media contemporary art to the recovery of stolen works. Effective and speedy settlement of claims is a priority.
Typical cover is for all risks of physical loss and physical damage but cover for defective title, exhibition cancellation and professional indemnity are also available.
With access to more than US$1bn of capacity with Lloyd’s and the London company market, JLT offer services to private individuals as well as businesses involved in exhibiting and shipping fine art.
They also provide cover for large private collections of jewellery.
Macbeth Insurance Brokers offer fine art and antique insurance that typically includes ‘all risks’ worldwide cover, including accidental loss and damage; a no quibble agreed value approach guaranteeing you the exact amount listed for an item in the event of damage or a loss; specified cover for individual items guaranteeing you the exact amount specified in the event of loss; and compensation for any loss in original value due to damage (which will be restored as perfectly as possible).
It also features a cash or replacement option allowing you to replace an item with something similar from your own supplier, or keep the full cash settlement; new acquisitions up to 25% of the total amount insured; and pair or set replacement giving you the option of receiving the full replacement cost if you lose one of a pair or set, provided you supply us with the outstanding piece or pieces.
Markel offers comprehensive solutions for art, sculptures, models, stamps, coins, memorabilia, antiquities, musical instruments, clocks and many other collectables, with specialist products for commercial businesses, not-for-profit organisations and individual private collectors.
Tower Gate offers bespoke fine art insurance that includes worldwide cover for physical loss or damage. If the artist dies during the period of insurance, the insured value of the piece of fine art will be increased by up to 100% (maximum value £100,000).
If, during the period of insurance, someone claims a piece of fine art isn’t rightfully yours, you can receive up to £25,000 if you are legally obliged to return the item
Broad fine art coverage is available for corporate collections of fine art, or for artwork and collectibles in commercial settings. A wide-ranging spectrum of paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples, and specialized collections of historical, cultural or technological significance can be insured.
Coverage is available at a permanent location, in transit or while loaned to others. Travelers’ agreed value fine art policy addresses the needs for that collection, while also making other important coverages available (e.g., breakage, pairs and sets coverage, flood and earthquake).
XL Group offers broad expertise, capacity and worldwide capabilities to businesses, museums and collectors that handle fine art. ARTWorks is a collection of broad and flexible fine art coverage, based on an in-depth understanding of theis clients’ needs.
Zurich can offer a broad range of solutions for fine arts, jewellers, general specie and cash in transit. They can ensure globally compliant Fine Art & Specie programmes in up to 180 countries and have a technical claims team based in London, specialised in Fine Art & Specie claims.
If you have any comments or would like to add a provider, please email: [email protected]