Getting collection appraised.

[Brucefan32]

Anyone know of anyone who appraises game used items? I want to get my collection insured, but not sure what avenue to go. Thanks.

[Cubman15]

I recently called State Farm about insuring my collection. The woman I spoke to basically told me to estimate each individual item that was valued under $5,000, complete with pictures of the items and the resources I used to determine the estimate. For individual items valued over $5000 each, they said that they would have to send an individual appraiser out.

In case things were stolen or damaged, she said at that point and time they would send someone out to reassess the value of each item, basically throwing out my original appraisal.

I have homeowners and car insurance through State Farm. If memory serves me correctly, the cost to insure my collection was going to cost approximately 0.8% of the total valuation of my collection annually. Hope that helps.

[xsentrixsupra]

I also use State Farm for insurance. The way it worked for me is they assessed the value of my watch and jewelry and at that time I did ask them. They said I didn't necessarily need to change anything in my policy or insure them specifically, but to just increase the total amount insured by however much I thought they were worth and then like Cubman15 said provide how you came to that conclusion. They did not however tell me they had to come out and look at anything I valued over 5000, so that might be area specific.

[ironmanfan]

A lot of insurance carriers will allow you to establish values on your items (and pay a premium based on those values). The exceptions would be museum like pieces like Ruth & Gehrig type items.

Talk to your Homeowner agent and see what he/she has available (may be able to add it as a rider to your exisitng policy).

Good luck.

[esquiresports]

I spent a lot of time looking at four major collectibles insurance companies, and ended up going with Antiques & Collectibles National Association. Nothing has to be appraised, but you must schedule out anything $2,500 or more and provide photographic evidence of ownership. The process was simple and relatively painless. The insurance company who underwrote my policy is Lloyds of London.

[Jags Fan Dan]

You don't need to schedule game used items unless they are so expensive that you need additional coverage above your personal property coverage in the event of a total loss (fire, tornado). If you are scheduling them against theft, it would have to be super high dollar to justify doing that.

[Brucefan32]

I appreciate the input. Thanks again.

[esquiresports]

I have USAA home insurance and memorabilia/collectibles are explicitly capped at $2,500 or $5,000 in the aggregate. Most people I know (and trust) recommend keeping collectibles (and jewelry) insurance separate from the home policy so that a claim doesn't impact the home policy as a whole.

[Jags Fan Dan]

I have USAA home insurance and memorabilia/collectibles are explicitly capped at $2,500 or $5,000 in the aggregate. Most people I know (and trust) recommend keeping collectibles (and jewelry) insurance separate from the home policy so that a claim doesn't impact the home policy as a whole.

Gotcha. That is not what I am used to seeing in the HO3 policies I deal with, but it is good you know your coverages.

[xsentrixsupra]

I have USAA home insurance and memorabilia/collectibles are explicitly capped at $2,500 or $5,000 in the aggregate. Most people I know (and trust) recommend keeping collectibles (and jewelry) insurance separate from the home policy so that a claim doesn't impact the home policy as a whole.

Depends on the deductible of the policy. I personally have mine under my home owner's insurance, mainly because my deductible is 1000 bucks, so in my eyes if something small was stolen, I'd just replace it out of pocket, I'm really only interested in protecting 1 of the more high dollar items, in which case I'd just have it under the home owner's policy.

I'm surprised USAA capped it so low though. Usually they are awesome at everything they do!

[esquiresports]

Agree that USAA is generally great. While I try to avoid reading insurance policies unless I can't sleep, I pulled up my USAA policy from 2013 to find the changes in policy that I probably would have missed but the words caught my eye (this is for all policies - I didn't try to go a cheaper route).

USAA policy:

TRADING CARDS AND COMIC BOOKS:
OLD POLICY:
Covered up to personal property amount.

RENEWED POLICY:
Limited to $2,500
Large collections should seek local coverage.

REPLACEMENT COST COVERAGE:
Replacement cost coverage does not apply to:
a. Items of rarity or antiquity that cannot be replaced;
b. Articles whose age or history contributes substantially to their value. These include, but are not limited to, memorabilia, souvenirs and collectors' items;

Although painful, it may be worth your time to read your policy if you are uncomfortable with self-insuring possible losses.

[I am not an insurance agent or in any way affiliated with insurance companies and generally feel like I get the short end of the stick on insurance matters; I am a collector with a job outside this field; each person should make his or her own choices.]