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Has anyone here insured their collection?

post #1 of 21
2/27/10 at 11:25pm
Thread Starter 
My insurance company recommends insuring high-value collectibles. My jewelery and firearms collection are both insured under a valuable personal property clause.

Now that I have some Creeds, PG, Amouage and other niche fragrances I've started to estimate the monetary value of replacing my collection and I've come to realize that I have at least four grand in my collection, maybe more. I don't know if anyone else has seriously thought about their collection but I know a few things for sure: Fragrances won't last long in a fire and shiny bottles with fancy names on them may be the first things a burglar will throw in their sack.

I'm wondering if they won't insure them because they aren't antiques or not crystal bottles. Anyone have experience with this? I'm going to look into it still but if anything, maybe I can plant that seed in the back of someone's mind that saves them one day.
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post #2 of 21
2/28/10 at 12:05am
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I think perfaddict brought up a really good point not too long ago: how do they insure an item that seems to decrease in value, by way of usage (less juice, less value)?

I agree, some collections look better off insured, though I have no experience with this myself.
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post #3 of 21
2/28/10 at 1:36am
i ithink jrt4's collection definetely needs to be insured. killians, amouages, clive christians......
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post #4 of 21
2/28/10 at 1:54am
Not quite, but I negotiated once an insurance policy on my frags, but I was not quite convinced about the reliability of the insurance company as well as the affordability of their services
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post #5 of 21
2/28/10 at 1:58am
I think that unless you have a collection of fragrance that is for the cabinet only - you know - rare discontinued museum type stuff - then I don't think it's very practical .
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post #6 of 21
2/28/10 at 3:17am
Hmmm..to be strictly honest..I'd say that I have no need to insure my collection...no matter how big it's grown..I'd have to many vintage frags to which are below sub-zero in "Retail Price". Also, If I had some amouage frags...*At least 5 or More* and some kilians..then yes, I'd consider!

Cheers!

-Balava
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post #7 of 21
2/28/10 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by matthewfoo View Post

I think perfaddict brought up a really good point not too long ago: how do they insure an item that seems to decrease in value, by way of usage (less juice, less value)?

I agree, some collections look better off insured, though I have no experience with this myself.

Well, everything depreciates. Once you drive your car off the lot you lose a big percentage of its value. But I see your point too.
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post #8 of 21
2/28/10 at 7:44am
I don't think anyone needs to worry about insurance. Thieves don't want our juice. There's no resale value to them. They look for cash, jewelery, and easy to carry high value items. I would insure if I had a perfume bottle collection like my mother-in-law does. She just sold one empty bottle on ebay for $7,000.00.
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post #9 of 21
2/28/10 at 9:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PorkFat View Post

Well, everything depreciates. Once you drive your car off the lot you lose a big percentage of its value. But I see your point too.

Art, jewelry and other collectibles appreciate in value. In order to have a special rider on your insurance policy to include special value items they need to be able to be appraised by a recognized appraiser. As others have said, I think it would be rather difficult to have a value put on a fragrance collection that is being used and depleted on a daily basis. Although $4000 seems like a big value for a fragrance collection, in reality many people have that kind on money invested in books, CDs, DVDs, cosmetics. Let us know what your insurance agent recommends.
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post #10 of 21
2/28/10 at 9:13am
I have renter's insurance which covers my possessions such as musical instruments, CDs, Books, etc. I haven't mentioned my fragrance collection to my agent yet (kind of embarrassed), but I should. Remember, theft isn't the only threat to your investment-- fire, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes can total your drobe.
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post #11 of 21
2/28/10 at 2:28pm
Our regular home insurance has £50K contents insurance included as standard and, with our company at least, that covers ALL contents, even things like food and drink. As long as you have a list somewhere (and some form of photographic or on-line record for things like films, music and, I guess with BN, your frags), on paper the insurance company should honour whatever is in your contents claim and should give you the money to replace like-for-like, or at least its closest existing equivalent.

I roughly count up everything in our house every few years and we're never anywhere near £50K, not that we've got anything tremendously valuable on its own. For anyone that has got an incredibly collectible piece (or collection) of fragdom, then it's perhaps a good idea to get it insured as a one-off by a specialist company who do that sort of thing - a good friend of mine has an incredible music collection worth several hundred thousand pounds and his insurance company recommended insuring it separately with a specialist. Premiums aren't cheap compared with regular home and contents, but it's added piece of mind that, even if sentimental value can't be replaced, at least money can.
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post #12 of 21
2/28/10 at 3:42pm
That reminds me, I should take a picture of my whole house again and store it somewhere safe, including my perfume collection.... will do that this weekend.
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post #13 of 21
2/28/10 at 3:45pm
I'd love to insure my collection, but I know I would skip payments on the policy to buy my latest must-have.
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post #14 of 21
2/28/10 at 4:11pm
This is something to really consider.....For those of us with large collections this is a fantastic idea.....Great thread!
Gary
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post #15 of 21
2/28/10 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by joey86 View Post

i ithink jrt4's collection definetely needs to be insured. killians, amouages, clive christians......

I tried - my insurance company wouldn't cover it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by thebeck View Post

I don't think anyone needs to worry about insurance. Thieves don't want our juice. There's no resale value to them. They look for cash, jewelery, and easy to carry high value items. I would insure if I had a perfume bottle collection like my mother-in-law does. She just sold one empty bottle on ebay for $7,000.00.

I was actually more interested in insuring for reasons like flood, hurricane, etc. It's not an issue where I am, but if I lived somewhere prone to earthquakes, I'd be worried about that too.

The agency wouldn't cover the collection as an individual item or collection, but would cover estimated cost under my natural disaster policies as just items in the house since they're photographed, etc.
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post #16 of 21
3/1/10 at 8:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GourmandHomme View Post

That reminds me, I should take a picture of my whole house again and store it somewhere safe, including my perfume collection.... will do that this weekend.

Are you supposed to photograph the contents of your home to validate your renter's/homeowner's insurance to prove your claim is legit? Because I have not done that.
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post #17 of 21
3/1/10 at 8:29am
It really depends on the insurance agent you talk to. My experience has been whatever you want to insure could get insured. Even the ones who are saying no intially would come around if you are willing to put language in there to address their concerns, or explain it in a better way.
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post #18 of 21
3/1/10 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrd4t View Post

The agency wouldn't cover the collection as an individual item or collection, but would cover estimated cost under my natural disaster policies as just items in the house since they're photographed, etc.

Curious, is that not good enough? Are there any pros/cons?

And by "natural disaster", would that not cover theft?
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post #19 of 21
3/1/10 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveJazz View Post

Are you supposed to photograph the contents of your home to validate your renter's/homeowner's insurance to prove your claim is legit? Because I have not done that.

Not sure how it works in the US, but here in the UK the thing to do that will satisfy most insurance companies is to take a couple of general photos to show things like furniture, white goods, large electrical equipment (so, basically you can just take one or two photos of your living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom etc) and then for things like CDs, DVDs, valuables and other collectibles take a few pics of the overall collection (most cameras have a minimum of 5 mps these days - plenty to zoom in and pick out individual items) and have some form of back-up like a spreadsheet or online management database.

Before doing all that, though, it's best to run it by your insurance company to see what will satisfy their claims department.
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post #20 of 21
3/1/10 at 1:28pm
If I buy enough junk that I feel that i need to insure it then I am doing something wrong. That goes for most things, not just frags. I don't like being held down by lots of stuff. Of course, I still have auto, health, and life insurance, and I will insure a house when I buy one.
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post #21 of 21
3/1/10 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_Scooter View Post

If I buy enough junk that I feel that i need to insure it then I am doing something wrong. That goes for most things, not just frags. I don't like being held down by lots of stuff. Of course, I still have auto, health, and life insurance, and I will insure a house when I buy one.

?

Surely it would be wrong not to insure it if you have a collection worth, on its own, thousands or even tens of thousands? Some people do have collections like that. It's almost like buying a (insert famous painter whose original works are at a price point available to people on lower-high incomes) and then just covering it under your general home and contents.
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