SoCo Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 78) insurance101 insuring antiques Style, Privacy & Security you’re looking for by peter covill If you have a particular piece that’s worth money, you should have it appraised by a professional. You can then schedule the piece on your policy or purchase a separate fine-arts floater. By scheduling or itemizing antiques on a policy, you’re insuring those items based on the appraised amount. Premium Fencing & Outdoor Accessories Free Home Design Consultations 508.991.8500 | NEFenceWrights.com 167 Huttleston Avenue | Route 6 | Fairhaven, MA I TATLOCK GALLERY Mary Nolan Clouds & Shadow May 8 (AHA!) to June 5 Artist Reception: May 8, 5-9PM “Shadow Patterns” Original Oil 36” h. x 28” w. 36 North Water Street, New Bedford, MA beside the Whaling Museum 508-993-1192 www.tatlockgallery.com 78 | s o comagazi ne . i nfo | M ay 2 0 0 8 was channel surfing the other day, and I ended up watching one of those antique-appraisal shows for a while. People were dusting off old trinkets that they’d found in their attics or basements and presenting them for appraisal. I was amazed at how much some of this stuff was worth. It got me thinking about how to insure these items. Antiques generally fall into the fine-arts category, and a variety of solutions to insure them are available. Most antiques are insured as personal property on your homeowners, condominium, or renter’s policy. No specific value is assigned to individual pieces, so it’s up to the owner to prove what each item is worth. I suggest taking pictures of your home’s contents and keeping the photographs in a safe place—but not in your own home. Breakage isn’t a peril generally covered under the homeowners policy. You would need to add an endorsement or change your policy to an HO-5 “open perils” form. If you have a particular piece that’s worth a lot of money, you should have it appraised by a professional. You can then schedule the piece on your policy or purchase a separate finearts floater. By scheduling or itemizing antiques on a policy, you’re insuring those items based on the appraised amount. This method eliminates the issue of value at the time of loss. Another method is to purchase a fine-arts floater written on a blanket basis. You would select an amount based on the total value of all of your antiques, and each piece would be covered up to a predetermined amount, say $10,000. If you have a large collection of antiques, you can choose to combine methods writing the more expensive pieces on a scheduled basis and the rest on a blanket basis. Any item that you deem priceless because it has emotional value may not be worth as much as you think. If you have a piece you feel is worth a lot of money, my advice is to get it appraised. Discuss with your insurance agent the best way to protect your most valued possessions. And keep in mind that appraisals should be updated every three to five years. Peter Covill is from Humphrey, Covill & Coleman Insurance Agency, Inc. http://NEFenceWrights.com http://NEFenceWrights.com http://www.tatlockgallery.com http://www.tatlockgallery.com http://socomagazine.info
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