Home insurance

[Vindicare]

This topic pops into my head every now & again, how do you all have your collection insured? Is there a special addition for it? Is it merely covered in a general blanket coverage of your items?

As of now, it sits as a blanket one for us. My collection(retail according to Brickset) covers roughly half the amount. I'm thinking of talking to our agent & see what's available, and was curious to hear others approach. 

[deraven]

Our agent explained that it would be covered under our blanket, but only up to a certain point.  That is, even if the blanket coverage has a limit of $1M, it still has some sub-categorization limits (so personal electronics & entertainment/AV equipment might be covered up to $50K of that, computers up to $25K, "collectibles" would be up to some other amount, etc.) and in our case they said that the Lego would fall under "collectibles" and the sub-limit for that wasn't sufficient for what we've got, so we added a rider for it specifically the same way we have a little extra, specific coverage for a couple pieces of high-value jewelry but let the rest fall under the blanket.  I'm sure this differs by policy and state (we're in AZ) and whatnot, but I would absolutely ask that question, and maybe give them a scenario:  "Let's say my house burns down.  I have a lot of Lego, and now it's a big pile of melted plastic and I want to replace it.  I estimate it's worth $XXXXX.  Will I get reimbursed for that full amount?"

For us, because the dollar amount was substantial, we were able to add a separate rider for a still reasonable cost, but we needed to document the collection (pictures, a spreadsheet with values, etc.).  So we have that done for the well-inventoried items and the higher-value individual sets, but then still a lot of loose brick that we do have listed with a general bulk value, but our understanding is that some of that could be claimed under the blanket policy without an issue.

[Vindicare]

12 hours ago, deraven said:

Our agent explained that it would be covered under our blanket, but only up to a certain point.  That is, even if the blanket coverage has a limit of $1M, it still has some sub-categorization limits (so personal electronics & entertainment/AV equipment might be covered up to $50K of that, computers up to $25K, "collectibles" would be up to some other amount, etc.) and in our case they said that the Lego would fall under "collectibles" and the sub-limit for that wasn't sufficient for what we've got, so we added a rider for it specifically the same way we have a little extra, specific coverage for a couple pieces of high-value jewelry but let the rest fall under the blanket.  I'm sure this differs by policy and state (we're in AZ) and whatnot, but I would absolutely ask that question, and maybe give them a scenario:  "Let's say my house burns down.  I have a lot of Lego, and now it's a big pile of melted plastic and I want to replace it.  I estimate it's worth $XXXXX.  Will I get reimbursed for that full amount?"

For us, because the dollar amount was substantial, we were able to add a separate rider for a still reasonable cost, but we needed to document the collection (pictures, a spreadsheet with values, etc.).  So we have that done for the well-inventoried items and the higher-value individual sets, but then still a lot of loose brick that we do have listed with a general bulk value, but our understanding is that some of that could be claimed under the blanket policy without an issue.

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I started doing a list check of bricklink prices for some high value ones...then I thought of doing a spread sheet showing what I paid for them versus what they're worth now. 

[deraven]

6 hours ago, Vindicare said:

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I started doing a list check of bricklink prices for some high value ones...then I thought of doing a spread sheet showing what I paid for them versus what they're worth now. 

We did that, too.  The spreadsheet has a column for what was paid or just retail price if we're not sure, then a column for the current going rate.  I also added some other stuff just for fun like part count, theme, etc., even though there are plenty of other services that track all of that.  Also, I track condition of the sets (new in box, opened but with saved box, loose) since that of course also affects the value.

I also keep a list of sets that my kids get, so that, should they enter a dark ages but later want "their" Lego back, we can be equitable about that.  

My biggest issue is that I'm bad on keeping up with it.  Every time I purchase something I should add it, but I end up playing catch-up a couple times a year instead.