Insurance Providers to cover a lego collection

Redbullgivesuwind

My Lego collection has finally hint a large round number and I have been told it won't be covered by the house insurance. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a company that will? I don't trust just googling it.

Thanks. 

Fireheart

I asked the question a few months ago:

http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/23322/has-anyone-added-their-lego-collection-to-their-home-insurance-as-an-collection#latest

I dont think the provider matters too much, you just list it as a collection on the house contents insurance. Unless of course it would take you over the policy total for contents insurance..

Redbullgivesuwind

I missed that one @CapnRex101 or mod please can you merge with that thread.

I think this may well be the case. I am going to speak to a few companies and see what they say.

TigerMoth

Fireheart said:

I dont think the provider matters too much, you just list it as a collection on the house contents insurance. Unless of course it would take you over the policy total for contents insurance..

Most UK insurers don't seem to be interested because it's not "a valuable", as opposed to being valuable.

If the house burns down, it doesn't matter what it is, collection or not - the insurers are going to have to shell out for everything, as long as the total figure you declare covers it all. The distinction comes for whether some scrote is going to try walking off with it, and whilst you can put the contents of a jewellery box in your pocket, you'd be hard-pressed to do that with a LEGO collection.

Redbullgivesuwind

@TigerMoth oh that is interesting so they have to cover it regardless of price? Maybe they said that to move it on based on the price or didn't know what they were talking about.

It is much more in case we get burgled and it gets trashed or burns down. I cant think my family will be please if I burn to death throwing boxes of lego out the window.

TigerMoth

Redbullgivesuwind said:

@TigerMoth oh that is interesting so they have to cover it regardless of price? Maybe they said that to move it on based on the price or didn't know what they were talking about.

It is much more in case we get burgled and it gets trashed or burns down. I cant think my family will be please if I burn to death throwing boxes of lego out the window.

You insure things for their replacement value, and you declare that to an insurer. It doesn't really matter what it is. You lose it; they pay for it. If you have £50,000 of cover, they'll pay out up to £50,000. "A collection" of LEGO sets, might sound impressive, but it's not really any different from a non-collection of random objects to the same value. In the grand scheme of things, your collection is probably not worth more than somebody else's clothes - it's just that people don't tend to add them up.

The bits in which they are interested, are simply those that either make you a bigger target, more at risk, or are more open to fraud - "valuables" and "collections of valuables". So they'll ask about jewellery, works of art, collections of medals and the like. They may ask about other single items that are expensive (usually more than £1,000 or £2,000) - which might potentially cover a few sets. However, there aren't any trick questions. They don't need to be told just because you regard it as a collection, unless they've made a point of asking that. Tell them anyway - and they won't be interested.

Try it. Get a quote from any, or all (!) of the telephone insurers. Answer everything truthfully, and you'll get to the end never have mentioned LEGO sets. Then, deliberately raise it and they'll simply say that, as long as the total value is under that which you've declared, they're simply not interested. And, more to the point, they'll have a recording which has them saying that to you!

Note - if they assess the total value of your property (not just that which is lost) as being more than the sum insured, you're under-insured, and they will pay out proportionately less than your claim. It isn't just a maximum. If you have £50,000 of possessions, in total, but are only covered for £25,000, they'll pay half of any claim. Nor can you usually say "I don't want these items included in the total valuation".

If you're a reseller, things are different. Stock is not usually covered by domestic policies in any circumstances. You said "collection" which to me implied a personal collection.

Redbullgivesuwind

Thanks @TigerMoth that makes things clearer. I'll go back and give that a try. 

Lego34s

I was thinking of asking just this question......... My big questions are, take totals out of it..... what would insurance for named items of lego give you..... If you had a MISB £100 set that was end of life...... what would you get for it. In some cases it might cost you £150 to buy a replacement, others £80. What happens if its opened and built.... cheaper to replace and worth less. Who decides what is replaced and how do you prove you bought something in 2006 for example........ Could any amount of money replace a 500 set collection...... ?

Lego34s

If anyone is still on this thread, or has insured how would you access a collection.... brickset does give us a value..... is that enough. That was original RRP going back to 2000 ish..... for new...... if your collection goes back to 1978 BUT is 90% opened with a lots of missing boxes etc.....

ryjay

@lego34...if you want present value if any collection covered you need to have it appraised and continuously updated.  Then take it to the insurer and see if they agree on the value for insurance sake.  Other then that, keep receipts.

Leon_1

So, which insurance is better and can cover lego collection at this time? 

Venunder

I would suggest you list all your sets by Theme in a spreadsheet or tabulated text document. Store it in the Cloud, or physically in a law firm office.

Have the original RRP from Brickset and current retail replacement cost from Brickset , Ebay and/or maybe Catawiki?

You will need this replacement cost for some Storage companies like Big Yellow. Who will charge you a fortune, to insure your collection while you move house etc.
Storage insurance is always much more expensive than Home Contents insurance.

Other than that you just need a total replacement value and insure that amount for Home Insurance.
If you can't afford to insure your whole collection..... at replacement cost, then you will just have to use your RRP values? 

If you do happen to lose your lego it to a fire or some other disaster.
Make sure you only claim the insured value of your contents.... 

If you insured for £100,000 and claimed £100,000 the insurance company should pay you £100,000.
Unless they decide otherwise, and then your insurance company was useless anyway, and you paid insurance money for no reason. They were never going to pay you for your loss.....

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