Insuring your collection

[Wolf Knight]

My insurance rep. asked me if I had a "collection" & I told them yes, with an approximate value using Ebay as a price basis for replacement due to alot of items being rare & irreplaceable!

So you actually calculated your collection's value based on the initial payments you made for all of them???

[playmofire]

Back in 1998 i lost all the boxes from a flood in my parents country house. Home insurance is not widespread in Greece, meaning it is not even obligaory by any law as i think it is in the UK.

There's no law requiring house insurance, either structure or contents.  The nearest you get to this is that mortgage lenders will require borrowers to insure the structure of the property they are borrowing money to buy.  I've attended a number of fires where the owners or tenants had no insurance, either not realising how much their possessions were worth or believing "it'll never happen to me".

[Wolf Knight]

I've attended a number of fires where the owners or tenants had no insurance, either not realising how much their possessions were worth or believing "it'll never happen to me".

Yes you're right Gordon! Thus, common knowledge and logic dictates...

[Gepetto]

We were told by our agent that any collection or single item $5,000 or under would not need an individual rider, we purchased a rider for my wife's fiddles at the time and my tools but everything else was covered under the general policy. It is a good idea to photo or itemize items if you have more than 'normal' without it being a special collection.


Gepetto

[Martin Milner]

We were told by our agent that any collection or single item $5,000 or under would not need an individual rider, we purchased a rider for my wife's fiddles at the time and my tools but everything else was covered under the general policy. It is a good idea to photo or itemize items if you have more than 'normal' without it being a special collection.

Gepetto

Good point Gepetto, and I don't want to pay for the same things to be insured twice, 'cos I'm sure they wouldn't pay out on two claims for the same stuff.

When I get the space to spread out I'll do a tot up of what I actually have, and see if my $5,000 estimate is anywhere close. As Bill highlights, much of it is worth more than it was when bought new, but I'll have to do an estimate at around $3 a figure and see how many figures I have. Add vehicles and larger accessories, and buildings, and $5,000 doesn't seem like much.   

Sorry for your lost boxes Wolf Knight. Your story does highlight that most Playmo is fairly indestructible, but the boxes themselves have value to some people and they can be ruined by damp. Generally I keep the boxes only for storage purposes.

[Gepetto]

I am sure once you start unpacking that the $5,000 figure will fade away! Just don't let your wife see the final amount!! 

[Martin Milner]

I am sure once you start unpacking that the $5,000 figure will fade away! Just don't let your wife see the final amount!! 

Fortunately my Playmo collection pales into insignificance beside the cost of her concertina, and all her photography equipment, not to mention the tools she plans to get for her woodworking shop, and her sewing/quilting/spinning/dyeing hobby. 

All our hobbies are paid for out of our own funds, and we share equally all joint costs, so neither of us can complain about the other's spending. btw, I popped into TRU today and snapped up a couple of each of the 5886, 5887, 5888 sets. Now I can either field a sizeable group unaltered, or do a goodly bunch of customising.

[Walts-Trains]

As my Playmobil collection is used for my Playmobil railway layout it is insured with that.

[Giorginetto]

Its a good question and have thought a number of times to insure my collection , i have an estimated value for all my PM collection and my Dungeons & Dragons action figure collection ( over 200 ) , playbig  , tente, lego , airgum boys , matchbox cars etc etc etc so i guess i should  be asking  how much to insure it all for...

I have to say and this is quite upsetting, 15 years ago , in a flood i lost a lot of my toy collection ( most of my playmospace and city sets of 70s & 80s including some very rare 1975-1976 klickies  ), some dungeons & dragons ....  .. so such events do happen unfortunatelly.... i had about 150 playmospace figures and lots of spaceships  etc etc and had made with sea sand a 5mx 4m ' lunar' landscape, all gone ...  aw well ....

Got me inspired to buy many more afterwards !!!! 

[Martin Milner]

Giorginetto, were your Playmospace and D&D items actually washed away in the flood, or just water damaged?  Very upsetting either way, and I'm sorry for your loss.

I think I'll pay the $2 a week it costs to insure my collection for $10,000, but I'll need to work out exactly what I have to be sure that's reasonable.