Are your Dolls insured?

I asked an insurance company who offers coverage for collectibles and they said though they would like reciepts, they said they'd still cover it as they know there usually aren't receipts for such things. They also cover accidental breakage and theft and they cover market value. But I'm not quite sure wherther you'll need to have thedolls under glass or something - they said they usually work with brokers not directly with the clients so she didn't really explain muchto me . The premiums are rather high though, 500 annually , not a lot if you think 'monthly ' but... I don't know, is that a good price? My collection is growing but from what I gathered from the woman I talked to, she thinks I should try if my home insurance can just provide a special rider as it might not be worth paying that much. What value should a collection be before its worth it to get insurance?

I think the thing that bothers me about insurance is they'd probably either give you how much it cost new or, more likely, some sort of calculated depreciation. I know for a fact that when I move, the movers will consider my dolls depreciated. Right. Except I have Rin, one of the more expensive DDs, who is worth a few grand on the aftermarket. (We need an eyeroll smilie. Ha!)

 

Sounds like you need some sort of disaster-proof box to keep her in...

What value should a collection be before its worth it to get insurance?

 

Whatever value you can't reasonably replace on your own without insurance. That's really why it exists. If you can replace your collection, then you don't really need insurance. If you can't replace your collection, and having your collection destroyed or damaged would be very upsetting, then insurance is a good option.

*delurk* I've looked into insurance for the collection, but haven't gotten it yet - trying to deal with a minor financial snafu first. That and, y'know, I need insurance for ME first. Who's gonna clothe and house all these dolls if I can't?

Whatever value you can't reasonably replace on your own without insurance. That's really why it exists.

Hmm. Ostensibly, that's the reason the companies give. Yet I might postulate that insurance actually exists to profit the insurance company, and you don't need them in order to have your belongings protected. Their actuaries are very good at figuring the risk stuff out, so you may as well take advantage of their knowledge but save your money to buy more dolls.

 

Instead of buying insurance, you could take the premium quote that you get and sock that number of dollars away in a savings account. Then, if there's an accident, you have money to replace your stuff, and if there's no accidents you don't lose out on any money either. Just takes discipline not to touch your emergency account until there's an emergency. The actuaries have figured out just how likely it is that you'll have an accident in any given year (not very), so it's possible to self-insure in this way and come out ahead.

 

I would suggest that the only time it's really worth buying insurance is either if it's compulsory (car insurance), or you plan to make a lot of claims and think you'll get more payments out than you put premiums in (chronic health condition). Otherwise you would statistically be better off self insuring.

 

Just another angle on the question to consider.

Whatever value you can't reasonably replace on your own without insurance. That's really why it exists.

Hmm. Ostensibly, that's the reason the companies give. Yet I might postulate that insurance actually exists to profit the insurance company, and you don't need them in order to have your belongings protected. Their actuaries are very good at figuring the risk stuff out, so you may as well take advantage of their knowledge but save your money to buy more dolls.

 

Instead of buying insurance, you could take the premium quote that you get and sock that number of dollars away in a savings account. Then, if there's an accident, you have money to replace your stuff, and if there's no accidents you don't lose out on any money either. Just takes discipline not to touch your emergency account until there's an emergency. The actuaries have figured out just how likely it is that you'll have an accident in any given year (not very), so it's possible to self-insure in this way and come out ahead.

 

I would suggest that the only time it's really worth buying insurance is either if it's compulsory (car insurance), or you plan to make a lot of claims and think you'll get more payments out than you put premiums in (chronic health condition). Otherwise you would statistically be better off self insuring.

 

Just another angle on the question to consider.

 

Yes, you have a very good point. Insurance does profit insurance companies, statistically. If it didn't, the companies wouldn't exist. If you can afford to approximate a form of your own insurance by saving, that's even better for you!

 

However, depending on your insurance premiums, putting the premiums aside wouldn't be enough. I pay less than $100 per year that insures my husband's music gear and my dolls. If I put that aside (even considering a deductible of a few hundred dollars) for several years it still wouldn't be enough to replace everything in the event of a disaster or theft, so I don't mind operating on the assumption that I'll pay the insurance fees and never have to use it.

 

However, if you can reasonably replace your own goods without buying into insurance, then go for it! It's economically better for you.

The issue I'm worried about with DD-insuring is that the insurance company might ask for the items to be appraised for value by a professional apprasier. Where the heck would you find someone to do that for DDs?

Whatever value you can't reasonably replace on your own without insurance. That's really why it exists.

Hmm. Ostensibly, that's the reason the companies give. Yet I might postulate that insurance actually exists to profit the insurance company, and you don't need them in order to have your belongings protected. Their actuaries are very good at figuring the risk stuff out, so you may as well take advantage of their knowledge but save your money to buy more dolls.

 

Instead of buying insurance, you could take the premium quote that you get and sock that number of dollars away in a savings account. Then, if there's an accident, you have money to replace your stuff, and if there's no accidents you don't lose out on any money either. Just takes discipline not to touch your emergency account until there's an emergency. The actuaries have figured out just how likely it is that you'll have an accident in any given year (not very), so it's possible to self-insure in this way and come out ahead.

 

I would suggest that the only time it's really worth buying insurance is either if it's compulsory (car insurance), or you plan to make a lot of claims and think you'll get more payments out than you put premiums in (chronic health condition). Otherwise you would statistically be better off self insuring.

 

Just another angle on the question to consider.

 

Hmmm... good point. But I can't help thinking, if I use that money to buy more dolls, the collection's value would be much higher, won't it mean more money to replace them? Seriously though, I agree with this specially if the premium's going to be pretty high. But like milkytea said, it could also be that if the premium isn't that high, the amount one saves won't be enough to cover the loss. Well I guess it all boils down to what one's comfortable with.

 

Lots of food for thought.

However, depending on your insurance premiums, putting the premiums aside wouldn't be enough. I pay less than $100 per year that insures my husband's music gear and my dolls.

Aha, and another good point that is! If the insurance is inexpensive enough relative to one's collection value, such that saving the premiums wouldn't come close to acbleepulating a replacement cost, then the insurance policy becomes more worthwhile. Sounds like you have a good agent.

all my [valuable] stuff, including my dolls, is covered by my (our, since i don't live alone) home insurance. so - yes.

 

i've had something stolen once and it was really unnerving, the thief didn't break into our house but they stole a package with $100 worth of stuff in it. basically my s/o was driving me somewhere nearby in a rush and we didn't notice the package on our doorstep until we were pulling out the driveway. he was driving me somewhere literally 5-10 minutes away so he said he'd get it when he came back. well, in the 5-10 minutes we were gone from the house, someone stole our mail - and we do not live in an urban part of the city, or anywhere with high crime rates, or even on a main road. we live in a pretty sheltered community in the suburbs.

 

ended up filing a police report and they said there had been a wave of such cases at that time. btw, i didn't realize what had been stolen til after the fact, since i get a lot of mail and a lot of it is usually smaller cheaper stuff. only after i tracked it and saw it had been delivered before we woke up that morning did i figure it out.

 

anyway, ever since then i have been super paranoid about getting my mail stolen. so don't just think about your home insurance or doll insurance - always insure the stuff you order, and preferably get a signature confirmation so you don't have an unpleasant experience like mine. i cannot imagine what would have happened if it had been a doll (although the boxes for them are so large i would have known what it was and averted crisis probably).

My two resin girls are insured and I will be insuring my DD very soon. I also insure their clothing, cases and accessories. If you do insure your girls, I have a separate collectors policy. I have State Farm and the price wasn't very expensive (like $18-30 a year, and I also have my laptop and trombones on it). They advised me to insure for replacement cost INCLUDING the shipping. I have to admit, I feel much safer taking my girls places knowing that if they're stolen of if I damage them I can get reimbursed.

I (finally) made some inquiries about insurance. (My homeowner's is with USAA. They're pretty reputable.)

 

Here's what I found out during a telephone call:

 

* They cover replacement cost for fire, vandalism, theft. $500 deductible.

 

That's the good news.

 

Now for the grey area. I asked about a rider for personal property insurance. They said that typically covers jewelry, guns, coins and the like. They specifically exclude policies for "collectibles."

 

I suspect DDs are going to be classified as "collectibles." But, does that mean they're excluded from the homeowner's policy? This seems to be a grey area. Going to need to either: a) get it in writing; or, b) find a reputable company that will insure DDs.

My dolls are one of the few things declared on my home insurance, alongside a gaming rig and some jewellery I inherited from various relatives ^_^; My insurer asked me to name and photograph anything worth over £500 in order for it to be included in my overall home insurance. It didn't seem to affect how much my policy costs, but I think I confused the poor guy on the phone trying to explain that my 'Volks' collection wasn't a car collection

I think I confused the poor guy on the phone trying to explain that my 'Volks' collection wasn't a car collection

 

Hahahaha! Yes, I think that confuses a lot of people. Strange that a Japanese would have a company named with a German word. ("Volks" = "folk")

I intend on checking this out since I have a good relationship with my insurance agent. we often text each other about anime. Which struck me as odd when I first met him as he is big on sports and hunting. He is very much the "man's man" as they say. Don't get me wrong tho I enjoy those things as well. I was curious tho as his phone had the scout regiment symbol from attack on titan on the background of his new phone. So I asked him if it was his and he told me how his 13 year old daughter got him into the series and he found it to be pretty awesome and has now found himself enjoying anime after brushing it off for many years XD I've even helped him find figurines for his daughters bday.

My dolls are also covered by my home insurance, there's no need to insure them separately, as everything that's worth over 150e is covered. It covers everything from accidental breakage to having the items stolen. But I do need a proof of the value if something happens. In a doll's case that would be the order confirmation or a receipt. Which will kind of suck if an older limited I bought straight from the company breaks or get's stolen and it's much more valuable now than it was when I bought it. I'd actually have to inquire about this in more detail...

But I do need a proof of the value if something happens. In a doll's case that would be the order confirmation or a receipt. Which will kind of suck if an older limited I bought straight from the company breaks or get's stolen and it's much more valuable now than it was when I bought it. I'd actually have to inquire about this in more detail...

 

That's the same situation, here. According to Ebay, the price has gone up 50% above what I paid six months ago. (I couldn't afford her at the new price.) I don't expect to have to file for insurance; but, if I needed to, I would use the Ebay listings to indicate replacement cost.

 

That brings up the next question. What is "replacement cost"? Replace her with a used one? They aren't available. Nobody wants to sell.

Although I have no limited DDs as of yet (until I finally get the money to pick up a Dollpa 32 Christmas Melty on the 2nd hand market or similarly the SaberAltaer I've been dreaming of for all too long) but have several limited resin bjds, other dolls and other limited collectibles that I know are not being covered properly by my household content insurance. Having past insurance industry financial services experience with a major Australian insurer I know the value of quality collectible insurance but urge anyone looking into this to read all the fine print in you product disclosure statements and make sure you know what you are and are not covered for. I know the biggest problem over here is making sure you have receipt and payment delails in local currency, not international values. Now being in Australia with most of my purchases being in either USD, JPY, KRW, GBP, CNY or Euros that makes thing a little difficult other than for PayPal purchases..which means lots of time wading through history and making sure to have print outs of original payment receipts and the $ AU dollar conversion history at the time of purchase. Then I want to make sure to find the best specialist artwork and collectibles insurer that understands the true value of collateral appreciation when it comes to collectibles - and make sure I have a general understanding of the main key factors that they look at for calculating insurance from an actuarial perspective.

One thing I'd urge anyone who is looking into this type of insurance, make sure you do your homework properly and know exactly what type of coverage you want and make sure that's exactly what you will be covered for without potential insurance loopholes or strings attached - make sure to clarityfy any vagueness in a product disclosure statement and don't be dazzled and baffled by customer service sales staff...it's their job to sell to you and they'll happily dodge questions and make vague or cleverly worded statements of half truths if it means more sales commissions for them - I should know as that I used to do for a living. If needs be, ask to speak to your insurer's underwriting team about the nitty gritty of your collectibles insurance as they'll usually give you or work out a more direct response as their job is to work directly with company actuaries and higher-ups to make sure you premium is calculated correctly, not to earn extra commissions by selling you more product.

Sorry this has been very wordy but I can't stress enough the importance of good quality collectibles insurance and getting what you pay for here!

Edited May 31, 2015 by Guest

i dont think you can insure dolls in israel O.o

and here they do sell insurance for EVERYTHING!

i bought my miku on ebay so i have the recipe of how much she costed me, only thing is... i managed to get her for kinda cheap so even with full refund i wont be able to buy another one

I've been thinking about this for a while. I know someone who had to take out a special insurance policy for their massive DVD collection as they were told that their contents insurance would in no way cover it. I only have one DD at the moment but if my collection grows then I will definately have to consider taking out a seperate insurance policy on them. They are too valuable not to. But it's always got me wondering whenever I see people on youtube etc with huge BJD or dollfie collections whether they are actually insuring them properly or not.

I've been looking into this and it seems like I can get special platinum home owners insurance that includes collectibles. It's basically no questions asked replacement and it even covers jewelry loss or theft. It seems a bit too good to be true so I'm looking into it more before I sign up but I am hopeful that this is the coverage I need to feel safe in case of some catastrophe. It's bad enough when disaster strikes but to lose this much money in collectibles (mine as well as my fiancee's) as well would be even more of a blow.

I've been looking into this and it seems like I can get special platinum home owners insurance that includes collectibles. It's basically no questions asked replacement and it even covers jewelry loss or theft. It seems a bit too good to be true so I'm looking into it more before I sign up but I am hopeful that this is the coverage I need to feel safe in case of some catastrophe. It's bad enough when disaster strikes but to lose this much money in collectibles (mine as well as my fiancee's) as well would be even more of a blow.

 

Definitely worth a careful look into what is and isn't covered. I had a good friend who's a bit of a music buff loose a whole collection of records, CDs, old cassettes etc in a flood with collectibles insurance through an insurance company I'm very aware of doesn't cover for flood loss when a storm surge is involved - in other words, if it can be classed as an ocean based / tidal at all, even if the lake or waterway nearby from which the flood originated is several kilometers from the ocean, then they won't cover a thing. If you didn't know exactly what the company defined as "storm surge" by looking up their definitions in their product disclosure statement which won't tell you everything - you kind of have to read between the lines (and if you ask service staff that work for insurance companies to define things they usually won't give you straight answers when you ask about certain scenarios either. You'll usually get a "we can't work on hypotheticals, we deal with claims on a case-by-case basis" ...it's what they're trained to tell you) then you'd have no idea of this fact.

This is one example of why you need to be very very careful with standard home contents insurance policies collectible insurance as well as any type of collectibles insurance , it doesn't matter how much extra you're paying for it - if they can find a loophole to get out of paying a claim based on their definitions of coverage and their interpretation of these definitions at the time of your claim for loss or damage then they will use that loophole to get out of paying a cent.

Really interesting answers but I'm still lost as to what kind of insurance I should get. I have a big BJD collection, but all my limited SDs were gotten from the 2nd hand market and I lost the messages I had with the sellers (I had to delete them because my box was full) so I don't have proof for the most important ones unless they accept looking for the doll online and their retail price.

 

I need an insurance that also adds "doll clothes, shoes, eyes, wigs" since I think I have spent more money on those than on dolls. The good thing is that I save ALL the email confirmations of all the orders I make but not for second hand items.

 

My biggest fear is fire and theft. I live in an old apartment and in a neighborhood that it is not that good. Someone broke into my brother's apartment and stole all his video game collection, computer, tv etc, and we don't live that far away from each other. My only hope is that the thieves don't care about the dolls and leave them....I don't care if they steal anything else but not my dolls please!

 

For fire protection, I was planning on getting a huge fire safety box but I believe that thing will be so heavy and I live on a 6th floor lol I'm also moving every year *sighs* I also have to travel a lot and that means living my dolls alone....

 

I'm worried now.

I should really...probably insure my dolls.