I am hoping that someone will have some good suggestions for obtaining museum
coverage for the collections in our historic house museum.  Our local provider
has informed us that Travelers is cancelling their museum program in our area
because we are the only ones covered by it.  (The rest of our coverage will
remain in place).  We are the only museum our local provider works with, and
they tell us that other companies that specialize in fine arts coverage, such
as Chubb, are unwilling to carry us because we are in a high-risk (coastal)
area.  From my conversations with them, I suspect that they may simply be
unfamiliar with the museum insurance field, as I am certain that other
historic house museums located in rural or coastal areas must have adequate
coverage for collections.

Another reason given by our provider for their inability to obtain coverage is
that our collection is "too small" to interest premier insurance companies.
Although we have less than 500 objects, about half of them are antique decoys
appraised at over half a million dollars, and we also have an extensive
collection of Tiffany glass; about 20 pieces are valued at $25,000 each.  My
argument is that although we have relatively few objects, those which we have
are exceedingly valuable.  I should add that we are located on the Outer
Banks, and would be very grateful for any suggestions to help me resolve this
issue.

I have obtained handouts from several sessions of museum conferences that
focused on insurance for museums, but the information was tailored towards
what types of coverage to obtain rather than where to find it.

Thank you all in advance for any help you can provide.

Christian Carr
Curator
Whalehead Preservation Trust
Corolla, NC 27927

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