The first thing to look at is why you want to insure the collection. This will not be the same for all museums/collections. For example if you have a collection showing the development of the sewing machine and one is stolen or destroyed you will probably want to purchase a replacement, so you want an all risks policy. On the other hand if you have an archaeological collection and the gold ring from context X or site ABC is stolen, there is nothing that you can replace it with, however you will still be interested in repairing objects that get damaged, so you would be looking for repair only insurance. If you feel that the collection is a financial asset of the organisation and that you have a duty to protect its financial value then insuring its full value is really the only option. If you decide to insure only part of the collection, or only part of its value then you need to make sure that the insurance company is clear that this is what you are doing. If they only find out about this when you make a claim they will very probably only pay out a proportion of your claim. As a caveat I should point out that English Heritage as a UK Government funded body is not allowed to insure its own collection. Trevor Reynolds Collections Registrar, English Heritage 37 Tanner Row, York, YO1 6WP tel: 01904 601905 ________________________________ From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Juetian Luo Sent: 18 January 2012 15:55 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Sensitive topic: Do you insure your collection? Dear colleagues, We are trying to get insurance coverage for our collection. I have a question: Is your museum's collection insured by commercial insurance agency? If so, do you buy insurance for all of your collection (i.e., 100% of the colln)? It is expensive to insure our entire collection of about 160,000 artefacts. We are thus reviewing how we could optimally insure the collection without paying through our nose. Does your museum have insurance coverage for a predetermined number of artefacts and not the entire colln? (or buy insurance only for a fraction of the collection's valuated price? I would like to have a sense of how other museums do it that will not compromise our obligation of accountability as custodian to the colln. I hope it's convenient for you to share a short note with me on what your museums do. I will also be happy if you wish to point me to any articles on this topic. I look forward to your advice, on or off line, whichever suits you better. Thank you in advance! - A registrar in distress. ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of English Heritage unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system and notify the sender immediately. Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it. Any information sent to English Heritage may become publicly available. Portico: your gateway to information on sites in the National Heritage Collection; have a look and tell us what you think. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/portico/ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).