Fine Art Insurance Ontario

Insurance for Fine Art Collectors in Ontario 

Fine art is a financial investment that can also be incredibly personal and nostalgic. It has the power to move us emotionally, which puts it in a different category than other, more pedestrian items in our homes. Whether you’ve got a new collectors’ piece that is the envy of the art world or you are particularly attached to a certain piece of art for sentimental reasons, you want to know that you can at least recoup the financial loss in the event of a disaster such as fire, flood or theft. That’s why fine art insurance is the investment you need to protect your investment. Rely on the experienced fine art insurance brokers at Morison Insurance to seek out the right coverage so you can rest easy knowing your fine art collection is backed with solid protection against financial loss. 

What Is a Fine Art Insurance Policy? 

A fine art insurance policy is specialized protection for valuable fine art, including sculptures, statues, memorabilia, sports collections, antiquities and other items or collections. Fine art insurance is not one-size-fits-all; it is carefully curated to the specific requirements of individual art owners. Fine art insurance is security for prized art against losses such as fire, theft, accidental loss, accidental damage, natural disasters, shipping and more. 

If your fine art is damaged, destroyed or lost due to a peril that is covered by your fine art insurance policy, you are eligible to file a claim and receive compensation from your insurance company to restore or replace the affected artwork, up to the coverage limit listed on your policy. 

Who Is Fine Art Insurance Right For? 

Fine art insurance is for owners of valuable art objects. While a home insurance policy does provide coverage for art, protection is in the contents portion of the policy, and coverage is limited. If you have valuable fine art, standard residential insurance will fall far short in providing adequate financial protection. Fine art insurance is tailored to meet your particular requirements—it can protect one item or an entire collection, and protection can be global. 

Assistance from a fine art insurance broker is highly recommended. A fine art insurance expert can guide you to insurance suited to your unique items. Your broker will ask about your art, its value, where it is kept, potential risks and more. Purchasing fine art insurance is a collaborative effort between a policyholder and a specialized fine art insurance broker with the expertise to ensure suitable protection. 

Why Do I Need to Insure My Fine Arts Collection? 

Fine art can be precious both monetarily and sentimentally, and fine art insurance provides financial protection in case of events such as theft, fire, damage or accidental loss. For example, if you are a private collector with a large or small private collection of exceptional, one-of-a-kind art, you will want to be sure your investments are protected. Or, perhaps you own valuable art that is priceless to you for nostalgic reasons. In these situations, having your items suitably insured is essential. Protecting your valuable collections and expensive pieces with fine art insurance can provide both financial security and peace of mind. 

What Qualifies as Fine Art? 

This question has been debated by artists and scholars for thousands of years, and the answer depends on everything from cultural standards to personal inspiration. Fine art is generally considered to be works created exclusively for aesthetic purposes with no utilitarian value, but even that simple definition has exceptions. While no one can provide a definitive answer from an aesthetic perspective, when we look at it from an insurance perspective, there is a wide range of art types that can qualify as fine art and be covered by fine art insurance. Ontario policyholders should be aware that includes, but is not limited to, high-value items such as: 

• Paintings  
• Drawings 
• Sculptures 
• Statues 
• Ceramics and pottery 
• Tapestries and textiles 
• Photographs 
• Antiques 
• Relics and artifacts 
• Memorabilia 
• Prints and illustrations 
• Glass art 
• Mosaics 
• Metalwork 
• Installations of site-specific artwork 

If you are unsure if you should have fine art insurance coverage, speak to a Morison Insurance broker who will help determine if you could benefit from this protection.  

What Types of Coverage Are Available For Fine Art Insurance? 

Fine art insurance offers various coverage choices with policies crafted for your individual needs. Coverage options and services can include: 

• Protection after a loss due to accident, fire, theft, natural disaster, accidental loss, accidental damage and more 
• Coverage to the appraised value of an item or items 
• Blanket coverage or individualized coverage 
• No deductible coverage 
• Agreed-value protection 
• Appraisals are not required on fine art valued under $250,000 
• Flexible, global coverage 
• Coverage during shipping and transit 
• Repair and restoration 
• Protection while an item or items are loaned or stored 
• Protection for items or items when not in your home 
• Trusted and timely claims support 
• Automatic coverage for new items 
• Appraisal support 
• Guidance and tips for caring for your art 
• Advice about displaying, storing and moving your art 
• Guidance from art insurance specialists on risk mitigation, including fire protection and security 
• Tips to avoid water damage, a significant source of loss for fine art 
• Tips to prevent damage, accidental breakage and transit losses—significant risk factors for fine art objects 

If you are unsure of what coverages you require for your specific circumstances, a Morison Insurance broker will help walk you through your coverage options and provide recommendations to ensure your fine art is property protected.  

Does My Homeowners Insurance protect My Art Collection? 

There are two options for fine art insurance: Schedule your art on your homeowners policy or purchase a stand-alone fine art insurance policy. 

Scheduling art objects on your homeowner's policy involves listing these items separately and purchasing coverage for each scheduled item. Scheduling is sometimes also called a floater or an insurance rider. Scheduling items increases your insurance coverage and costs; however, your art objects can be better protected in the event of an insured loss. 

A typical homeowner’s policy is designed primarily to protect your home, personal liability, and the general contents of your home. Relying solely on your homeowner’s policy may mean paying significant out-of-pocket expenses if your artwork is lost, stolen or damaged. Fine art insurance policies provide “all-risk” coverage for most causes of loss, with no deductible. Homeowners insurance protects art under the contents portion of a residential policy up to a specified limit. If you have expensive art, you will probably need more coverage than is provided in a standard homeowner's policy. 

It’s worth noting that some residential policies may exclude fine art. Additionally, some home policies have a per-item maximum, meaning claims can be capped to a specific amount of money per item as outlined in the policy. Suppose you have expensive art and experience an insured loss such as a fire. In that case, you will receive monetary compensation only to the limit as stated in the policy, which may be far less than your contents' value, particularly if your contents include expensive fine art. Many homeowner’s policies exclude coverage for the breakage of fragile items like crystal, china and porcelain. The right insurance policy will automatically cover you for breakage. 

A Morison Insurance broker will help determine the best way to protect your high-value items by providing various fine art insurance quotes tailored to your specific needs. 

What Are The Benefits Of Scheduling Fine Art On a Home Insurance Policy? 

Scheduling fine art on your home insurance policy can be uniquely crafted for your art and needs. Coverage can be blanket for a whole collection, scheduled to list and insure items separately, or a combination of these two. Signature fine art insurance policies can offer a wide range of options, such as:

• Worldwide coverage
• No deductible
• Automatic coverage for new art for up to 90 days
• Access to in-house art services from the insurance company
• A risk assessment of your home
• Risk mitigation tips
• Restoration of items
• Transportation coverage, such as when in transit to another location, a gallery or auction house

Does Fine Art Insurance Include Coverage for Mold and Other Types of Moisture Damage? 

A typical fine art insurance policy does not cover water damage, whether the water comes from overground flooding, excessive rainfall, plumbing leaks, sewage backups or simply high levels of humidity that create the perfect environment for mold to form. However, some insurance companies do offer endorsements for fine art insurance. Ontario policyholders who have particular concerns about the possibility of moisture damage should speak to a qualified fine art insurance broker at Morison Insurance about the options available. It is important to keep in mind that endorsements usually apply to specific types of water or moisture incursion. For example, an endorsement for overland flooding would not typically include sewage backups, and vice versa. Therefore, getting multiple endorsements for protection against multiple sources of water incursion is necessary. 

Whether or not you opt to include water damage protection endorsements on your fine art insurance policy, it's prudent to take steps to ensure your fine art is safe from mold and other types of moisture damage—especially for art that is one-of-a-kind or would otherwise be extremely difficult to replace. Mold, for example, can only begin to grow in damp conditions and that includes a humid room, so it makes good sense to keep your fine art in a climate-controlled space with low humidity.  

What's the First Step in Insuring My Art Collection? 

The first step to insuring your art collection is to speak with a fine art insurance broker for advice on the best protection for your items. Depending on your art and protection needs, scheduling items on your home policy may be appropriate. However, if your fine art requires special insurance care and broader coverage, a fine art insurance specialist is trained to assist you. 

Our fine art insurance brokers provide personal signature service. Expect us to focus on you, your art and your protection needs. Provide your fine art insurance broker with a detailed inventory list of your fine art collection. We will contact leading fine art insurance markets to get you numerous coverage options and quotes, and our brokers will discuss each of these with you. We will explain the coverages provided by each company and the pricing that is offered so you can make an informed choice. We aim to secure fine art insurance Ontario policyholders can rely on. Your policy will be tailored to your needs at a competitive price to deliver peace of mind protection. 

How Much Does Fine Art Insurance Cost? 

The cost of fine art insurance depends on the art—value and collection size, for example—that is being insured. Additional considerations can include: 

• Security for your fine art 
• Whether you loan out your art 
• How attractive your art is to thieves 
• Whether you are a collector or an investor 
• Legality of materials such as ivory 
• The use of contemporary materials 
• Whether the artist is living or deceased 
• How old the artwork is 
• The condition of the artwork 
• Your insurance claims history 
• And more 

A fine art insurance broker at Morison Insurance can answer any questions you may have with regard to coverage and cost for your fine art insurance. Ontario brokers at Morison Insurance have the experience and expertise to ask you the right questions and gather all the pertinent information so insurance companies have what they need to provide a thorough, reliable fine art insurance quote. 

Should I Have My Fine Art Appraised? 

Insurers and owners of fine art get appraisals to establish the value of an item or items, and to determine suitable insurance coverage. Appraisals should be done by qualified appraisers. A fine art insurance broker can discuss appraisal needs for insurance purposes with you. 

Some collectors are uncertain about the need for an appraisal, especially if they purchased the artwork themselves. But the amount you paid for any given piece of art isn't necessarily going to align with the appraised value. If you have one or more pieces of art in your collection that are not properly appraised, you could end up not being able to receive the full value of the art from your fine art insurance claim—or you could pay more for your insurance premiums than is really necessary based on the true value of your art.  

How Should I Inventory My Collection for Fine Art Insurance Purposes? 

Whether you have a massive collection of hundreds of pieces of art or a small collection composed of just a few cherished pieces, it's highly recommended that you make sure each piece is thoroughly inventoried for the purpose of fine art insurance. Ontario policyholders don't always follow through on this step, but it can really save you a lot of stress and go a long way toward ensuring you are able to receive the insurance compensation you need to restore or replace a piece if it is damaged or destroyed. 

Suppose the worst happens and a fire tears through your home, destroying your fine art collection along with pretty much everything else you own. The days and weeks that follow will be highly stressful, and you certainly don't need the added stress of trying to remember all the details about your collection so you can file a claim on your fine art insurance. Ontario brokers recommend an inventory list because it reduces the hassle in an awful situation. Instead of struggling to come up with all the pertinent details, you can simply produce your inventory list and turn it over to your fine art insurance broker. But it's also really important to have a detailed inventory list available for the process of gathering quotes from insurance providers. There are many factors that go into determining fine art insurance premiums, so if you don't provide adequate detail, you may not get the coverage you need. 

Your inventory list should include more information than just the name of the item—in fact, the more information you can provide, the better. You can keep the list on an app, in a digital document or in hard copy, but it's best to keep it in multiple forms so you can access it in multiple ways. The first thing to consider adding to your inventory list is at least one high-resolution photo of each piece of artwork. If you are inventorying a painting, for example, it's best to include two photos: one of the front of the painting and, if possible, one of the back as it may include information that is pertinent to the valuation. You should also include: 

• Artist name 
• Title of the piece 
• Medium 
• Dimensions 
• Year of creation 
• Source 
• Date of purchase  
• Current condition of the artwork 
• Current location of the piece 
• Brief written description of the artwork 

If you have it available, attach the receipt from your purchase of the art to the list or include a photo of the receipt. You may not know all this information about each piece in your collection, so if that's the case, just include as much as you can. 

What Does My Fine Art Insurance Broker Need to Know About My Collection? 

Insuring your fine art can be straightforward and efficient with the help of a fine art insurance broker. Your broker is your guide and your expert. Our fine art insurance service starts with a discussion about your art and your protection needs. Questions you’ll be asked when your fine art insurance broker is investigating the appropriate insurance for your art items include: 

• Are you an art collector? 
• What types of art do you own—old masterpieces, contemporary art, sculptures, a collection, or other art pieces? 
• Do you keep your art at home, in storage, or on loan for display? 

Following this, we will reach out to the best fine art insurance companies to get you numerous quotes. We will review each quote with you and help you secure the fine art insurance that suits you. 

Why Should I Work With a Fine Art Insurance Broker? 

As brokers, we are independent insurance experts. We do not work for insurance companies. We work for our clients and provide insurance choices in a competitive sector. We review all quotes with you, and you can select the policy that best meets your needs. 

At Morison Insurance, you have a dedicated, customer-focused insurance broker who personally looks after you. Your fine art insurance broker is your trusted insurance specialist and is available whenever you need to make changes to your policy, have questions or have any concerns. We are also your advocates in case of a claim. We will communicate with the insurance company to help resolve your claim correctly and quickly. Your art is valuable, and your fine art insurance should provide peace-of-mind protection and hassle-free claims service. We are here for you. 

Where Can I Buy Fine Art Insurance? 

You can buy fine art insurance from Morison Insurance. We are fine art insurance experts who strive to provide the best insurance coverage and exceptional service. Get in touch by calling 1-800-463-8074 or filling out the form on our website. We look forward to helping ensure your fine art is properly protected.