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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Works of art are described individually and insured on the basis of a valuation by a specialist in the category concerned. A valuer who values household contents or antiques is not the right person for modern prints or for a sculpture, and insurers impose requirements on this. If the report is drawn up with the additional provision as intended in Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code, the amount is fixed for the term of the policy.
Two risks set art apart from other valuables. The first is movement: works go to a restorer, to an exhibition or out on loan, and it is precisely away from their permanent wall that most things happen. The second is loss of value after repair. A restored work is technically whole again, but fetches less on the market. Without a separate provision the policy pays only the restorer's invoice.
What the policy never covers is the value itself. If the market for an artist falls or an attribution turns out to be wrong, that is a financial risk and not a loss event. The same applies to gradual deterioration through light, damp or insects. What is insured is the sudden event. If a single work hangs on your wall, see also insuring a painting.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The essentials
Comprehensive
Damage, theft and loss of individually described works.
Theft and fire
Damage from falls and knocks
Transport and lending
The basis of value
Valuation and provenance
Origin and documentation help determine the value.
A specialist per category
Keep certificates
Loss of value after repair
The exclusion
Climate and hanging
Gradual deterioration is covered nowhere.
Light and damp
Craquelure
Unsound fixing
What is covered
Situation
Covered
Theft from the home
Yes
A fall from the wall despite sound hanging
Yes
Transport to a restorer, reported
Yes
Loss in value after restoration
Sometimes
Fading from sunlight or damp
No
Damage by insects
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Provenance is part of the insured value
Documentation of origin, auction catalogues, certificates of authenticity and correspondence with the gallery all help determine what a work fetches. If that documentation is lost in a fire while the work itself is saved, value has still disappeared in real terms. Keep the file digitally and in a second place away from the home, and have it recorded on the application which papers belong to which work. A valuer who has not seen the file values the work lower.
Loans and transport must be reported in advance
If a work goes to a museum or to a restorer, it leaves the environment for which the policy was accepted. Report that in advance and have it set out whether the cover continues wall to wall or whether the borrower insures the work itself; insuring twice costs premium without any extra protection. If you engage an art carrier, you can pursue him under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code , but his terms almost always limit that liability.
Repair costs and residual loss in value are two separate items
After a tear in a canvas the insurer pays the restorer. That the market then offers less for a repaired work is a second loss which is only paid if depreciation is included. That provision sets out how the difference is established, usually by two experts. Ask about it expressly for works where condition weighs heavily in the price, such as works on paper, photography and screen prints.
Authenticity is not an insured risk
If a work turns out not to be by the artist to whom it was attributed, nothing has been damaged and so there is no covered event. The same applies where a committee of experts withdraws an attribution. Anyone wanting to limit that risk does so in advance with research and warranties in the contract of sale, not with a policy. Do report a changed attribution to your insurer: the sum insured is then no longer right.
A valuation is only a valuation with the right basis of value
For protection against underinsurance, the report must be drawn up as referred to in Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code, with the additional provision on value. A dealer's value statement does not always meet that requirement. The amount is then fixed for the term of the valuation; if the valuation has expired at the time of the loss, you fall back on market value.
In the event of loss or theft, the first question is whether the item existed and what it was worth. Keep the purchase invoice with the serial number, the valuation report, the box and the papers, and photograph everything from several angles. Store that digitally and not only at home; after a fire or burglary that is often the only evidence left.
What does your premium depend on?
Valued amount and number of works — A collection of many works is assessed differently from a single key piece.
Category and fragility — Paper, photography and textiles are more sensitive than bronze or ceramics.
Security of the premises — Alarm grade, detection and whether the property is left empty for long periods.
Transport and loan — How often works leave the premises and whether that is for exhibitions abroad.
Area of cover — The permanent location only, or a stay elsewhere as well, inside or outside Europe.
Depreciation included — Cover for loss in value after restoration raises the premium noticeably.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Above a certain value per piece, yes. Below it insurers often work with a total amount and a specification of the most important works. Always have key pieces described individually with dimensions, technique, signature and a photograph. That is not just a question of premium: with partial damage to a collection, an individual description is the only thing an expert can fall back on.
A work is damaged at a museum. Who pays?
That depends on the loan agreement. Museums usually insure borrowed works themselves, wall to wall, and set that out in the contract. Where such a clause is missing, you remain dependent on your own policy and on whether you had reported the loan. Read the agreement before the work leaves the house, not afterwards.
Is loss of value after restoration reimbursed?
Only if depreciation is included. As standard the policy pays the restoration costs and that is where it stops, while a repaired work fetches less on the market than an undamaged example. The provision sets out how that difference is established and up to what proportion of the valued amount it is paid. Ask about it for works where condition determines the price.
Is damage from light or damp covered?
No. Fading, pigment bleeding, mould and insect damage count as gradual processes and fall outside every valuables policy. What is insured is the sudden event: fire, water from a burst pipe, theft or a fall. Climate control is therefore not an insurance matter but a question of management, and insurers do impose requirements on it for valuable collections.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
