Corporate collection · changing composition · loans
Insuring art and valuables for business through Chubb
Art in the workplace rarely falls under business contents insurance and is rarely valued correctly. For a corporate collection that is the whole problem.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Kunst en kostbaarheden zakelijk verzekeren via Chubb.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Finass Advies acts as broker and compares the offering of several insurers objectively. Chubb is one of them and is used, among other things, for corporate collections: art in offices, hotels, consulting rooms and boardrooms, and for valuables that do not fit on an ordinary business contents policy. Which company it turns out to be follows from the cover you need and the conditions, not from the name on the policy schedule. See also Chubb insurance.
The sticking point is valuation. A business contents insurance starts from replacement value: what it costs to buy the same thing new. With a unique work that concept does not exist. Art is also often carried in the books at its purchase value, while the market value years later is quite different. A collection that runs along as 'business contents' is therefore almost always underinsured.
A second difference from a private collection is the movement. Works move between sites, travel along in an office move, hang temporarily in a space open to the public or go out on loan. Each of those situations needs a provision of its own. For art dealers and galleries there is the further point that trading stock is something different from a collection of your own. The two do not belong in a single section. For the private side, see the valuables insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare valuables insurance.
What to look out for
Four points that lead to disputes with a corporate collection.
The list is the policy
Acceptance takes place on the basis of a collection schedule with the location, value and basis of value for each work. If that composition changes, it must be reported; new acquisitions usually fall under temporary automatic cover of limited amount and duration. After that, a work that has not been declared falls outside the cover, however generous the total sum insured.
Spaces open to the public
A work in a lobby, waiting area or restaurant is exposed to being touched, to vandalism and to spillages. Some policies impose requirements for screening or fixing, or apply a higher excess. Damage by visitors is also a liability question; the public and employers' liability insurance of the person responsible and your own policy become entangled at that point.
Misappropriation by your own people
Theft without signs of forced entry by staff, cleaners or agency workers is often excluded or limitedon commercial property policies, because a stocktaking difference cannot be distinguished from theft. Periodic counts and a watertight record of locations are not a formality here, but the condition for making such a loss plausible.
What is in no variant
Excluded are gradual effects of light, damp and temperature, damage caused by defective packaging during moves, and damage arising during restoration or treatment. A fall in value through the market or through a changed attribution is not damage either. Intent remains excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Total value of the collection: and the value of the most expensive single work
- Number of locations: each location is assessed separately
- Accessibility: a private office space or an area open to the public
- Security and detection: alarm, cameras, fixings and climate control
- Moves and loans: frequency and who carries out the transport
- Basis of value: valued, purchase value or market value at the date of loss
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Business contents insurance | Art and valuables policy |
|---|---|---|
| A painting in the boardroom is damaged by a leak from above | Provided that | Yes |
| When a loss occurs, a work turns out to be worth several times the purchase value in your books | No | Yes |
| A visitor knocks a sculpture off its plinth in the lobby | Provided that | Yes |
| A work is damaged during the move to another site | No | Provided that |
| A work on loan is damaged during an exhibition at a museum | No | Provided that |
| A canvas fades from years of sunlight in the meeting room | No | No |
Without a valuation per work, the right-hand column is also an estimate after the event, and then the discussion shifts from cover to amount.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Can our art not simply go on the business contents insurance?
Technically it can, but when a loss occurs it usually produces a disappointment. The business contents policy works with replacement value, and a unique work cannot be replaced. A sub-limit for art and antiques often applies as well. With a collection of any significance, a separate section or policy with a valued amount per work is the only way to avoid underinsurance.
What happens during an office move?
Moving is when most damage arises. Report the move in advance and check whether transport, interim storage and rehanging fall under the cover. At higher values many policies require a specialist art carrier and exclude damage from inadequate packing. For regular transport there is a transport insurance for art.
We lend works to a museum. Who insures them then?
The loan agreement settles that. The receiving party often insures them itself, but check the insured value, the excess and whether the cover includes transport there and back. If you continue the cover yourself, report the location and period to your insurer. Where there is no agreement, there is often no watertight cover during the exhibition.
Do I have to declare the provenance of works on the application?
State in any event what you know about earlier damage, restorations and the method of valuation. That falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code. A missing or incorrect declaration can reduce the payment under Article 7:930 DCC. A dispute about authenticity or ownership, incidentally, is not an insured loss, even if you report it.