Insuring a painting

The hanging is your responsibility, not the policy’s

After a fall, the loss adjuster’s first question is what the work was hanging on. A rail system with two supporting points in a load-bearing wall rarely leads to argument. A single nail in plasterboard or a rusted eye screw in an old frame does. Have heavier works fitted with new hanging fixtures by a framer and keep the invoice. Where the fixing was demonstrably inadequate, payment can be reduced or refused altogether.

Where you hang it determines what goes wrong

Above an open fire a canvas takes soot and heat, on an outside wall damp works through the stretcher, in the bathroom paper cockles, and by a south-facing window pigment fades within a few years. None of those types of damage is insured. On acceptance an insurer sometimes looks at the position and may attach a clause to it. Hang valuable work out of direct sunlight and away from sources of heat.

The frame, the glass and the mount count separately

With older works the original frame is sometimes an object to be valued in its own right. If only the frame breaks, the sum insured on the painting says little about that loss. Have an antique frame described separately. With works on paper the glazing is also functional: UV-filtering glass slows fading, but the shards of ordinary glass damage the sheet beneath in a fall, and that repair is expensive.

Moving house and refurbishment are the risky moments

The moment a work comes off the wall is the moment it gets damaged. Report a house move in advance, because transport falls under a separate section and not under the ordinary cover at the address. Never let a handyman or decorator take works down. If they cause damage, you depend on their liability under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code and on their terms and conditions, which almost always limit it.

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.

Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code

Build your file when you buy, not when you claim

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.