Do you have insurance for your lego collection?

[mutley777]

The size of my collection and rareity of some of my star wars sets has got me thinking that maybe i should put my lego on the house insurance. Has anybody here already done this as i know there are some very large and rare collections here on EB.

[Starwars4J]

Nah...believe it or not I have more important things than Lego that I would care about in my house. I don't really have that many valuable parts though...

[Dfenz]

Nah...believe it or not I have more important things than Lego that I would care about in my house. I don't really have that many valuable parts though...

There was a discussion on this topic last week on Bricklink under the thread description "Did anybody ever lose their Lego in a fire?" I insured my collection for the first time last year as part of the household contents simply because I was worried about the unusual nature of the collection and the fact that there was a real risk of underinsurance. While I only started collecting a few years ago I believe I have the entire Harry Potter and Star Wars range together with a significant amount of other sets, many of which, while of new vintage are fairly large. I compiled a list of all my sets and valued them using local store, LS@H or Bricklink prices depending on availability and adding estimated postage costs where relevant (a not insignificant cost where most sets are cheaper overseas). I specifically named the collection on the policy at the renewal date. The insurance company reverted asking for a valuation so I simply provided them with my own valuation list. They never reverted so presumably they were happy with the methodology.

The biggest shock was that when I totalled the figures it was about 3 times higher than I had estimated before I started the list and well into 5 digits!!!! This is probably not suprising when you consider that UCS Star Wars sets cost a small fortune these days and are extremely expensive to replace.

regards

David

[Rayden]

Nope, nothing insure and probably don't plan to.

In Belgium you have the option of taking a fire insurance based on the ammount of rooms you have. Then they calculate a certain ammount which you are covered for. For some reason, this is about double or triple the ammount of the actual value of all your belongings.

I hope it never happens, but should it ever burn down, insurrance will pay me enough to buy pretty much all I want. From a huge tv to all the Lego I'll ever need. :-D

[dunamis]

Interesting discussion as I have had the same thoughts. I recently had a water leak in my house. Fortunately, it did not get any of the areas where I store my LEGO. I do have a number of MISB sets and could just imagine if they got wet. Sure, the LEGO pieces would be fine, but the value of the set would decrease significantly (not to mention losing the manual and sticker sheet).

I do have an electronic list of all my sets. I will probably go through the exercise of trying to assign a value to each set and finding the total value of the collection. It is probably worth putting it on file with the insurance company along with digital photos of the boxes just for proof.

[Zaktan of the Shadows]

Hm, maybe I can try that...

-ZotS

[Optimax X]

Na, no offence, but that's getting slightly weird and paranoid. If your scared about someone breaking in and nicking it, a good lock, a burgalar alarm and CCTV (all that i have) would work fine.

Of course, the mine feild, vicious dog and robot with missile launcher are all optinal extras. :-D

[Hinckley]

The size of my collection and rareity of some of my star wars sets has got me thinking that maybe i should put my lego on the house insurance. Has anybody here already done this as i know there are some very large and rare collections here on EB.

We added my collection to the home insurance this year. I put all of my sets in a spreadsheet and even went through my eBay and Bricklink purchases and added those as well. I added fields for the pieces too.

Yikes, it's scary how many pieces and the MSRP of my collection!

[5150 Lego]

Na, no offence, but that's getting slightly weird and paranoid. If your scared about someone breaking in and nicking it, a good lock, a burgalar alarm and CCTV (all that i have) would work fine.

Of course, the mine feild, vicious dog and robot with missile launcher are all optinal extras. :-D

You have to remeber though that some people have been collecting longer that you and even I have been alive. I have alot of misalanious parts that my brother handed down to me from when they were kids ( i'm 25 now). Many have sets that are discontinued, and are very rare. (like the locomotive that hobbes recently did a review on). I know my collection is worth somwhere between 3, to $5,000 and thats counting the sets that are put toeghter right now and just collecting in in the last couple of years. I can imagine what others that have spent. Espeacally the ones that have all the starwars collection.

To the people that might think that insuring lego is a little "extreme" or "wierd". whats the differnce than insuring any other house hold posetions in your home? granted it not considered a household item of nessaity, but it is considered a valued postion to many. espeacially to the ALFC.

I myself don't have my collection insured, but i might look into it now.

[Starwars4J]

Well, it's not that I think it's silly to insure Lego, I just don't have anything of mine insured. I figure it's a waste of money. By the time I'd take advantage of it, the money I've put in insurance likely would have outweighed the policy, and besides...Lego can be replaced, it's the memories that go with them that are more important to me.

Also, I'm a cheapskate.

[Hinckley]

Well, it's not that I think it's silly to insure Lego, I just don't have anything of mine insured. I figure it's a waste of money. By the time I'd take advantage of it, the money I've put in insurance likely would have outweighed the policy,

You should get renter's/homeowner's insurance. You may have the money to replace a LEGO collections but if there's a fire you lose everything.

I don't mean to be patronizing, but you should look into insurance. It's not a waste of money. If there were a fire right now and you lost everything you had, how else would you replace it?

[Starwars4J]

Not patronizing at all, in fact there's no such thing as too much good advice :-P I definitely will look into it...but I'm still in college, and most of my lego is still home (which I visit as often as I can *wub* ), and I believe it's covered under that. But when I buy my own house I'll be sure to. As well as flood insurance (which I believe isn't covered under general homeowners insurance, right?)

[Hinckley]

Not patronizing at all, in fact there's no such thing as too much good advice :-P I definitely will look into it...but I'm still in college, and most of my lego is still home (which I visit as often as I can *wub* ), and I believe it's covered under that. But when I buy my own house I'll be sure to. As well as flood insurance (which I believe isn't covered under general homeowners insurance, right?)

I think it depends on the flood certificate on the property's title. or something... *wacko*

If you move into a college apartment you can get a renter's insurance policy for $14 a month or so. At least that's what it was like when I was in college...9 years ago. It might be more expensive now.

Even if you don't insure your LEGO, you should insure your other stuff.

Thanks for listening to my advice!

X-D

[oo7]

Yes, Insurance=Good, and if you have much Lego including in your Cash value inventory would be a wise move. But I'm only 14 so no need to worry about that yet. :-)

As well as flood insurance (which I believe isn't covered under general homeowners insurance, right?)

Most insurers in the US don't provide flood insurance in accordance to the risk factors established in some portions of the nation. The US government then created the controversial National Flood Insurance Program in response to this, but it seems that is only for a last resort.......Luckily my home is located 450 feet above sea level so I don't have worry about this either......So no, it's not usually covered.

[5150 Lego]

Well, it's not that I think it's silly to insure Lego, I just don't have anything of mine insured. I figure it's a waste of money. By the time I'd take advantage of it, the money I've put in insurance likely would have outweighed the policy, and besides...Lego can be replaced, it's the memories that go with them that are more important to me.

Agreed. I'd be sad if i lost my lego collection in a fire or what not, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either. But it would be nice to have some help to rebuild that collection. ;-)

[dunamis]

Keep in mind that you don't have to be in a flood to have your collection get wet. As I mentioned, I had a leak in a pipe that caused a significant amount of damage to my house. I had to rip out a wall, a bathroom sink and cabinet, about 200 square feet of wood floor, 50 square feet of ceramic tile, etc. This all happened in January and I'm still not put back together. It will probably be May before everything is all done. Total cost to remediate > $20,000. My cost = my $2,000 deductable on my INSURANCE policy.

Now, I was lucky. I have a couple of storage cabinets where I keep a lot of my MISB sets. Had the leak happened in that wall instead of the bathroom wall, it would have soaked all of those sets.

Just something to keep in mind. It doesn't make sense for everyone.

[mutley777]

Well the reason i started this thread was because my collection is worth around

[dunamis]

It is the same here in the US. You need an additional 'rider' on your insurance policy to cover collectibles, jewlery, etc. Depending on the insurance carrier you are insured up to a certain dollar amount on those things, like $2,500 or so and after that you need the rider.

That is why I am considering pricing out my collection and adding it to my policy. I have no idea what it is worth but I suspect it is approaching $10K. Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain this to the wife once I add it to the policy :-P Once she hears that, she'll want me to sell it so we can start building a pool...

[Dark Brick]

This is definitely an engaging subject matter Muttley. You made a man think. Although I do have renter's insurance and an additional amount to insure my computers, but I never thought of insuring my LEGOs.

I guess I just did not think this was necessary until now. I have been keeping tabs on what I have through Peeron and let me tell you that I have over $5000US worth of sets from thier original MSRP(not counting current market value as a collectible and that some are almost 2 decades old or for that matter all the loose pieces that I have picked up over the years).

With that said, I technically have them insured, but I may just upgrade my insurance on the next renewal when that time comes. I will also put in my video game collection into this addon as I hold some rare games that I love to bits.

In case anyone is curious, my insurance cost was about $200US for the year. This is worth every penny to me.

DB

[Ras 74]

Nice thread!

I did have an insurance. But right now (as some knows) my collection is in a ware house that has good insurance, so I don

[CopMike]

RAS - where is that wharehouse of yours again >:-)?

Grow On

copmike

[jngunsw]

welll i count them as part of my home content ^^

would rather to spend the $$ to buy extra lego ^^

if u r a thief.... dun think u would wanna carry lego around i guess

Edited May 28, 2007 by Hobbes