At what point does Lego become valuable enough ...

[Boulderer]

... to become worthy of listing for insurance purposes, or for listing in a will?

We were discussing the extent of the ever increasing boxes of Lego, this weekend, when the subject of value came up. After the numbers started adding up, and up, the subject of insurance was raised. Would an insurance company believe us, AFOL's, in the event of a not insignificant claim? Or should we be listing everything now, before we end up having to find out?

So, I thought I'd ask the EB community a few questions:

Do you have your Lego insured?

If so, is it specifically listed with your insurer?

More morbidly, has anyone specifically mentioned Lego in a will or similar legal document?

Might make an interesting poll at some point too.

[Mutant Orc]

Ooo, what an interesting question. I'm afraid I can't answer it myself, but I'm curious to see what the comments and answers will be..!

[62Bricks]

...Would an insurance company believe us, AFOL's, in the event of a not insignificant claim?

In the case of an actual claim, you would have to substantiate either the market or replacement value of the collection (depending on the type of insurance coverage you have) so there would be no question of whether the insurance company believed you. The secondary market is large enough to document what it would cost to replace your sets.

[dirk]

upon my death, my will directs the executor of my estate to cremate my entire lego collection, and then spread the ashes all over Europe.

[rodiziorobs]

I know of someone (a friend of a close friend) whose home was robbed, and all his valuables were taken, including his Lego.

Luckily, he had renter's insurance, and had detailed in his policy each set and its current market value. When the benefit from the claim came, the insurance company had paid to replace all the items that were stolen--including the Lego.

[Henrik Ludvigsen]

I have a speciel insurance, which covers all my LEGO (most of the LEGO are train tracks and old vintage set...). The insurance Company receive a list with every thing twice a year - I have to Update the list everytime I buy a new set. Because 95% of the collection not Can be bought again the insurance Company had a toy expert from Christie's made a insurance value based on valuation at an auction.

For example I have every train in MISB box from the start to 1982 and over 125.000 old blue tracks. Where should you buy this again today ? It is not possible I Think. I also had to install a burglar alarm with live video to the alarmcompany.

Henrik

[Maxim I]

Very interesting question that I asked myself already a few times. Most of my lego's are not coming from sets but are parts that were bricklinked or obtained through other ways. So I am really looking forward to hear what members with experience in this matter are going to say :)

[jluck]

I have a speciel insurance, which covers all my LEGO (most of the LEGO are train tracks and old vintage set...). The insurance Company receive a list with every thing twice a year - I have to Update the list everytime I buy a new set. Because 95% of the collection not Can be bought again the insurance Company had a toy expert from Christie's made a insurance value based on valuation at an auction.

For example I have every train in MISB box from the start to 1982 and over 125.000 old blue tracks. Where should you buy this again today ? It is not possible I Think. I also had to install a burglar alarm with live video to the alarmcompany.

Henrik

Holy cow! That is a collection! I guess Christie's would not be interested in my 1 tub of bricks and 100 minifigures I think the best idea is to send an itemized list to the insurance company. My violin is highly valuable, so that alone was instinctive enough for me to tell insurance exactly what I had in my home.

Edited September 1, 2014 by jluckhaupt

[TheLegoDr]

Good idea. I should look into this also.

I always wondered what to do to prove you have these sets...why yes, Insurance company, I do have 20 copies of Cafe Corner

But seriously, how do you "prove" anything? That is my concern. I do have a lot of older sets and expensive figures and whatnot.

[Chilis]

I do have 20 copies of Cafe Corner

You`ve GOT to be kidding!?

Insurance is my everyday work. Take pictures of everything in your home. Make a _list_ of your _collections_. Brickset is a very good place to keep it. You can also import your list to Excel. Remember to have a high enough amount of home contents insurance, it needs to be high enough to cover all of your inventory. Important! Save the pictures secure by keeping them online, like Dropbox or iCloud.

[obsidianheart]

Had to do this with my video game collection back in '05. Then my personal circumstances changed dramatically and the economy took a hit and I just cancelled the policy and sold a lot of the high-dollar stuff (albeit for substantially less than I would have gotten if I just sold them in '05). I've thought about it with my LEGO collection, but I really don't have many of the sought-after sets.

[CrazyDalton777]

I was left some classic space and town sets in a will from my grandpa. It was scary because he died before my birth and it said "To my wife Sylvia I leave my LEGO collection to hold for the younger generation".

[alois]

The answer is quite simple. Insurance is only needed if you cannot replace the stolen/damaged/destroyed items with your own money. This is a rule not only for lego, but for all insurances. That's why you have to have a liability insurance with your car, because almost all people will not be able to pay for the maximal damage one can inflict with a car. Same for your health. If you have enough money to replace your Lego, don't insure it (Or spend the money on Lego and insure it anyway ). In the end this will make your life cheaper, statistically speaking.

[Boulderer]

All very interesting answers, thank you.

Has anyone had any issues with convincing insurers that you own Lego to the value of 000's (as I'm sure many on here do), at the age of 30, 40, 50, 60+?

Having photographic evidence and a comprehensive inventory is great advice, and should counter any doubts. However, I'd imagine that even this level of records would still require that the items be pre-registered with an insurer.

I've known similar situations with sports equipment, in particular climbing gear, where photographs have proven enough evidence for insurers to pay out. However, these items are far more "normal" for an adult to be in possession of.