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Original poster

If you bought something cheap that has surprisingly soared in value would you

35 replies

Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:06

insure it ?

even if it increases your insurance policy by £130 annually?

OP posts:
AllieBongo · 20/05/2006 10:07

depends how much it's worth.. well, what is it then?

zippitippitoes · 20/05/2006 10:07

sellit?

GeorginaA · 20/05/2006 10:08

It would depend if it would ever need replacing if lost or broken.

Actually, no I would insure it. If you have to make a claim and the insurance company declares you underinsured they'll reduce your payout by the same amount across the board regardless of whether you're claiming the full amount or on the item that sent you over...

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:11

its a painting .. its unframed and hangs above one of our couches .. but the kids never seem to touch it

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Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:12

Georgina .. having never claimed off insurance I'm not sure I understand your comment .. please explain

if, say .. we have a break-in and painting gets nicked along with tv would that mean we wouldn't get tv replaced?

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AllieBongo · 20/05/2006 10:16

i think if it's something that is of great value and can't be replaced and you can afford the extra then I would insure it. With my current financial situation i would floggit

hub2dee · 20/05/2006 10:19

I can guess it. Grin

GeorginaA · 20/05/2006 10:19

Say you've told them your entire housing contents are worth £25k and that's the basis you're insured on. You make a claim (say there was a break in and you lost 5k worth of stuff). Loss adjuster comes along, has a look around and says, "sorry Mr & Mrs Twiglett - but the value of your contents is actually £50k - you're under insured". The insurance company will now only pay out 50% of your claim (as you were under-insured by 50%) - so you'll only get £2.5k paid out.

Now, bear in mind that it's early on a Saturday so my numbers might be skewed - but that's the principle.

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:20

the thing is .. to us its worth what we paid for it

and just because I have seen a gallery of artist's work with far higher prices doesn't really mean this is worth the same does it?

anyway the bloke seems quite prodigious and is still alive so he could be flooding the market

I suppose art is only worth what someone will pay for it ... so maybe I should keep in my head that its worth $100

OP posts:
zippitippitoes · 20/05/2006 10:22

it's highly unlike;ly the loss adjuster would clock it as being worth anything..

Grintoday's insult to your taste!

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:23

hey hey Hub .. would you insure the lady with the big boobies or not then?

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GeorginaA · 20/05/2006 10:23

Have you got a receipt somewhere which shows you paid $100 for it? That might be okay (as long as you didn't try and claim for it being higher).

The other option would be to get someone to value it for you. I didn't deal with contents insurance (worked in property market insurance) so not sure how paintings and other items that increase in value are dealt with.

I agree that just because other of his paintings are selling for higher doesn't necessarily mean that yours is worth that - you'd need an art dealer to value it and give you a written valuation for insurance purposes I think (at least I had to do the equivalent for a couple of items of jewellry my grandmother gave me).

GeorginaA · 20/05/2006 10:35

Having read up I don't think "what we paid for it" covers it.

The example I just read was if you bought a TV in a sale at £500 you still have to insure it at its REPLACEMENT cost of £700 (as most policies are now new for old). I.e. it's not about how much it cost but how much it would be to replace - so I imagine the painting issue would be the same?

Also, from what I can tell, standard home contents policies don't deal with artwork or antiques or heirlooms very well. It may well be worth investigating insurance on that one item with a specialist insurer.

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:40

how do you get art valued then?

we have a couple of pieces from vietnam as well which I like more but have no idea what they are worth financially

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GeorginaA · 20/05/2006 10:41

Sorry, I don't really know :( Local art gallery perhaps? Check yellow pages for a local art dealer?

Hopefully someone who knows art stuff will post!

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:42

hu-ub .. here huby huby .. hubster where ya gone?

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jampots · 20/05/2006 10:42

Is it |Rolf Harris? My sister has bought various of his paintings and in particular a horrid one and its worth loads more now

Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:43

hub knows ever'thing about ever'thing Grin

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Original poster
Twiglett · 20/05/2006 10:43

rofl at rolf Grin

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jampots · 20/05/2006 10:44
Grin
zippitippitoes · 20/05/2006 10:45

I bought a dutch watercolour at an auction for 350.00 and sold it at auction for 1150.00

AllieBongo · 20/05/2006 10:49

look under local auctioneers and valuers or, check if "The Road Show" is coming your way..

zippitippitoes · 20/05/2006 10:51

I don't think you will really know unless you sell it..what about the gallery you bought it from for a valuation?

DominiConnor · 20/05/2006 11:06

On average one loses by insurance, else the firms would go out of business.
Also just because it is stolen, lost or destroyed, does not mean you will get paid it's value.
There are a lot of very hard nosed people at insurers who's only work is to stop people getting paid.
Even if you don't fall foul of their many exclusion clauses, they may well still just say "you must have left the window open", or something, and put the onus upon you to prove it.

Thus you should only insure in one of two cases.
You know that the insurer has miscalculated the risk. This does happen, but they do this for a living so it's not a good bet usually.

The loss would be catastrophic, such as your house burning down which you could not afford to rebuild out of your cash flow.
If our electronics were stolen, then I'd be annoyed, but we'd just buy new ones, which will of course be better. No one is going to steal my clothes (trust me on this), yet the replacement value of most people's clothes is more than their electronics.
Also you will have a big fight with the insurer about producing receipts, and of course they try to pay the "value" of the goods stolen, which is only a fraction of replacement.

Insuring paintings etc is just buying trouble. People who trade art for a living find it very hard to get prices right. The insurer won't say "ooh a genuince Connor, must have doubled what you paid for it".
Also the margins on art are a lot more than other things you buy. Mark ups of 50% aren't exactly rare. Thus the price you could sell the picture for is a lot less than what you would have to pay to get it. Guess which the insurer will offer ?
Thery may also claim that you took the pciture away and sold it yourself. How do you prove that negative ?

hub2dee · 20/05/2006 11:17

Sorry, was digging a hole.

I'd check your max item limit and see if you're OK with that sum as a compromise. Otherwise, adding this named item (presuming a few K) shouldn't (IMHO) give rise to a premium hike of £130 assuming your home has other reasonable security IYSWIM.