A rare 1979 Wayne Gretzky rookie card sold for US$3.75 million in May 2021, marking a new world record for the most expensive hockey trading card ever. While that was a one-of-a-kind piece of sports memorabilia, there are lots of sports fanatics across Canada with vast collections or rare items – all of which hold immense sentimental and financial value, which is why protecting them with an insurance plan is an absolute must.
Whether you collect sports cards, jewelry, watches, fine art, coins, stamps, wine, or any other assets that hold strong sentimental and material value, it is important to safeguard these treasures with the right insurance coverage.
Historically, private collectors in Canada have not had many insurance options to play with. They could either work with an established high-net-worth (HNW) insurance carrier (but they’d typically have to fit a certain HNW risk profile to secure coverage), or they might get very limited coverage under a standard homeowners’ insurance policy. With such limited options, many private collectors to this day are either drastically underinsured or lacking coverage altogether.
However, there’s a new managing general agency (MGA) on the block that is ready to fill this coverage gap and provide insurance solutions for Canadians’ most prized assets. Private Collection Insurance has unique high-value item coverage plans that will protect anything from exquisite jewelry to luxury watches, stamp, coin, and wine collections from perils like theft, fire, flood, accidental breakage, and more.
“We wanted to build a company that specializes in understanding and protecting people’s passions, hobbies, and unique assets,” said the founder and president of Private Collection Insurance, who is himself an avid hockey card collector, who realized the value of his own collection (sat in boxes in his basement) when he revisited his old passion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first challenge for this new MGA is making private collectors realize they actually need insurance. The founder reflected: “I collect sports cards, and I spoke to some other collectors, and none of them had insurance. Some of them are sitting on millions of dollars worth of uninsured assets, and they don’t give it a second thought. But, working in the risk management industry, I don’t have that same pie in the sky optimism. I know that bad and unexpected things happen – we see it every day in this industry – and I wanted to make sure that private collectors are aware they’re not covered properly, and we want to provide that insurance service.”
This is a big opportunity for insurance brokers. Not only is this a significant coverage gap that needs filling – and one that is expected to grow in North America as collectibles appreciate in value – but also, it changes the broker-client conversation to something a lot more personal, which in turn has benefits for client retention, cross-selling, referrals, and business development.
“It’s a fun industry,” said the MGA founder. “Brokers will get to learn a lot about people and their hobbies and habits. For example, if you start talking to me about sports cards, I could go on for hours – and the same goes for wine collectors or coin collectors. It’s a different conversation, where a broker can really get to know their client on a more personal basis and understand what they’re passionate about.”
The coverage plans provided by Private Collection Insurance are also important for brokers from an errors and omissions (E&O) standpoint. The founder explained: “If something happens to your client’s jewelry collection or their wine collection, and you didn’t offer them this coverage, despite knowing it’s available, that could potentially result in an E&O claim because brokers are responsible for ensuring their clients are covered adequately. If brokers have clients with high-value items, and they don’t provide the proper advice on how to insure those items, they could ultimately be held liable for a loss.”
Private Collection Insurance is supported by Lloyd’s of London and will distribute its plans solely through Canadian brokers. The MGA is operational in Canada, with the intention of expanding into the United States in the near future.
“In the last few years, collectible items have grown astronomically in value,” said the founder. “Nothing’s going south, everything’s going north, and we want to provide brokers with another option to insure their customers’ high-value items. We don’t just offer the same cookie cutter products that everyone else does. We’re here to offer a competitive alternative solution in the marketplace, we enjoy challenges, and we’re very excited for the future.”
