Antiques Collections
Personal Insurance › Private Client › Collections › Antiques
Antiques Insurance for Furniture, Heirlooms, and Rare Pieces
The pieces came from estates, auctions, and a few lucky finds - a writing desk, a set of chairs, a clock that has outlived everyone who owned it. Added up, your antiques are worth real money, and here is what most people miss: your homeowners policy treats them as ordinary furniture, with a limit and terms that ignore age, maker, and rarity.
Antiques insurance closes that gap. It covers the agreed value of each piece against the losses a homeowners policy was never built for. And it works best as one scheduled piece of a coordinated private client program, not a policy bought off to the side.
Why Your Homeowners Policy Falls Short on Antiques
Most homeowners policies do cover furniture and household goods, but not the way an antique collection needs.
- Treated as ordinary contents. Your antiques share a limit with everyday furniture, with no recognition of age, maker, or provenance.
- No agreed value. Homeowners pays depreciated value, which is the opposite of how an antique works - many appreciate over time.
- Accidental damage and breakage are limited. A cracked veneer, a dropped piece during a move, a broken leg on a chair - the everyday ways antiques are harmed are often excluded.
- Restoration is not addressed. A standard policy will not pay for proper restoration or the value lost even after a careful repair.
What Antiques Insurance Actually Covers
A dedicated policy works differently than homeowners. Here is what you get.
- Agreed value on every scheduled piece. You and the carrier set the value up front from a current appraisal, and that is what you are paid - no depreciation, no argument.
- All-risk coverage. Theft, fire, water, accidental damage, and breakage - the real ways antiques are lost or harmed, not just the few a homeowners policy allows.
- Coverage in transit and away from home. Your collection is covered while traveling, on display, and while shipped to a specialist or appraiser.
- Newly acquired pieces. Recent purchases are covered for a window before you update the schedule.
- Blanket and scheduled options. Schedule your most valuable pieces individually and blanket the rest under a single limit, often with low or no deductible.
What Collectors Need to Know About Insuring Antiques
A few things separate a collection that is protected from one that causes problems at claim time.
Appraisals and revaluation
Agreed value rests on a current appraisal that reflects age, maker, and condition. Markets move, so update values periodically to keep pace.
Documentation and provenance
Keep photographs, appraisals, receipts, and provenance records, stored off-site. Provenance affects both value and a smooth claim.
Handling, restoration, and environment
Most damage happens in motion or from humidity and light. Professional handling, proper restoration, and a stable environment protect the piece and its value.
How Grit Insures Antiques - As Part of Your Private Client Program
Grit is an independent brokerage, which means we are not pushing one company's policy. We place your coverage with the private client and specialty collections carriers we work with - Chubb, Vault, Cincinnati, and Selective, among other specialty markets - and match your collection to the one that fits it.
Here is the part most agents skip. Antiques coverage works best as one scheduled piece of a coordinated private client program - not a standalone policy bought on its own. When your home, auto, umbrella, and collections sit under one relationship, the pieces work together. No gaps between policies, no coverage you pay for twice, and one team that knows your full picture when something goes wrong.
Every private client engagement starts the same way - a full review of what you own, what you are exposed to, and what your current policies actually cover. Most people who come to us to insure one part of a collection leave with a coordinated program around everything they have built.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does antiques insurance cover?
Antiques insurance covers your pieces at an agreed value against theft, fire, water, accidental damage, and breakage, at home and in transit. Unlike homeowners, there is no furniture-level limit and no depreciation argument - and many policies cover restoration and the value lost after a repair.
How is antiques insurance different from my homeowners policy?
Homeowners treats antiques as ordinary furniture under a shared limit, pays depreciated value, and limits accidental damage and breakage. An antiques policy schedules each piece at agreed value, covers the real ways antiques are harmed, and keeps the claim off your home policy.
How are antiques appraised and valued for insurance?
Antiques are scheduled at agreed value based on a current appraisal that reflects age, maker, rarity, and condition - not melt or material value. Because antiques can appreciate, appraisals should be updated periodically so a piece is neither under- nor over-insured.
Is antique furniture covered, including during a move?
Yes. Antique furniture is scheduled at agreed value and covered against accidental damage and breakage, including in transit and during a professional move - the moment most damage happens. Standard homeowners coverage typically limits or excludes this.
Does antiques insurance cover restoration after damage?
It can. Many antiques policies cover proper restoration by a qualified specialist and address the diminished value that can remain even after a careful repair, so you are not left covering the gap between repaired and original condition.
Can I cover an entire collection rather than each item?
Yes. High-value pieces are scheduled individually at agreed value, while a broader collection can be blanketed under a single limit. We structure it so your most important pieces are fully protected without listing every item.
Start With a Private Client Review
The best way to find out if your collection is actually protected is to let us look at the whole picture - the collection, the home, the liability, and how it all fits together. A Grit Private Client Review covers:
- Every piece worth scheduling - furniture, clocks, heirlooms, and rare items
- Transit and restoration exposure your homeowners policy ignores
- The rest of the picture - home, auto, umbrella, and other collections
- What you have now, what it actually covers, and where the gaps are
No obligation. No sales pitch. We tell you what we find - and if your current coverage is solid, we will tell you that too.
Call (801) 505-5500 to schedule your Private Client Review. Or start online and we will call you.
SAVE TIME, AGGRAVATION, AND MONEY
At no additional cost to you, we can work on your behalf to compare your current coverage with a wide range of insurance companies to see who has the best possible deal on your insurance.