Art insurance

Many insurance providers insure art, but the type of art insurance you'll need will depend on the art's value and the kind of coverage you're looking for. Unless you own fine art, your home and contents insurance may be able to provide the protection you need.

What is art insurance?

Art insurance is a type of insurance that provides financial protection in the event that a piece of art or an art collection that you own is damaged, lost or stolen. In most cases, there are two different ways that you can insure art.

What are my art insurance options?

• Contents insurance. Getting contents insurance is a clever way to cover your precious artworks from theft and accidental damage.
• Home and contents insurance. If you have home and contents insurance, your art may already be covered. Home and contents insurance looks after all of the belongings in your home, as well as the building and property itself. It provides cover for theft, weather events, accidental damage and more. However, most policies usually have a specific limit for how much they'll cover you for individual items. So if you have valuable art — of say, more than $12,000 — you may need to call your insurer and let them know you'd like to increase your cover amount for those items. Most insurers will let you do this, depending on how expensive the art is. In exchange, you'll pay a slightly higher premium.
• Specialist art insurance. If you have an expensive art collection or fine art, you may want to opt for an insurer that specialises in high-value artworks. This type of coverage is suitable for art dealers, collectors, artists and galleries and can cover you for loss or damage, burglary and theft, including while in transit. These types of companies generally specialise in fine art and so know what kind of protection it needs.

Cover your art with contents insurance

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Name	Product	Works of art	Collections and memorabilia	Home Contents Cover	Accidental Damage to Home or Belongings	Fire, Storm & Theft Damage	Online Discount
Budget Direct Contents Insurance		Up to $5,000 with a limit of $12,000	Up to $2,000		Optional			Get 15% off your first year's premium when you buy a Budget Direct Contents insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
St. George Contents Insurance		Up to $20,000	Up to $20,000					Save 15% on the first year of your policy when you buy online. Use promocode: COVER. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Coles Contents Insurance		Up to $2,000 with a limit of $5,000	Up to $2,000 with a limit of $5,000		Optional			Save 10% on Coles Contents Insurance when you buy online. Also, get double flybuys points at Coles Supermarkets. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Westpac Contents Insurance		Up to $20,000	Up to $20,000					Get 15% off the first year of your policy when you buy online. Use promocode: COVER. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Youi Contents Insurance		Limit not mentioned	Limit not mentioned		Optional			Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Virgin Contents Only		Up to $5,000 with a limit of $12,000	Up to $2,000		Optional			Save 15% on your first year’s premium when you buy a new eligible Virgin Contents Insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Domain Contents Insurance		Up to $1,000 with a limit of $5,000	Up to $5,000					Get 12% off your first year's premium when you purchase a new Domain Contents Insurance policy online. T&Cs apply.	Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
ANZ Contents Insurance		Up to sum insured	Up to $3,000		Optional			Get a quote View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Which home insurance companies cover art?

The table below outlines which home insurance companies on Finder cover art, as well as their specific limits. If you need higher limits for your art, most provide additional cover — you'll just need to pay slightly more for your premiums.

Company	Limits
	Up to $5,000 for any item or set, with a limit of $12,000 in total, unless noted separately as specified contents on your Insurance Certificate.
	You select your sums insured. Where a specific value has not been selected for contents or jewellery, the most it will pay for a single item, pair or set is the lesser of the replacement cost, $15,000 or the lump sum value you select.
	Up to $5,000 for any item or set, with a limit of $12,000 in total, unless noted separately as specified contents on your Insurance Certificate.
	$1,000 per item/collection, with a maximum of $5,000 per group for each event.
	Up to $20,000.
	Up to $20,000.
	$1,000 per item, $5,000 in total.
	Amount not specified.

How much is art insurance?

This depends entirely on how valuable your art or art collection is. Your premiums are based on your art's value, the risk of damage, as well as other factors such as how well protected it is, for example, how easily it could be stolen.

If you don't go with a specialist provider and instead opt for a home and contents insurance policy, you're likely to pay around $200 a month, with your contents valued at $100,000 and building replacement valued $1,000,000. Keep in mind that this covers your entire home and its belongings and can vary a lot depending on the value of your home and its contents.

What does art insurance cover?

If you buy art insurance from a specialist provider, you can usually have the policy tailored to your needs. You can generally get cover for:

Pros and cons

Weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of getting art insurance below:

What doesn't art insurance cover?

All insurance policies have exclusions. You may encounter the following exclusions if you buy art insurance:

• No cover for cleaning, repairing, restoring or reframing the art.
• No cover for wear and tear, gradual deterioration, rust or corrosion.
• No cover for deliberate or intentional acts by anyone covered under the policy.
• No cover for theft or other misappropriation by anyone covered under the policy.

Frequently asked questions

• Does home insurance cover paintings?

  Home insurance can cover paintings when damaged in a main insured event like theft and fires. The insurer may cover you for repairs or the actual value of the painting. You just want to make sure that you're insured for the right amount.

• Will home insurance cover private collections?

  A home and contents insurance policy may be able to cover a private collection. It's likely that you will need to apply for additional cover. Speak to your insurer to see what it can do. You may need to look at specialist cover depending on the value of your private collection.

• Will home insurance cover art against a defective title?

  In most cases, no. This is the type of cover you're likely to only find with fine art insurance specialists.

• What does a fine arts floater cover?

  A fine arts floater policy generally covers one valuable piece of art you own. It can sometimes be added to your home insurance policy when your standard coverage isn't enough.

Picture: Getty Images