High-value personal · by appointment
Collections & valuables.
Advisory-level scheduling for jewelry, fine art, wine cellars, firearms, watches, rare books. Agreed value, blanket coverage above scheduled items, worldwide territory, no deductible on most claims.
What it is.
Above $250K aggregate scheduled value, collections move to advisory-level paper. The carrier provides appraisal services, blanket coverage above scheduled limits, broader perils (mysterious disappearance, breakage), and category specialists who know the difference between a Patek and an Omega when it comes time to pay.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
$140K watch dropped during servicing at a jeweler. Standard scheduled policies often exclude items 'in care of others.' HV paper covers in full — agreed value, no deductible, handler handles the recovery from the jeweler's bailee coverage if applicable.
Inherited 2,400-bottle cellar appraised at $890K. Standard policies cap wine at low aggregate sublimits or require itemization that's impractical. HV blanket-above-scheduled coverage handles the whole cellar with periodic revaluation.
Family loses three scheduled paintings ($240K total) to flood + structural collapse. Agreed-value contract pays full appraised value within 30 days. Standard contents coverage would have hit a fraction of value with depreciation argument.
How to read a high-value collections policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
When does it make sense to move from standard scheduled to HV paper?
Around $250K aggregate scheduled value. Below that, standard personal scheduled is the right answer. Above, HV paper's blanket coverage, appraisal services, and category specialists earn their premium.
Do I need separate appraisals for each category?
Often yes — jewelry appraisals don't translate to fine art, and wine valuation is its own discipline. HV carriers help arrange the right appraisers and often subsidize updates.
What about items I lend to museums or galleries?
Most HV scheduled policies cover items on loan, but always notify the carrier — some require advance notice for periods over 30 or 60 days, and museum loans can have their own coverage that overlaps.
Is there an aggregate cap?
Yes, but it's usually well above what people scheduled. Carriers will write multi-million-dollar collections; we've placed up to $20M aggregates routinely. Beyond that, we layer specialty markets.
Want a second read on your high-value collections policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.