Which shipping companies allow for insurance on comic art? 0

[zhamlau]

Hello,

 

wanted to see what peoples experiences were here with dealing with insurance claims on comic art that got damaged while being shipped within the US. Ive heard conflicting reports about the big 4 (USPS, FEDEX, UPS, DHL) and who will actually honor a claim on unique hand drawn art?  Ive heard some companies like the USPost will let you pay for the insurance , but if you try and file a claim they will not pay out because the art is one of a kind and its value is subjective.

Anyone here have any concrete first hand experiences in this?

[ESeffinga]

Fed Ex insurance is limited to $1000, per their liability agreement.

18.4 Shipments containing the following items of extraordinary value are limited to a maximum Declared Value for Carriage of USD 1,000 per Shipment or US$ 9.07 per pound, whichever is greater. Import of any of these items may be prohibited by individual countries and a lower Declared Value for Carriage limit for a country, if any, will control this stated limitation for such items:

• Artwork, including any work created or developed by the application of skill, taste or creative talent for sale, display or collection. This includes without limitation, items (and their parts) such as paintings, drawings, vases, tapestries, limited-edition prints, fine art, statues, sculptures, collector’s items, customized or personalized musical instruments or similar items;

 

[aokartman]

4 hours ago, zhamlau said:

Hello,

 

wanted to see what peoples experiences were here with dealing with insurance claims on comic art that got damaged while being shipped within the US. Ive heard conflicting reports about the big 4 (USPS, FEDEX, UPS, DHL) and who will actually honor a claim on unique hand drawn art?  Ive heard some companies like the USPost will let you pay for the insurance , but if you try and file a claim they will not pay out because the art is one of a kind and its value is subjective.

Anyone here have any concrete first hand experiences in this?

The US Postal Service (speaking as a retired USPS employee) can carry your item through Registered Mail.  Every hand off requires a signature, workers in the plant, contract drivers, delivery people. 

I'm not sure about insurance, but the main idea is the security of the item to final delivery point without fear of a claim. 

Backed up by the enforcement arm called the Postal Inspection Service. 

Hope this helps, David

Edited March 26, 2019 by aokartman
clarify

[zhamlau]

See, I keep thinking that most people must not ship art and comic books insured. Or if they are its money they are throwing away since the limits on unique items are so low they wont cover actual value. Are we all just rolling the dice when we buy and sell items over 1000 dollars?

[Will_K]

I use USPS Priority Mail with insurance for the full value.  I package the art as per the biblical verse "send art unto others as..."  with the hope that there will never be a need to put in an insurance claim.  In general, you buy insurance hoping that you'll never have to use it (or know how good that insurance was).

[zhamlau]

So fed ex wont cover art/comics over 1000 dollars , but USPS will ? Anyone had any experience getting paid out on a claim for a damaged 1000+ dollar comic collectable?

[ESeffinga]

The only folks I know that have had success with insurance claims over $1K have had their own collector insurance policies they pay for with coverage for that kind of value. These are 3rd party personal collector insurance policies that cover shipping, not purchasing insurance from shippers. Everything else is a shot in the dark. I've read plenty of ship insurance horror stories, not so many happy outcomes. But then people tend to complain more than they praise when it comes to things on the internet. So that's probably a skewed view.

What David posted above is a good way to ship via USPS though, if it's really that important. Having direct accountability really does change the attitudes of carriers, and the USPS handles the registered mail with much gentler gloves, since it'll be known who jacked up a package along the way if there is any carelessness. And it gets locked up at night when not in transit, so it can't just "disappear" along the way.It's a relatively white-glove service for a reasonable price.

 

My own approach has always been to ship via whoever has the art the least amount of time. THe longer in transit, the more chance/opportunity for stuff to happen along the way.
And never skimp on packaging.

FWIW...

 

[zhamlau]

I think that's a good idea. It seems pretty like its impossible to actually ship art with insurance over 1000 dollars (and have it actually guaranteed covered/protected) unless you have your own private policy, and to pay for insurance from FED EX, USPS, DHL, or UPS is just throwing money away (above 1k). I wouldn't assume 'the case but since no one here seems to have ever seen or heard of any consistent success with filling a claim on damaged in transit original comic art (at least over 1k) it appears to be so.

 

Its one of those interesting things you just never think about til someone says it outloud, its actually not possible to accurately ship this stuff insured by the carrier for the amounts many of these pieces are worth...food for thought...I wish it wasn't so but It seems like 'that's that."

[vodou]

12 minutes ago, zhamlau said:

...its actually not possible to accurately ship this stuff insured by the carrier for the amounts many of these pieces are worth...food for thought...I wish it wasn't so but It seems like 'that's that."

There's no creativity on this board at all. SMH. Just ship and insure each panel separately. For the rare piece where even each panel is worth significantly more than $1k, just reduce further based on need. $2k panel? No problem, cut in half. $5k? Quarters. Etc. Next you'll tell me you're not sure where to get scissors. Sigh. If you have to, just tear, carefully, using your hands. Anything can be done, it just takes a little more work.

[AnkurJ]

I use collect insure. Thankfully haven’t had to file a claim. Just need to send with a signature required.

[Taylor G]

On 3/27/2019 at 1:49 PM, zhamlau said:

Are we all just rolling the dice when we buy and sell items over 1000 dollars?

Yes. I've come to appreciate that this is a hobby that requires nerves of steel.

I was advised to use USPS Priority Express (which sometimes provides overnight delivery), just don't drop it off at the end of the week.  Insurance may give you better peace of mind, debatable if it provides anything more than that. 

On 3/28/2019 at 3:21 PM, vodou said:

There's no creativity on this board at all. SMH. Just ship and insure each panel separately.

Very funny.  

[alexgross.com]

if you get a policy through collectibles insurance service, then all your comics packages will be covered for their full value. all you need to do is require a signature from the recipient. pretty sure it's been discussed here on the boards within the last year. i think they cover comic art too, but i'm not positive. 

[delekkerste]

9 hours ago, www.alexgross.com said:

if you get a policy through collectibles insurance service, then all your comics packages will be covered for their full value. all you need to do is require a signature from the recipient. pretty sure it's been discussed here on the boards within the last year. i think they cover comic art too, but i'm not positive. 

They do cover comic art as well.  

The shipping coverage maxes out, though - mine is capped at $60K, and I know that someone on the Boards posted that their limit was significantly less than that (presumably it's correlated with your overall policy coverage level).  A couple of years ago, I had to ship a very high-end piece (way past my standard coverage limit) and bought a separate insurance rider from them to cover the shipment.  The cost was only 0.05% of the coverage amount, which I thought was very reasonable. 

[PhilipB2k17]

55 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

They do cover comic art as well.  

The shipping coverage maxes out, though - mine is capped at $60K, and I know that someone on the Boards posted that their limit was significantly less than that (presumably it's correlated with your overall policy coverage level).  A couple of years ago, I had to ship a very high-end piece (way past my standard coverage limit) and bought a separate insurance rider from them to cover the shipment.  The cost was only 0.05% of the coverage amount, which I thought was very reasonable. 

For high value items, maybe use a fine art specialty shipper? e.g. (example only, not an endorsement) 

https://fineartshippers.com/services/insurance/

[cstojano]

I post my story every time this comes up. Yes collectinsure does pay, very quickly and with ease. However, they did drop me after my second claim in a year. They paid the second claim quicker than the first, actually. Both were for circa 1k items, as I recall. 

[vodou]

2 hours ago, cstojano said:

I post my story every time this comes up. Yes collectinsure does pay, very quickly and with ease. However, they did drop me after my second claim in a year. They paid the second claim quicker than the first, actually. Both were for circa 1k items, as I recall. 

How does what you paid in premiums, cumulative all-time, compare to those two $1k claims? I'm wondering what their threshold for give-back is.

[cstojano]

2 hours ago, vodou said:

How does what you paid in premiums, cumulative all-time, compare to those two $1k claims? I'm wondering what their threshold for give-back is.

I came out WAY ahead. Oddly they lost the ability to earn it back by keeping me on. I may try to get another policy with them again. At the time I was clearing out a lot of stuff.

[Bird]

I had a $7K item damaged significantly shipped via FedEx. It was not packed well and FedEx denied the insurance (which was only $1K anyway) but did refund the $150 or so it cost to ship across the ocean.

I generally do not get insurance when I ship (which is never items over $1000 and mostly not even $500); I figure I am self-insuring and that the money spent on insurance over the years will cover losses and then some. But it did suck to refund $275 when something got lost in transit to Italy.

[cstojano]

5 hours ago, Bird said:

I had a $7K item damaged significantly shipped via FedEx. It was not packed well and FedEx denied the insurance (which was only $1K anyway) but did refund the $150 or so it cost to ship across the ocean.

I generally do not get insurance when I ship (which is never items over $1000 and mostly not even $500); I figure I am self-insuring and that the money spent on insurance over the years will cover losses and then some. But it did suck to refund $275 when something got lost in transit to Italy.

Geez, that is the French auction house purchase as I recall. So it was insured, though underinsured. 

[ESeffinga]

As I understood it, Bird's art wasn't so much underinsured, as it was horrendously underpacked.

$1K would be the FeEx limit in payout for artwork, even if they paid all $7K in insurance. Anything over $1K you pay in insurance to FedEx is money you might as well throw in a hole.
And that $1K in actual insurance only would have been payable, had FedEx determined the cause of the damage was their excessively rough handing of the package, and not the total packing job that Bird received from the auction house.