Many people have stamp collections worth thousands of pounds. Sometimes they don't even realise they are worth that much because they have bought them individually over a long period of time, or perhaps have been given additions to their stamp collections by relatives.
What if a fire or flood devastated your home. Would your stamps be covered on your household insurance (if you have it?). The answer, if you have a substantial stamp collection is almost certainly not. All insurance companies place limits on the amount of cover they give you and obviously they will expect someone with a £50,000 stamp collection sitting in their house to be paying a high premium to protect this than someone with £2,000 of out of date electronic goods. The risk of loss to the insurer is far greater (and so is the risk to you). What you need to do is read your insurance policy (yes we know it's pages of tiny text) to make sure you understand what the limitations are on your cover because you will almost certainly find that collections and valuables are only covered up to a certain amount. Beyond that, you will need to find a specialist insurer who will protect your stamp collection in case the worst ever happens. Nobody like paying for insurance, but no insurance = no cover. If you don't insure your stamp collection you risk losing everything if they are stolen. Never rely on your household insurance cover.
Also,make sure you keep a detailed inventory of your collection including prices paid, current values. If the collection went (whether insured or not) you'll need to be able to prove what you had. An all in one printer with a copier function might come in handy here for stamp collectors! We'll try to get some suggestions together for insurers who offer decent value cover, but meantime, bookmark Rare British Stamps.
