The process of art transportation is a great source of risk for the art object’s integrity. That’s why every cautious art owner should take care of obtaining art insurance for shipping at the stage of logistics planning. Here is a guide to the most popular insurance policy types, which will guide your decision-making at all steps.

Types of Fine Art Insurance Policies

As a rule, fine art insurance plans are divided into four categories: all-risk, full value, first-risk, and nail-to-nail. Let’s discuss each of them in more detail.

All-Risk Insurance

As the name of this insurance plan suggests, it covers all risks at all stages of the art object’s handling (unless stipulated otherwise in the insurance contract). These insurance policies are typically meant to ensure comprehensive protection for an art object from stay-risks (the full spectrum of risks an art object may experience at a fixed location, such as display or storage) and risks in transit.

Full Value Insurance

This insurance plan is a type of all-risk insurance that protects the owner’s financial interests by guaranteeing 100% compensation for the art object’s market value in case of theft, loss, or damage. This insurance arrangement presupposes a thorough and objective evaluation of the art object before signing an insurance contract, and the insurance premium is calculated at a set percentage of the artwork’s market price.

First-Risk Coverage

While the full-value insurance premium and compensation depend on the present-day market value of the insured artwork, the first-risk coverage arrangement presupposes a fixed lump sum of the compensation. This way, an art owner and an insurance broker agree on a specific sum of the contract, and the maximum compensation is capped at that sum, even in case of the total artwork damage (e.g., as a result of flood or fire).

Nail-to-Nail Insurance Plan

This insurance plan is the most typical for museum and gallery loans when the borrowing entity assumes full responsibility for the artwork. In line with its name, the insurance policy covers the art object from the moment of its deinstallation in the owner’s location until the moment it arrives back home. 

How to Choose the Right Art Insurance for Shipping?

By viewing the above-mentioned types of insurance, you may see that each of them covers a specific range of aspects and comes with a respectively set insurance premium. This way, you should choose the most suitable art insurance for shipping based on the coverage you want to have and the premium you’re ready to pay.

The best insurance options for transportation are full-value and nail-to-nail plans. Other options are also good, but striving for too broad coverage you don’t need on a regular basis may turn out to be unreasonably expensive.