When a client casually mentions they have “some cards” or “a few pieces of memorabilia,” many generalist brokers instinctively look to the home policy or a small floater. For serious collections, that approach can leave both broker and client badly exposed.
Michael Wilson (pictured), assistant vice‑president of business development for specialty lines at NFP Canada, said non‑specialist brokers can still place collectibles well – but only if they follow some basic steps.
Wilson’s own team is built around that specialist model.
“It really comes down to having a team in‑house that are specialists in particular fields,” he said. “They have their own passions as well. We have a lot of people who collect various items or are in various sports and are die‑hard into that lifestyle.”
For brokers, the first priority is to help clients understand – and evidence – what their collection is worth.
“Often that involves having it graded or having them reviewed by a specialist,” Wilson said.
He pointed to the major grading houses for cards and comics – PSA, Beckett, SGC (Sports Card Guaranty) and CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) – as the most prominent.
“With our program, 90% of it does have to be graded, authenticated or appraised in some sort of way, and then 10% can be raw or ungraded,” he said.
Grading and authentication not only provide a professional assessment of condition and legitimacy; they also create a digital footprint. Most graded items carry serial numbers, barcodes and hologram or QR stickers that link to online databases.
“With PSA, Beckett or whatever the grading company is, there’s always a serial number and a barcode that’s associated with these items,” Wilson said. “If you have other things like a signed baseball bat or a signed baseball glove, they’ll put a QR code sticker on it that you can actually scan. It provides all of the details online as well. It’s pretty hard to fake a lot of those resources when they’re all linked into that actual system.”
The next step is understanding how and where items are kept. Wilson says that insurers want details on whether collections are in a secure, climate‑controlled environment, how they are displayed or elevated off the floor, and what protections are in place, because those storage conditions directly affect the risk and need to be understood up front.
Cards kept in damp basements, garages or sheds face elevated risks of humidity, mould and moisture. Display pieces in public‑facing spaces may require additional security measures.
Wilson stressed that not all collections are created equal, and brokers should resist treating them as interchangeable.
“A hockey card collector may have a completely different risk profile from someone who collects sealed gaming products or memorabilia, like car memorabilia,” he said. “The insurance should be built around these specific collections, first and foremost.”
Sealed gaming product, for instance, is vulnerable to punctures or tampering in transit, while automotive memorabilia may be heavy, fragile and difficult to replace. Pop‑culture items and screen‑used props carry different provenance and valuation challenges again.
Programs and limits should be tailored accordingly, rather than using a one‑size‑fits‑all endorsement.
Wilson said the boom in online marketplaces and auction platforms has been “tremendous” from an underwriting and claims standpoint, giving brokers and insurers better access to real‑time pricing and comparables.
“It allows us to stay on top of values in real time, it allows for better conversations with clients,” he said.
While unique or one‑of‑a‑kind items may never be fully “replaced,” online tools can help identify similar pieces that might help rebuild a collection, and they can also support loss valuation and negotiation.
Finally, Wilson urged brokers to move beyond small sublimits and bolt-ons where clients have meaningful exposures.
He recommended standalone collectibles policies that specifically address accidental damage, theft, transit, and market‑value fluctuation – and that avoid putting claims pressure on a client’s home or contents program.
“Collectors should have coverage that protects them for accidental damage, theft while the collection or a part of it is in transit, and also more changes in the value as that fluctuates quite frequently,” he said. “Those are areas where I think most of the standard home policies, tenants policies, condo policies fall short.”
For brokers who rarely see these risks, Wilson’s message is straightforward: take the time to understand the collection, lean on specialist partners where needed, and don’t assume a standard contents limit will do the job.
“Every collection is obviously different,” he said. “The insurance should be built around those specific collections.”
