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- Golden pieces: Russians have become more likely to insure buffets and wine collections
Golden pieces: Russians have become more likely to insure buffets and wine collections
Russians have become more likely to take out insurance for large sums — sometimes for several tens of millions of rubles — to protect their valuables, insurers said. Among the objects are expensive globes, cup holders, collections of paintings, wines and watches, vinyl records, beehives and even stuffed animals. According to experts, the growing interest in such policies is associated with the desire to preserve capital in conditions of economic instability, as well as with public anxiety. For more information about what Russians insure and for what amounts, see the Izvestia article.
What valuable things do Russians insure?
More and more Russians are seeking to secure their valuables, including collections of geographical atlases, wine collections, and expensive watches, insurance companies told Izvestia. People are also massively worried about the safety of cup holders, libraries, beehives, stuffed animals and hats.
— For example, an antique buffet that was inherited in one family was insured for the amount of 2 million rubles, — said Ekaterina Zenchenko, Director of Development and Underwriting of Rosgosstrakh Property Insurance. — The amount was determined based on the restorer's conclusion. And one of the private book collections was valued at 3.8 million. Expensive wristwatches also sometimes become objects of insurance — in one case, the amount of coverage was more than 20 million rubles.
One of the niche stories, she says, is the insurance of musical instruments and vinyl record collections. Violins, pianos, double basses and other instruments are usually more often protected by professional musicians. But there are exceptions: a client who does not practice music insured an antique piano for 3 million rubles, which he inherited.
"There are also several insurance cases for vinyl collections," she added. — The average cost of one record can vary from 3 thousand to 6 thousand rubles.
During the year, the number of insurance contracts for tangible assets — works of art, jewelry, private collections, etc. — increased by 50%, the press service of Sberbank noted.
— They most often apply for insurance of works of art, religious objects, for example, icons or holy scriptures in exclusive design, as well as collections of weapons and numismatics. The amounts for such facilities reach tens of millions of rubles," they explained.
Ksenia Goncharova, head of the Department of underwriting and product development at Absolut Insurance, also said that art objects, jewelry and fur products, and antiques are most often insured now.
"The cost of such items can range from tens of thousands to tens of millions of rubles," she said. — It is important that clients have documents confirming the authenticity and value of the property.
Among the most unusual items this year were rare antique furniture, stuffed animals, guns, wines, European porcelain, and sports paraphernalia, said Artyom Iskra, Managing Director of Renaissance Insurance. Vasily Kurguzov, director of the Ingosstrakh Housing and Property domain, added that precious metal products in collections and antiques are most often insured.
Why did you start worrying about things
However, the steady growth in insurance of antiques, art objects and collectibles began last year and continues this year, Maxim Gmyrya, Chairman of the Insurance Committee of the Association of Exporters and Importers, founder of the Sequoia Group Risk Management Agency, confirmed.
"The reason was not only an increase in the number of wealthy clients, but also a shift in investment preferences: in unstable financial markets, Russians increasingly consider tangible assets as a reliable means of preserving capital," he said.
One of the main difficulties is to determine the value of the items, Ekaterina Zenchenko noted.
— Therefore, additional experts, including art historians and appraisers, are often involved in the assessment. The loss of such items can be a real personal tragedy," the expert added.
Igor Rastorguev, a leading analyst at AMarkets, believes that the growing interest of Russians in insuring collections and valuable items reflects an important shift in the investment culture of society.
"More and more people perceive art objects and rarities not just as a hobby, but as a tool for saving capital," he said.
At the same time, according to him, the Russian market is specific: if collecting is often public in the West, then it is more intimate in our country. This partly explains the request for individual programs.
Vladislav Golovkin, Director of Insurance Business Development at Compare, added that art objects, antiques, and wine collections are becoming a kind of "safe haven" that protects capital from inflation and currency fluctuations better than just money in an account.
Anxiety is also behind the growth of insurance, says psychologist Olga Kushnareva.
"This is a deep anxiety that has accumulated over the past few years," she added. — People feel that the world has become too unpredictable, and they are trying to regain at least some of their sense of control. Since you can't influence the exchange rate or the political situation, you can at least insure your watch or your wine collection.
According to her, such behavior of wealthy Russians is "not about greed and not about ostentatious wealth."
— It's about the fear of losing — not only money, but also identity, status, feelings that you have everything under control, — said the psychologist.
Antiques, paintings, and rare items are a symbol of sustainability, and losing them means facing the worry again that everything could collapse at any moment, Olga Kushnareva added.
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