Claims are paid from the catalogue. One UK policy covers only listed addresses.

A collection in two countries is a set of objects, each at a given address on a given day. The catalogue and the policy are both written around addresses and days. ArtisDomus builds them in six steps. Schedule the addresses. Decide which items to list one by one. Write the location record. Date every condition report. Put the transit rule where the packer will read it. Set a date for review.

Published by ArtisDomus, written by Polina Surina.

The catalogue says what exists and where it is. The policy says what it will pay for, where, and on what evidence. Owners often build the two separately, years apart. At the claim, they find that the two do not fit together.

Object ID is an internationally recognised standard for identifying and recording cultural goods, published by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). It was developed with museums, police and customs agencies, the art trade, the insurance industry, and valuers of art and antiques. That is why it is short. Everyone involved must be able to work from the same record, even when it is handed to a police officer in a country none of them chose.

It records nine categories of information.

The procedure has four steps. Photograph the object. Record the nine categories. Write a short description with any extra information. Keep the documentation somewhere secure. The fourth step is the one most often skipped.

Object ID is a minimum. It records enough to identify a stolen object and circulate the description. A claim turns on four other things: where the object is, who owns it, what it is worth and what condition it was in last Tuesday. Object ID records none of them.

Spectrum is the collections standard published by Collections Trust. It names nine primary procedures, the ones most museums use most of the time. United Kingdom museums that want to meet the Accreditation scheme must show that they meet the Spectrum standard for all nine, or have a plan to.

The Inventory standard sets the minimum and gives a reason for each requirement. From your records you could, if needed, produce a complete list of every object, or group of objects, in your care. Every object has a unique number securely associated with it, linking your records to the object. Every object has a recorded name and short description, or an image. You know the current location of every object and when it was noted there. You know who owns each object in your care, and how it came to be in your care.

The reason given for the fourth requirement: you can produce an accurate list of the objects in a location if needed for an audit or insurance claim. That is the document an insurer will ask for.

The Cataloguing standard builds on the inventory. Catalogue records are linked to their objects by unique accession numbers securely associated with the items themselves. Records cross-refer to relevant information in your system, on paper or digital, or held elsewhere. Information from other procedures is added promptly. And you keep an up-to-date backup of the catalogue, so that a fire or other disaster does not wipe out many years’ work.

The standard also asks a question a private collection must answer before cataloguing starts. Beyond the inventory minimum, what should a basic catalogue record contain for each part of the collection, and why? A collection built over thirty years in two countries will have several answers. Writing them down keeps the catalogue from becoming a list of whatever the last cataloguer happened to know.

Spectrum’s standard for Location and movement control sets eight minimum requirements. Each one produces a document you will need for a claim.

Two of the reasons Collections Trust gives are worth showing to a board. For the environmental requirement: you can act if the relative humidity in a store is too high, and you do not display a watercolour in too much light. For the location history: you can list all objects in a location at a particular time, which may later be needed for security or conservation.

The standard also asks questions that a collection in two countries must answer. When will you move objects yourself, and when will you use specialists? When should a courier travel with objects? What standard of care applies in transit, and may it ever vary? May objects ever be moved for a while without updating their location records? That last question decides whether the record can be trusted. In most private collections it happens all the time and is never written down.

ISO 21127:2023, Information and documentation, A reference ontology for the interchange of cultural heritage information, came out on 11 October 2023. It is the work of ISO/TC 46, subcommittee SC 4. The committee describes it as a shared model of historical knowledge that helps exchange and combine scientific and scholarly records about the past.

In practice, it lets institutions with different systems exchange records, so that a date, a place and a person mean the same thing on both sides. It is a real and useful standard. It does not list what a record must contain for a loss to be paid, so do not present it to an underwriter as if it did.

There have been three editions, in 2006, 2014 and 2023. If you specify it in a collections management brief, state the year. A system built to the 2014 edition does not automatically comply with the 2023 one.

Insurance wording is not law, and each insurer writes its own. There is no standard fine art policy, and what one insurer covers, another excludes. Take one United Kingdom wording: the Fine Art Insurance policy document of Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc. Another insurer’s wording will differ in every paragraph. A catalogue has to be built against the exact wording you hold.

Its definition of art is wide: anything that could be bought or sold at a reputable auction house. This includes, among other things, paintings, works on paper, exhibits, tapestries, rugs, antique guns, furniture, sculpture, ceramics, gold, silver or gold and silver plated items and architectural features. It also includes collectibles such as glass, clocks, barometers, coins, stamps, medals, antiques and wine. Jewellery, watches and furs are defined, insured and settled separately.

The cover clause holds the first limit a collection in two countries runs into. The insurer pays for damage to art that you own, are legally responsible for, or have been entrusted with. The damage must happen during the period of insurance, while the art is at the premises or at other locations the insurer has agreed. “Premises” means the part of the buildings and grounds at the addresses shown in the schedule.

The rules for settling claims then split the collection in two. The dividing line is the schedule.

Two definitions decide what that table is worth. Agreed value is the value you and the insurer agree for the policy. The insurer makes no promise that these values match market value or any other basis of value. Market value is the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller with good title, at the place the item was just before the loss. It assumes a reasonable time for marketing, and takes account of the market for such goods and their size and condition.

Put together: a listed item is settled at a figure fixed in advance. An unlisted item is settled at market value wherever it happened to be, capped at £30,000 for any one item, pair or set. The difference comes down to the schedule, and the schedule is written from the catalogue.

Section 1 of that wording excludes mysterious disappearance or unexplained loss. It excludes two more things. The first is damage or expense from theft, fraud or dishonesty by your directors, trustees, employees or authorised volunteers. The same applies to anyone to whom your art is consigned, entrusted or loaned, directly or indirectly. The second is damage while the insured property is in an unoccupied building, unless the insurer has agreed.

A building becomes “unoccupied” sooner than owners expect. The term means vacant, untenanted, unfurnished, empty or no longer in active use for more than 30 consecutive days. A house used for part of the year can meet that definition without anyone deciding it should.

The general condition on unoccupied buildings is a condition precedent to liability. The policy defines this term. If you fail to comply, and the failure is material to the loss, the claim will not be paid. Any payment already made on the claim must be repaid to the insurer.

The condition sets these duties. Tell the insurer as soon as reasonably possible when a building becomes unoccupied, and again when it is reoccupied. Turn off electricity, gas and water at the mains and drain the water systems, except those needed for alarm, sprinkler or other protection systems. Keep alarms, sprinklers, locks and other security devices in full and efficient working order. Inspect the building inside and out at least every 7 days, fix defects as soon as reasonably possible, and keep a record of inspections, including how defects were fixed.

A collection split between two climates runs into the deterioration exclusions, which come in three layers. First, damage from natural ageing, gradual deterioration, inherent vice (a flaw in the material itself) or latent defect is not covered. The same goes for rust or oxidation, vermin, warping or shrinkage, mould, fungus, mildew, corrosion, and the intrinsic nature of the insured item. Second, damage from aridity, humidity, exposure to light or extremes of temperature is not covered, unless caused by storm, frost or fire, or another sudden unforeseen event. Third, there is no cover for damage from any process or alteration, refurbishment, repair, maintenance, dismantling, restoration, decoration, heating, drying, cleaning, washing or dyeing. An extension does pay the reasonable cost of repair and any loss in value where the damage is caused by a professional conservator, restorer or framer.

Together the three draw a line between sudden damage and gradual damage.

The claims conditions complete the picture, and each is a condition precedent to liability. Take all practicable steps to recover lost property. Tell the police as soon as reasonably possible if the damage was caused by thieves, malicious persons or vandals, or by riot. Tell the insurer as soon as you become aware. Within 30 days, give the insurer any information it requires, at your own expense. Keep providing information and help before and after the claim is paid. Thirty days is not long to put together a record that was never made.

“Geographical limits” means England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The wording uses it to define authorised volunteers, who must normally live within those limits. It does not limit where the art itself is covered.

“Territorial limits” is a separate term in the Terrorism section. It means England, Wales and Scotland, excluding the adjacent territorial seas as defined by the Territorial Sea Act 1987. The Terrorism section pays only for loss caused by an act of terrorism within those limits. Elsewhere the policy excludes terrorism in general, so this section buys the cover back only up to the English, Welsh and Scottish coast. A work at a second address outside those three countries has no cover under this section, whether or not the address is on the schedule.

The limit on the art cover comes from the cover clause: at the premises, or at other locations the insurer has agreed. So a second country is covered only as an address on the schedule or a location agreed in writing.

The Temporary removal extension covers a work moving between the two. It covers art away from the premises for a temporary period, at locations shown in the schedule, and in transit. The limit is £5,000,000 or the sum insured for art, whichever is less. For losses from unattended vehicles, the limit is £10,000 in total in any one period of insurance. Such losses are covered only if all three conditions are met. The vehicle is locked at all access points and alarmed. There are visible signs of forcible or violent entry to it. And the property is out of sight in a locked compartment or locked boot. “Temporary” means no more than 90 days. A work that stays at the second address for a season falls outside the extension.

In transit, complying with the Transit condition is a condition precedent to liability. All items must be packed securely and adequately. Stricter rules apply where the combined value of the items being moved exceeds £10,000. Above that value, items going by air must be carried by you or your employee as hand luggage and kept in sight at all times, or travel as air cargo under the airline’s enhanced security control. Above that value, items going by road must travel with a professional fine art carrier, or in a vehicle under your or your employee’s control. In that vehicle they must be kept out of sight at all times, with all entry points locked when unattended. For any other transit, you must tell the insurer in advance, and it must agree in writing to the security in place.

Two more terms matter for a collection that is growing or borrowing. New acquisitions are covered by extension only if you notify the insurer within 60 days of the acquisition and pay any extra premium. The limit for any one claim is 10 per cent of the total sum insured on such property or £250,000, whichever is lower. The insurer may cancel this cover by writing to you within 14 days of receiving your notice, giving 7 days’ notice. For works lent to you, the value must be agreed with the owner before you accept the loan, and recorded in a Loan Agreement. Anything first lent to you after the policy starts without a Loan Agreement is not covered, unless the insurer specifically agrees in writing. The Loan Agreement must name the owner and describe each work lent. It must say which party is responsible for loss or damage, and when risk passes. And it must give the loan value of each work, as agreed between you and the owner.

Spectrum’s standard for Insurance and indemnity sets four minimum requirements. Where possible, every object in your care, in your museum or away from it, is insured or indemnified under your agreed policy. You have the appropriate minimum liability sum or excess to pay if required. Your cover is reviewed regularly and updated as needed, so that it reflects changes in value and covers new acquisitions. And your catalogue records meet any standard your insurer sets for recovering stolen items.

The reason given for the fourth: you may not be covered if a valuable item is stolen and you cannot provide images and enough information to identify it.

Spectrum’s Valuation standard keeps the schedule current. Valuation information is available when collection management needs it, and is used only in line with current ethical practice. You have agreed, consistent valuation methods, so that values do not depend on one person’s whim. Valuations are confidential and available only to authorised people, so that high-value objects are not put at greater risk. And values are kept up to date, so that incorrect valuations are not used at renewal, leaving the cover inadequate.

The Insurance and indemnity standard also lists questions to answer in writing. Four of them matter most for a collection in two countries. Which objects must you insure, and against what risks? What should trigger a review of an object’s cover? How will you make sure objects have appropriate cover when lent out or otherwise away? Who arranges insurance and renewal?

ArtisDomus works through six steps, in this order.

A catalogue that cannot produce a list and a schedule that names addresses the collection has left fail in the same way, at the same moment. Day to day, neither failure shows. Both show at the claim, the worst possible time to learn what a record was for.

Build the two documents together, as one project. The catalogue decides what the schedule can list. The wording decides what the catalogue must record, because it names the evidence a payment will rest on. Build one first and the other later, and you get two tidy documents that are useless together.

A summary of the law for general information. It is not legal or tax advice.