“Keeping collections insured to value is always a challenge for the insurance market, and in this environment in particular, it is a big challenge,” says Theresa Lawless, property product manager at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. She gives the industry overall a grade of B to B-minus for its success in keeping up with rapid price spikes in the art market.

You may need to update your appraisal annually if you collect a hot category such as contemporary art, says Dorit Straus, worldwide specialty fine arts manager for Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. She recommends reviewing your collection a few months before your policy’s renewal date; that way you can be sure your schedule includes all the appropriate inventory or that your blanket limit reflects the true breadth of your collection. “A Warhol you bought 30 years ago for $3,000 may not be on my radar screen,” she says. “You have to be proactive.”

And that means that the first step is to develop your own knowledge by staying in touch with dealers, reading about the art market for the latest buzz, and tracking prices via online indexes. No insurance carrier, no matter how expert, can substitute for a collector’s initiative. —Catherine Curan