There are obvious dangers for an Art Collection. Fire, water, theft and even light is also a big threat, and the damage it can cause is irreversible. Even certain framing methods can destroy a work over time. What are the best ways to make sure your art is safe, secure, and displayed to its utmost advantage? ArtInsuranceNow.com has some helpful tips.

Thieves once robbed the home of an avid collector. The police asked for photographs of the stolen items but had to settle for dinner–party pictures in which several of the works appear incidentally in the background, often cropped and out of focus. This is not a good way to document your art.

You should continually evaluate your art collection, particularly when art values are high. Collectors should document their holdings and store the information (or a copy of it) off-site, not attached to, or near the works themselves. When properly insuring an item, the more documentation the better.

Technology can help organize your collection with easy to use inventory management software and apps. There is a variety of both free and paid “cloud” software (which means you can access it from any device anywhere you can connect to the internet). These applications can allow users to store an image of a work, as well as such information as price, appraisal value, purchase date, location, description, condition, and provenance. Collectors with many objects and multiple residences who don’t keep track of where everything is might not notice for months that something is missing.

Another way to protect your collection is to have a reliable alarm system for the art locations. From the stories we hear as a fine-art insurance agency, the amount of poorly maintained or even unused alarm systems at valuable properties is quite surprising. Also, if collectors get a series of phone hang–ups—six or more in a short period of time we advise you to call the police, because your house is possibly being cased. Crooks can be trying to look for a pattern to see when you’re home and when you’re out.

While there are many art heist stories to be told, transit and the environment remain the two biggest risks to works of art. We advise not to skimp when packing and shipping a work—and consider carefully where you display it. If you hang a painting in direct sunlight and it fades, most policies won’t cover it. Over 60 percent of claims are related to losses incurred in transit, including moving art around the collectors’ own homes. Bad packing and handling are avoidable problems and professional art packing and shipping have become more affordable.

No one wants to lose a piece of art but it happens, more often than we’d like to see so the best way to protect your collection is with due diligence and a fine art policy from ArtInsuranceNow.com / Bernard Fleischer & Sons Inc. We can guide you in obtaining the right fine art insurance for your unique requirements at great rates. For more info visit www.artinsurancenow.com and live chat with us, call us at 800.921.1008 or apply for a free quote below.