Homeowners Insurance vs. Collectors Insurance for Toys

Toy collecting has grown so much in recent years. People all over the world are buying toys to grow into collections. They find items they love and spend high amounts of money on multiple toys to grow into thousands and thousands of dollars as the value of these items increases over time. What once started out as a small investment, for many people, grows into a large collection with many different action figures, playsets, and vehicles.

As a collection grows in both size and value, the need for protection on those items also grows. There are different types of insurance that people use, however, they often don't realize all the factors within the different types. Insurance involves a lot of little details and it is important to know these within the different companies to find what would be best for you and your collection.

Follow along in our blog with us as we mention the difference between homeowners insurance and collectors insurance. Stay tuned to learn the different factors that make up each, the protection they might offer to your collection, and what the best option for insuring your toy collection is.

Join Us in Seeing the Differences Between Homeowners and Collectors Insurance

Follow along in our blog with us as we explain what homeowners insurance often covers, especially as it relates to a toy collection. Then, similarily, we will mention collectors insurance and how it protects your collection. We will also dive into the good and the bad or pros and cons of using these types of insurance to protect your treasured toy collection.

Homeowners Insurance

First up, we will mention homeowners insurance. This type of insurance actually protects a lot more than some people realize. It covers many different aspects of property and personal belongings. Homeowners insurance helps many people protect the value for any damage or accidents to their property and things that happen on their property. Within this, it also benefits toys or a toy collection as it protects financial value when something happens to it.

Vast Range of Homeowners Insurance Protection

One of the factors with homeowners insurance that collectors insurance doesn't offer is that it protects so many different things. Homeowners insurance typically protects your home from factors such as natural disasters, break-ins, and other damage.

Along with just protecting your home, many homeowners insurance companies also protect structures attatched to your home such as garages or detatched structures such as sheds and fences. Homeowners insurnace also typically protects personal items within your home, which includes your loved toy collection.

Also, when something does happen to your home, some homeowners insurance companies will also cover or partially cover a place for you to stay when severe damage occurs and your home is not liveable for a period of time. This wide range of protection helps you to be confident in knowing that you simply have one form of insurance covering many different aspects of your life and belongings rather than multiple.

What Homeowners Insurance Often Protects

Homeowners insurance protects a lot of different things to help you stay in a good spot financially when accidents and tragedies hit. When your basement floods, pests take over, mold destroys the foundation of your home, or natural disasters cause damage to the entirety of your home, homeowners insurance can cover some expenses so you won't have to pay for all of it.

Another thing homeowners insurance may cover is medical payments when injuries take place on your property. For example, dog bites or broken stiarcases cause injuries. If this happens to guests, your homeowners insurance may cover their medical bills or legal issues.

Extreme weather conditions also have an effect on a home and belongings inside. Some of the most common include freezing of plumbing or HVAC systems. The heat can also spark risks of electrical fires and other internal issues. Though these all affect so many different parts of a person's belongings, one of those being collectible items such as toys, homeowners insurance covers some of that as well when damage occurs.

How Homeowners Insurance Benefits Toys

Although homeowners insurance is not specifically for toys or collectibles, it does provide some coverage. For people who want some coverage on their valuable collected toys, just using homeowners insurance will do that. It keeps them protected as they are personal items, helps to not lose most of the value if your items get damaged or go missing.

Another way they are beneficial is that, with homeowners insurance, you only need to pay for the one type of insurance. With just using homeowners to protect your toys, you don’t pay for another collectors insurance on top of that. Although this isn’t for everyone, it may be fitting for some people with smaller collections or lower valued items that don't necesarily need the extra cost to fully insure high valued toys.

Collectors Insurance

The other insurance type we will mention, collectors insurance, has its own different factors. Often times, collectors use this type of insurance separate from homeowners insurance to make sure their high valued toys that they invested so much money into are completely protected and covered.

Collectors insurance provides things that other insurances do not provide since collectibles are so vast but also so specific. Collectibles are typically rare and vintage items that rise to high values over time rather than decline. They have nostalgic value and normally just sit on a shelf or in storage rather than frequent handling due to their high value. Continue following along in our blog to see what collectors insurance includes.

Agents Who Specialize in Collectibles

Having an agent who knows about your collected items can be very helpful. These people will work with you to know more about your collected items and their real value rather than just their cash value. For collectibles, demand from a buyer is super important. They don't simply have a set price that they go for which is why looking at the market constantly is important. Collectibles hold value from their rarity, condition, sentimental and nostalgic value, as well as their age.

These experts and agents understand the distinction between valuable items and the fact that, unlike other household items, collectibles often rise in value over time rather than decline. Sometimes, an apraisal or other means of evaluation might be helpful to see the value of your collected items which will help with knowing the type of insurance. Also, when getting an apraisal for the value, it'll be helpful to note how much the insurance will cost and the benefits with that. An agent can help with all of these things or point you to someone who can which is helpful with collectibles insurance.

Collectors Insurance Covers Many Different Collectible Items

Collectors insurance is specifically for collectibles. This means that practically anything that can be collected could be insured by collector's insurance. Because of this, another beneficial thing about collectors insurance is that it covers many different collectible items, not just toys.

If you have a collection of toys but also some other things such as coins, pins, cards, books, comic books, and video games, then you won't only be able to have your toys covered because your other items will most likely be covered as well.

Pros and Cons to These Types of Insurance

There are many pros and cons to getting insurance on your collectibles and many differences between the types that it's important to note these differences and know what your collection needs. Continue following along with us as we dive into the next section of our blog on the good and bad of insurance for toys.

Pros

There are so many pros to insuring your toy collection. Insurance protects a toy collection after an incident takes place in which your toys lose value from damage or from theft and loss. This includes natural disasters, extreme weather changes, theft, and accidental damage.

Insurance adds financial protection so that when things like this happen, you will not lose the value of the damaged items but will either get paid back in full for the item or get partial the cost back. Along with this, sometimes there is a replacement policy that allows you to get a similar item back that is worth the same amount of money as your previous item. 

Cons

While there are many pros, there are also some cons to look out for when deciding on insurance to protect your toy collection. Both insurances might not cover exactly what you have already in your collection when something happens. This is because most collectible items are very rare, unique, and hold their own specific value for the reason that there is not another out there that is exactly the same. Collectibles are typically one-of-a-kind items.

For homeowner’s insurance, most items receive coverage from a percentage of your entire homeowner’s insurance. Most coverage for these collected items is around $2,000. Although this number might seem like a lot of money, it is important to ask the question: What happens to your collection if your items are much more expensive than this? You would lose a ton of money and value if your items were to get damaged.

On the other side, collector’s insurance might have replacement coverage but, since the item is so rare and valuable, it cannot be replaced quite the same so you might lose some value there. Items might not be covered if traveling or moving. This can be an issue as some of the most common damages happen during this time. 

Final Thoughts

With homeowners insurance and collectors insurance, it is important to stay up to date on market value of your collectibles to help you know what to insure your items for. Incase anything were to happen, you will want to get your collection insured to protect it if anything happens. This will protect you financially and ensure your collection won't lose any significant value.

Do You Have Old or Used Toys?

Don’t let your collection sit in storage gathering dust—turn it into cash! At Wheeljack’s Lab, we specialize in evaluating and buying vintage and used toys, from single standouts to entire collections.

Our friendly, expert team has decades of hands-on experience in collectible toys, so you can expect honest evaluations and a smooth process from start to finish. Ready to sell? Call us at 888-946-2895 and let’s get started.

About the Owner, Chris Ingledue

Chris is the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. His vision has always been to reconnect collectors with the toys and pop culture that shaped their childhoods—sparking memories, nostalgia, and imagination along the way.

Each day in the “Lab” feels like Christmas year-round. From scouring the internet for the next great treasure—much like flipping through the Sears Catalog of years past—to eagerly awaiting the postman’s arrival like Santa himself, Chris lives and breathes the thrill of the hunt. Helping collectors around the world experience their own version of Christmas is what makes being a vintage toy buyer an absolute joy.