Fine arts crime insurance for galleries, dealers and museums
Fine arts policies are built for outside losses like burglary, fire and transit damage. When the thief is an employee, a volunteer, or someone who tricked your bookkeeper into wiring sale proceeds, it is a crime insurance claim.
What crime insurance covers
- Employee theft of money, securities and other property, including collection objects
- Forgery or alteration of checks and drafts
- Computer fraud and funds transfer fraud
- Social engineering fraud, such as fake wire instructions on a sale
- Theft of client property by your employees
Apply online
The online application asks the questions underwriters need for this coverage. Business owners fill it out directly, and insurance agents can complete it for a client or send it to them. Insurance agents can also request an appointment.
Why galleries and dealers need it
Galleries move large sums on single transactions, often by wire. A spoofed email with new bank details for a buyer's payment is one of the most common losses in the art market, and most fine arts and property policies do not respond to it.
How crime losses happen in the art world
Inside theft from inventory or storage
An employee, registrar or volunteer with access to storage removes objects slowly over time. These losses are often found years later during an inventory, which is why the policy's discovery or loss-sustained terms matter.
Diverted sale proceeds
A staff member or outside bookkeeper redirects buyer payments or consignor payouts. Employee theft coverage responds to dishonest staff. Social engineering coverage responds when an outsider tricks staff into sending the money.
Fraudulent wire instructions
Someone hacks or imitates a buyer's, consignor's or shipper's email and sends new payment details. Social engineering coverage is often a separate insuring agreement with its own, smaller limit, so ask what limit is available.
What underwriters ask
- Number of employees and volunteers, and who can access money and collection storage
- Whether the same person both records and reconciles transactions
- How wire instructions are verified, such as a call-back to a known number
- Background checks for staff who handle money or objects
- Frequency of collection inventories and outside audits
- Any prior crime losses
Gaps to know about
Theft of collection objects by employees may need to be confirmed on the crime form, since some forms define covered property narrowly. Volunteers, trustees and independent contractors may not count as employees unless added. Losses involving the authenticity of a work or a title dispute are not crime losses. And if a loss crosses both the fine arts and crime policies, the two may point at each other, so it helps to have both written with the same agent.
Steps that help after a suspected theft
- Stop further loss: change access, freeze accounts and call your bank about any recent wire.
- Give notice to the insurer promptly. Crime policies set strict deadlines for notice and proof of loss.
- Preserve records, emails, access logs and inventory reports. Do not delete anything.
- File a police report, and for objects, ask about an art loss registry listing.
- Work with the insurer before confronting or terminating the person involved, if possible.
Common questions
Does crime insurance cover forged art?
Crime policies cover forgery of financial instruments such as checks, not authenticity of artwork. Losses from selling or buying a fake are usually an errors and omissions or title question.
Are volunteers covered under employee theft?
Not automatically on many forms. Museums and nonprofits that rely on volunteers should ask for volunteers to be added to the definition of employee.
Will my bank refund a fraudulent wire?
Often not, if your own staff sent the payment on fake instructions. That is the loss social engineering coverage is written for, usually with its own limit.
What if the theft started before we bought the policy?
It depends on whether the policy is written on a discovery or loss-sustained basis, and whether prior coverage is carried forward. Ask how a loss that began under an earlier policy would be handled.
Ready for a quote?
One online application. Owners and agents both welcome.
Start the crime insurance applicationRelated coverage
Fine Arts
Paintings, sculpture, antiques and collectibles for museums, galleries, dealers and private collectors.
Coverage & quoteMuseums
Permanent collections, loans in and out, and the institution's buildings and liability.
Coverage & applicationPrivate Collections
Agreed-value coverage for art, antiques, wine, jewelry and collectibles at home or on loan.
Coverage & applicationFine Arts Floater
Coverage that follows the art: on the wall, at the framer, in the crate and on loan.
Coverage & quote