The recent announcement that Michael B. Jordan will star in another remake of the classic 1968 film, “The Thomas Crown Affair,” originally starring Steve McQueen as a wealthy art thief and Faye Dunaway as an insurance investigator, turned my attention to museum insurance and the issues surrounding the procurement of insurance policies for museum collections. Factors a museum should consider in obtaining collection insurance include the type of policy that is applicable, what objects will be covered, and the risks involved in insuring those objects, which will affect the amount of premiums the museum will pay for coverage.

The typical museum collection insurance policy is an “all risks” policy, meaning that all risks of physical loss for objects under the policy will be covered, with certain exclusions. (See “A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections, Third Edition,” by Marie C. Malaro and Ildiko Pogány DeAngelis; and “Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers, & Artists,” by Ralph E. Lerner et al.) Common exclusions to coverage for loss under a collection policy include: wear and tear, gradual deterioration, and insect damage. The policy will also likely exclude losses due to extreme temperature and any losses due to fraudulent, dishonest, or criminal acts carried out by museum employees, among other exclusions.

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