The first step for a collector who would like to get his art insured is to have the works in his collection appraised. The valuation provided by select reputed galleries or an established art advisory is accepted by most insurance outfits. While valuation of the collection in not a necessary pre-requisite for all insurance proposals, it is prudent to have this formality completed as it is of tremendous benefit if one incurs a loss or damage. After the appraisal process has been completed the collector needs to provided a duly-filed proposal form and submit it along with the list of art works to the insurer. Based on the information provided, the insurer responds with a quote and if both parties are in agreement, the process of insurance is taken forward. On occasion, the insurer may request an inspection of the works and storage locations to ascertain the condition of the inventory. If the insured is has all the relevant information  pertaining to the works and proposal form ready, it would take 3-4 working days to prepare a quote. A cover note is issued at this stage, with effect from the day the premium is handed over. The insured collector receives the policy certificate within the following 10 working days. While there is no specific data about the total number of collections that have been insured in the country, a rough estimate would indicate a figure between 200 - 250 collections. The annual premium usually is in the range of 0.3% to 0.4% of the total art works' value. The coverage is similar to the policies offered abroad. It is an all-risk policy subject to a few exclusions such as inherent defects, natural aging, loss due to moisture / aridity / humidity / vermin or war amongst others. The policy also covers domestic transits ie, the insured work is fully protected towards loss during inland transportation. Loss due to terrorism is excluded in the policy but can be added by paying an additional premium. In the case of private collectors, only specifically listed works are insured with a provision to add new works in place of older ones. Storage across multiple locations is accepted. For galleries and museums there is an unnamed floating policy and they are allowed to insure multiple locations as well. In India, the most common cause for a claim is damage caused during transits or poor house-keeping; the comparative theft cases are low in number. Despite having a comprehensive arts insurance product in the country, people are still ignorant of this option. In fact, most do not insure their collections unless their possessions are damaged in some manner. There is a prevelant misconception amongst the collector community that claims are not honoured, but that's baseless. From personal experience, I can state that we encounter 3-4 claims every year and have settled gross claims worth INR 10 Million till date. The claim amount is paid within 10 days of completing all the formalities. No matter how well protected a collection is, there is always the possibility of a freak accident or force majeure. Accidents do happen and in such a scenario, it is of the highest importance that the insured has a responsive and experienced insurance advisory to manage an efficient claims process, from evaluating the damage to offering satisfactory compensation.     Gautam Trehan owns Fine Arts Insurance, a firm that specialises in art insurance.