[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: Insurance collections
Bentley, Andrew Charles
abentley at ku.edu
Tue Jan 27 12:48:08 EST 2026
The main issue with insurance value is that, in order to even approximate "actual" insurance value, the rates are so high that institutions will be reluctant to foot the bill and may see this as just one more excuse to jettison the collection. Be careful what you wish for!!
Andy
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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA
Tel: (785) 864-3863<tel:%28785%29%20864-3863>
Fax: (785) 864-5335<tel:%28785%29%20864-5335>
Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258
http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu<http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/>
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________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 11:37 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: Insurance collections
Hi Ann
... not sure why exactly you have to deal with this question, but perhaps worth adding to John's and Rob's very considerate answers (which I fully agree to):
Beyond the object itself, you cannot insure "scientific" or "research" value: consider the loss of a PhD/scientist if he/she losses vital specimens, which screws up the funded project, and the scientist/Pi is 'liable' for the the rightful usage of the funded money.
Picking up on Rob's point, you could reverse argument of a "considerable risk for a potential loss of a collection" to argue for a higher protection status/standard: e.g., there have been and are documented cases of repeated thefts, sprinkler/water/fire damage in collections. Because of the considerable risk of irreplaceable loss of scientific materials (and because you cannot transfer or mitigate this risk), higher costs for water proof cabinets, better locks/doors/access control (that protect contained specimens better) are justified. This goes slightly beyond the "appropriate risk management strategy" which Rob highlighted
Currently, we are using this approach (after Rob supported us with a proper Risk Analysis) in our endeavours for the planning of our new research/collection infrastructure to argue for quality over price for storage containers and furniture to mitigate the risk of a basic loss of research functions in the case of a harmful event (pipe burst, malfunction of sprinklers, etc.)
Maybe this is useful
With best wishes
Dirk
Am 27.01.2026 um 18:14 schrieb Robert Waller:
John explains the problem of collection and collection item replacement value very well. Clearly, that kind of insurance makes little sense for large natural science collections. The problem is not that our collections have little value, although they may be perceived that way. I would argue they are closer to priceless because they cannot be replaced. Insurance on a collection item basis might make sense in a few limited situations. A tree cookie serving an exhibit and education purpose might be replaced by another item providing equal exhibit and education value. Similarly, if a collection is lost, since it is irreplaceable, the only sensible compensation to an institution would be a payment that could, to some extent, restore the institution's ability to deliver on its mandate. Ideally, to the extent that the now lost collection has been doing. That will be difficult to characterize and quantify but I believe it is the only rational basis for insuring an entire collection, or a significant portion of a whole collection.
Insurance is a risk management strategy categorized as "transfer the risk", as opposed to "avoid the risk", "accept the risk" or "mitigate the risk". It makes perfect sense when applied to facilities, major equipment, and liabilities, but requires a different way of framing the issues to make sense for scientific or other heritage collections. The more sensible risk management strategy for caring for natural science collections is one of "mitigate the risk", i.e., through improved collection care guided by collection risk analysis.
In your situation, I would consider, and possibly cost, insurance for any individual items where a replacement value, not for the specific item, but for something to fulfill its purpose, could be worked out. There may be few or no such items. Then I would roughly quantify the value of the whole collection for delivering the institution's mandate, or delivering on its mission, then obtain an insurance cost estimate for that. Even an order of magnitude estimate would be useful. Separately, after putting good faith effort into doing that, I would raise the idea that collection risk management is not just important but critical. However, the risk management strategy of "transfer the risk" is not a useful option. Instead, the cost of that insurance would be better invested in an appropriate risk management strategy: collection risk analysis and management. I do not expect that would result in an immediate windfall of new resources for collection care but, I do think it is what we, as a field, need to work toward.
Rob
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of John E Simmons <simmons.johne at gmail.com><mailto:simmons.johne at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 4:58 AM
To: Ann Bogaerts <ann.bogaerts at plantentuinmeise.be><mailto:ann.bogaerts at plantentuinmeise.be>
Cc: NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Insurance collections
Insurance is based on replacement cost, which is where we run into problems trying to insure natural history collections. You can calculate the cost per herbarium sheet or per specimen of collecting, processing, and storing the object (which has been recently done for mammals). However, the real value in scientific specimens is that they are not replaceable--you can't go back in time and re-collect a true replacement because one of the values of specimens is that they are time-based. You can also search sites that sell natural history specimens--it is shocking how many specimens are available for purchase, including human remains, but the prices on those are not reflective of getting replacements, just what the limited market value of old specimens is.
The cost to collect and process another specimen to "replace" the one that is lost means putting a financial value on your collection that is based solely on collecting more things like what you have now. There is no way to calculate the financial worth of research vouchers, future research, and so forth. This is okay until some administrator or overlord decides that your collection is not worth enough money to occupy the space it does, or that your herbarium is worth less than the collection in the art museum down the street (which will have a much higher value per object because there is a big art market). You are then faced with having to justify why your low dollar value collection should have a home.
Before you give up, you should talk to a few fine arts insurers about your particular circumstances, because they are used to working with museums and with odd things that have odd values. If you go to the website of ARCS (the Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists) and click on the section for most recent meeting (in St Louis last November) you will find the logos of a number of insurance companies who were sponsors of the meeting--that list can help you find fine arts insurers to talk to.
Good luck.
--John
John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
and
Research Associate, Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
and
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima
On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 10:46 AM Ann Bogaerts <ann.bogaerts at plantentuinmeise.be<mailto:ann.bogaerts at plantentuinmeise.be>> wrote:
Dear all,
I would like to ask whether your herbarium or other natural history collections are insured. If so, could you please explain how the insurance value of these collections is determined?
Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response.
Kind regards,
Ann
--
Ann Bogaerts
Scientific Manager Herbarium BR
Meise Botanic Garden
Nieuwelaan 38
BE-1860 Meise
++32 2 260 09 57
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Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
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Stiftung Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels
Postanschrift: Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts;
Generaldirektion: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof (Generaldirektor), Adrian Grüter (Kaufm. Geschäftsführer)
Sitz der Stiftung: Adenauerallee 160 in Bonn
Vorsitzender des Stiftungsrates: Dr. Michael H. Wappelhorst
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