Fine Art Insurance Coverage

General Information

LSU has fine arts coverage, which provides coverage for antiques and objects of art of every nature and description usual to the conduct of the LSU’s operations, being the property of LSU; or held by LSU in trust; or on memorandum; or on consignment; or sold but not delivered; or owned on joint account with others; or belonging to others and for which LSU may be liable; or for which LSU has assumed liability prior to loss. Coverage is also provided for LSU’s reference library and other reference material belonging to LSU along with furniture and fixtures of a fine arts nature belonging to LSU.

The following items or situations are not covered by the fine arts policy:

Damage sustained due to and directly resulting from any repairing, restoration or retouching process not performed by a professional restorer (to confirm coverage, please e-mail Risk Management).
Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, moths, vermin, inherent vice.
War or hostile acts.
Intentional or unintentional damage due to nuclear contamination.
Flood in a basement (only applies without prior inspection – Contact Risk Management if Art is stored in a basement.)
Please email Risk Management at for specific questions or further information about exclusions.

Loaned art must have a loan agreement with the lending institution that assigns responsibility for insuring loaned property, including art in transit. Loans may be incoming or outgoing. The university is usually expected to provide insurance for fine arts items loaned to it by an outside institution. When the university loans fine arts items to an outside institution, the borrower provides the insurance. To obtain coverage for loaned art, please complete the on-line form. Please submit a copy of the loan agreement, which should contain a detailed list of the loaned items, along with the description and value of each item.

Unless an exception is requested in advance for additional insurance coverage, the University’s insurance policy provides up to $10 million of coverage per truck/conveyance for transit of university-owned or art loaned to the University. If transporting fine art outside of the US, please email Risk Management.  If fine arts are borrowed by the university from an outside institution, the loan agreement should assign responsibility for insuring the items during transit.

Departments must request additional insurance coverage at least 14 business days prior to transporting fine art items that have a combined value in excess of $10 million per truck/conveyance. This includes incoming items on loan from other institutions. To request additional insurance coverage, send an email to Risk Management at riskmgt@lsu.edu.

Risk Management will notify the department when the additional insurance coverage has been obtained. Departments should not ship or receive shipments valued at more than $10 million prior to receiving the written approval from Risk Management.

Within 30 days of acquiring fine arts items totaling $1,000,000 or more in value, please complete the on-line fine art inventory form. The following information in will be requested on the form:

  • the statement “ACQUISITION OF $1,000,000 OR MORE OF FINE ART”
  • total value acquired
  • inventory number, value, and description of each item
  • date(s) item(s) received
  • location where item(s) are housed (building or address, city, state)
  • department contact
  • department phone number

When fire protection systems, fire alarms, or other security warning systems in the facility will be placed out of service for a period of more than 12 hours, send an email to Risk Management. Send the notification as soon as possible or five business days before the system will be placed out of service, if the outage is planned. Include the following information in your message:

  • the statement “FIRE PROTECTION AND OTHER WARNING SYSTEMS”
  • description of system disabled
  • date(s) out of service
  • location (building or address, city, state)
  • department contact
  • department phone number

It is recommended that each department maintain adequate inventory records and support documentation, which include the following information:

  • a description of each item
  • pictures if possible
  • date of acquisition
  • location
  • replacement valuation

For replacement valuation, support documentation may include such items as appraisals or recent sales. Support documentation should be maintained off site and separate from the fine arts items.

Immediately upon discovery of a loss, send an email complete the LSU Property Claim form. A police report should be filed, if appropriate.

If more assistance is needed please email Risk Management.