We bought our first real piece of art three years ago. Not a poster or something decorative from HomeGoods, an actual painting from a gallery in New York. Spent more money than I’m comfortable admitting. Brought it home, hung it in the living room, and didn’t think about insurance until six months later, when our basement flooded. The painting was fine; it was upstairs. But standing in three inches of water at 6 a.m., watching…
I’ve been an insurance agent in New Jersey for almost 47 years now, and every November I start calling my business clients to schedule year-end insurance reviews. About half of them say, “Yeah, we should probably do that,” and actually follow through. The other half say they’re too busy and they’ll get to it after the new year. Then January comes around and someone’s calling me because something happened—an employee got hurt, there was property…
Sat on the board of a small nonprofit in New Jersey five years ago. We ran youth programs, had maybe 15 volunteers, and operated on a shoestring budget. Insurance felt like a luxury we couldn’t afford. Then a kid broke his arm at one of our events. Parents sued. Our basic liability coverage barely covered the legal fees, and the settlement wiped out two years of fundraising. Almost shut us down completely. That’s when I…
Three years ago, a water pipe burst in the ceiling of my gallery in Chelsea. It was 2am on a Sunday. By the time the building super got there and shut off the water, we had four inches standing in the main exhibition space. We had eleven pieces on display. Total value around $850,000. I stood there in my pajamas and rain boots at 3am, watching water drip off a $120,000 painting, genuinely thinking my…
